In Session: Matrixxman

Charlie Duff’s artist moniker isn’t derived from the The Wachowskis’ famous trilogy of science-fiction films, but his driving techno sound is cold and futuristic, evocative of images equally dystopian. Take 2013 track ‘Protocol’ for an example of his floor-primed sound that strips techno down to its hardest-hitting elements and pushes them into overdrive.

He’s also mirrored this approach with a machinelike work-rate, powering through an intense release schedule since making his bow in 2012. Outings have come thick and fast across imprints such as Spectral Sound, Planet Rhythm and Dekmantel.

Reflecting on his work ethic in a 2015 interview with RA, he remarked: "It just feels normal to be making music and releasing it constantly. I suppose it's out of sheer boredom. I often joke about the term idiot savant, but jokes aside, I literally have nothing better to do with my life." It’s a comment that, despite the mechanical leanings of his music, indicates he’s a vibrant character with a keen sense of humour, a disparity he noted in the Twitter update “making heinous dark techno but I still really like cute animals I'm sorry”. If techno memes are your bag, he’s got you covered in that respect, too.

Recently, the American producer has struck a close partnership with aforementioned Dutch powerhouse Dekmantel, lining up a trilogy of EPs under the title ‘Sector’, the first instalment of which arrived last month. He also played at Dekmantel’s debut London party last December at Studio Spaces. While founding members Dekmantel Soundsystem went strong on the disco alongside Motor City Drum Ensemble in the Black Studio, we were front and centre as Matrixxman closed out the night in the warehouse with a mix of pounding grooves from the likes of The Fear Ratio and Joey Beltram.

While Matrixxman has now carved out his sound, he spent a number of years flitting between styles, growing up on broad diet spanning hip hop, drum ‘n’ bass, dancehall and garage, and producing for rappers Le1f and Mykki Blanco in his earlier works. But as time went on, he began to be drawn more and more towards the futuristic potential of techno as a genre.

“You could literally go out and get a field recording of static hiss and weird noise and put a kick drum on that and, if you manipulate it right, you can have a compelling techno track. You can’t do that with rap, you can’t do that with other traditional genres,” he commented to RBMA, noting his inclination to techno as the ideal outlet to express his conceptual interests.

He’s also moved around a lot geographically in his time. After growing up in Virginia, he cut a path all over the US and lived in Japan for a while, before relocating to Berlin in 2015 where he currently resides. Although his debut album, released in the same year, was titled ‘Homesick’, it doesn’t relate to personal feeling. Just yesterday he stated he is “fucking really glad” he left America in light of the election of Donald Trump. The German capital also provides a charmingly bleak setting that is perfect to channel into his style of music, as this tweet reflects.

Matrixxman’s In Session mix is not for the faint-hearted. It's defined by dark, hammering beats that hit with the relentlessness of rocket-fuel powered piston, and features unreleased material, from himself, UVB and Pris. Lock yourself in below.

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter. And since he spent the article banging on about Matrixxman's, follow him on Twitter, too

[Photo: Cole Rise]