Matt Walsh
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Matt Walsh's interest in DJing and production was fostered in the late 1990's, while he was at university and progressive house was at its peak. "I think it all stemmed from going to prog house nights and being the only indie kid," he remembers. "It was the first time I'd heard house music outside my bedroom but I wasn't into the scene. You had to wear shoes and I kept not being let in!"
Fast forward a couple of years, a new decade heralded the birth of Electroclash and with it DJ Hell's Gigolo Records, City Rockers and Playhouse. "Gradually as this new sound appeared it began to suit me more and more; it was my middle ground," Matt recalls. Residencies in his hometown Colchester beckoned, followed by a move 60 miles down the road to London, closer to renowned club nights Bugged Out and Trash and dance music mecca Fabric.
As Matt began to develop his trademark sound of modern disco-infused electronic house and techno, an offer of a residency at East London's seminal T-Bar club set off a chain of events that would lead to Turbo Recordings don Tiga spotting him there in 2007. Following an invite to play "an all-acid party in a cave" in Montreal, Matt was swiftly signed to the label and has resided there ever since.
Matt's hunger for finding new and interesting records, always steering clear from the easy and obvious has allowed him to tour the world, not only with Turbo, but as a long term resident of Bugged Out!
Clouded Vision is not only his production alias, but also the clear minded platform to showcase the musical talent that has caught Matt Walsh's sights. Matt began working on musical production as part of a duo, formed with friend and studio partner Steve Cook in 2007. After producing their first track together, 'Saturation' the pair were soon signing remixes with Turbo and labels such as Mute and Universal Music.
His continued success in solo projects and working with Steve gave Matt the confidence to set up Clouded Vision Recordings in 2009. Their first two EP's were remixed by Permanent Vacation's 40 Thieves and Portuguese tastemakers Photonz. They continued to gain support from the cream of the contemporary dance music crop including Tensnake, Cosmo Vitelli, The Revenge, Joakim, Mugwump, Trevor Jackson and Shit Robot.
By March 2011 Matt was ready to unleash the first of four releases
across the year starting with Darabi's 'Truckin'. This set a benchmark
for promoting new and exciting artists concentrating on individual one
off tracks, keeping an ethos of slow tempo, modern electronic disco.
'Truckin' was supported by DJ's across the globe and has since been
licensed by DJ T and Get Physical for a compilation in early 2012.
Clouded 004's 'Melvin Never Made It' by young Mancunian, 'The Countach'
was soon picked up by Ivan Smagghe and chosen as part of his 'Back of
the box' selection on French blog Get The Curse. The original mix was
also charted and played on BBC Radio by Erol Alkan in his 6 Music show.
October saw the welcoming release of Barcelona's Sishi Rosch on Clouded
Vision, with two tracks of sleazy ghetto funk. Remixes came from
Parisian stars and Clouded 003 hitmakers Darabi. Their mix is a
delightful slice of 80's inspired funk, with Pointer Sisters style drums
and their signature badass bass line. Lastly Hypercolour boss Alex
Jones joined the Clouded family with a dark, hypnotic groove that rises,
falls and twists 'Complex Situation' in a totally different direction.
His recent EP's on Playhouse, Number 19, Losing Suki and of course
Hypercolour and new venture Glass Table have pushed Alex to new levels
in 2011.
The final release of the year is possibly the labels biggest one to
date. Bozzwell joined the crew with his fantastic remix of Darabi
earlier in March 2011 and has since been putting together his next EP.
Ambition is everything the label strives to put across, both in its
production and tempo and even more through it's lyrics.
The biggest release so far has to come with three of the best remixes.
Toronto based My Favorite Robot, whose label has been making serious
waves this year, bring an 'Egyptian Lover' style electro vibe to
'Ambition'. Secondly comes Parisian Maxime Iko from Steve Lawler's 'Viva'
imprint with a dark and melodic twist on the original. Finally the pack
is completed with a modern UK techno inspired version from Semtek, head
honcho at London label Don't be Afraid.
Under his own name, Matt's original material has been described as techno with a propulsive and percussive energy, never afraid to take risks. "I try to move beyond the safer techno house sounds and hopefully create something a bit different. It's important to me to stay true to what I grew up with and I think that comes through in my productions, the EBM and new wave sound."
His combined work with Hypercolor Boss, Alex Jones, on a remix for electro high priestess Peaches' 'Lose You' on XL Records was played on Radio 1's Essential Mix and supported by Andrew Weatherall, Laurant Garnier, Tiga and Paul Woolford to name a few.
Matt's first 2 solo EP's were released in 2010 through UK club night Wax:On's record label and Turbo label mate Sei A's Seinan Music respectively, and fast became favourites of DJs as widespread as Optimo, Simian Mobile Disco, M.A.N.D.Y, Jennifer Cardini, Chloe, Ivan Smagghe, Cari Lekebusch and of course Tiga. He ended 2010 with his biggest selling piece of music so far, a peak time rolling techno version of Popof's 'The Chomper' on Turbo Recordings tour compilation, Planet Turbo.
Matt began 2011 with a new collaboration EP with French producer Zhao, released on This is Music (home of Boy 8 Bit and DJ Mujava) and a Clouded Vision EP on Parisian label MEANT. Alongside this he produced a slew of remixes on Family Name, MEANT and notably Turbo. His partnership with new french techno wizard Zhao was strengthened by a hit remix of Murphy Jax's 'Time To Bump' finding itself a staple the boxes of dj's including Chloe, Miss Kittin, Brodinski and Tiga.
2012 will see the release of the pair's second EP, this time on French imprint Kill The DJ. New signings on Clouded Vision continue alongside other releases on Throne Of Blood, Days of Being Wild and The Republic of Desire.
