From the vault...

The New Funk appeared on my first release "Cruzer EP". I hadn't been producing all that long so I was very pleased that I'd written something of sufficient quality that warranted a bona fide record contract! Sadly L2 Music (the label on which it appeared) didn't last terribly long and due to their unique distribution method, the entire catalogue went with them. I recall the first time i heard this track being played in a club by someone else... I really thought I'd made the big time :)

Matt Rowan - The New Funk

This is a remix that Jaytech and myself did not long after the release of Tomorrow in 2006. This was during a time that file sharing was becoming a real problem for producers and at that point it seemed like there was little that anyone could do to stop it. This bred a culture of distrust amongst producers and labels which had negative consequences - and this remix is a classic example. Having completed the remix, we sent the completed track to the label and not long after it found itself onto a variety of download sites before the scheduled release. The label took exception to this and refused to release the remix, consigning it and the whole experience to the annals of what was then a very limited history! Anyway - here it is now for you 8 years later to enjoy.

Phatjak - Sexotron (Matt Rowan And Jaytech Mix)

In late 2006 we were approached by the manager of a new pop/rock outfit Cue Madison to do a remix for them. She had heard of us via a label I was signed to and she was keen to see what we could do with one of their tracks. "You' was a fast paced pop tune that sat around 140bpm so slowing it down to 126-128 territory was a tricky task. Whilst the original is a pretty catchy tune, I'm not sure their management was terribly keen on a slow groover that only used part of their vocals. We sent them through this rough sketch of what it would sound like and that was the last we heard of them! I'm not sure their project got off the ground completely and trying to find info on them today seems limited. 

Anyway - here you go and I hope you like it :)

PS - check out the dorky photo of us! This was actually used as a promo shot for a night we did in Sydney. AWESOME!

Cue Madison - You (Matt Rowan And Jaytech's Rough Mix)

Keep Sake was a track written in 2005 and was picked up by Boston label Reversible records in early 2006. Reversible was the brain child of Boston DJ Chris Reavey who included in his sizeable posse of DJS and producers, one Steve Porter. I had the honour to play with Steve a few times in my career and I can say without a doubt he's one of the nicest guys doing the rounds. A true gentleman and a great guy to hang out with - never a dull moment. Steve made numerous trips to Sydney during the naughties and it was always great to see him return, bringing his manic techno/house/3 minute mix sound with him. What's this got to do with the track? Well as luck would have it, Steve liked the track so much he decided to put it on his first "PorterHouse" compilation and in doing so, introduced me to Chris Reavey and the Reversible label - home of tracks from Chris Micali, Eli Wilkie and of course Steve himself. I will upload some more tracks connected with Mr Porter later on in this series. 

Sadly, Reversible records went the way of the dodo a few years after inception so here is the track for you to enjoy. 

Matt Rowan - Keepsake

Another track from the 2006 time frame, this remix was completed as a two part instalment with Narek and Danny Bullo's other big hit, "Made By The Hand". The remixes were done to capitalize quickly on the success we had garnered from "Tomorrow" and demonstrated that we were capable of writing big tunes as much as we could write chunky house numbers. 

The track proved an instant success and was played by all and sundry, making it a few compilations along the way as well. Again, and a story to be repeated on numerous occasions, the record label, Fiberline went bust and took with it the entire back catalogue. Fiberline had done a mighty effort in trying to introduce the whole "record label as shop front" model to the general public. Sadly, they  were soon to learn that if a track isn't on beatport it would miss most of the market looking for it and weren't able to make a viable business of their idea. 

I've been asked about this remix numerous times over the years so no need to trawl blogs and forums - here it is for you to download :)

Narek and Danny Bullo - I Need Somebody (Matt Rowan & Jaytech Remix)

This is the matching pair of remixes we did for Narek and Danny Bullo. I've lost count of how many times I have played this track to close out a set. Thumping bass and a driving beat made it an easy sell to a dance floor at 5 in the morning. 

Once again here for you to download . Play it loud!

Narek and Danny Bullo - Made By The Hand (Matt Rowan  Jaytech Remix)

In 2008, Jaytech and myself sat down over the course of a weekend do do our typical "power session" of writing two tracks ready for release. The first track we wrote turned into the iconic "Noodles" - a semi breaks style tune that really pushed us to the edge of producing capabilities at the time - certainly a track we'd never written before (or since)! We had a fairly complex method of naming our tracks for this particular session. "Noodles" is what we mainly ate over the three days and of course accompanied by the equally nutritious "Icecream". Icecream was a track more akin to our sound at the time and regular listeners to our music will hear some usual cues - big drums, sweet pads, big bassline. Unfortunately, there is a VST sound we used which we then began to hear in a number of other tracks doing the rounds at the time so we decided to keep this track to ourselves - until now.

Sit down and eat your Noodles - then you can have some Icecream!! 

Matt Rowan & Jaytech - Icecream

I put this remix together some time ago as I wanted a way of playing "Tomorrow" in club environments where I was doing a deep house or opening set. The tempo has been lowered but all the main elements of the track remain in remixed form.

Even now, I still hear this track and get a massive smile on my face. The original was Jaytech and my first attempt at writing a tune together and within one week of it's completion, had blown up massively. Hernan Cattaneo and particularly Nick Warren really championed our sound in the early days and without their help, we'd be still writing in our bedrooms :) 

Hope you like this stripped back version.

Matt Rowan and Jaytech - Tomorrow (Matt's Dub)

This track is definitely "from the vault"! One of a number of releases on the now defunct Fiberline Audio, this is one of the first remixes Jaytech and I did after the release of "Tomorrow". There's a really cool piano line that I loved in the original and forms the main section of the breakdown - very cool stuff. 

I never really thought this track got the attention it deserved and I'm wondering whether it got lost in the fog of the early releases we had. 

Anyway - hope you enjoy it.

Matt

V - Sag - Kittie In An Empty House (Matt Rowan & Jaytech Remix)

Ive been lucky to play on the same bill as Sasha a few times but my first is probably the most memorable. In 2009, I was booked to play straight after Sasha in a different section of the club which was to open as Sasha finished. I wanted to have a killer tune to play towards the end of my set  and I had just the thing!

It's at this point I'd like to thank 2002 Matt who had the foresight to get a hold of the audio samples that came with every purchase of the CD and sit on them until the time would come when I'd have a need of them – and this gig would be the night. Picking which track to remix was a hard decision as I love the album from top to toe but I thought Bloodlock would be the one as I think it encapsulates all that was good about progressive house at that time. 

I set to writing this remix with an eye of making it a little slower and groovier than the original – plenty of bottom end and lots of percs to go with. I was happy with the end result and dropped it towards the end of the set...

The crowd went MENTAL for it! Having had a full three hours worth of Sasha followed by hearing an old classic in new garb was just what the doctor ordered and watching that reaction was one of the highlights of my career.

I know what your thinking now...

"So you dropped a Sasha tune at a Sasha gig and the crowd went  nuts for it....hmmmmm ... my my aren't we the musical genius!"

And to this I say....

SHUT UP! 


Hope you like it :)


Matt