I found this MJ Cole BIO on his site, www.mjcole.com
Pretty interesting stuff on the diverse UK Garage producer.
MJ Cole's formal training in classical music is well documented now, and
understandably he has been singled out within the dance community
because of his credentials as a fully paid-up musician. After all, not
many can boast of a music degree from London City University and Grade 8
distinctions in piano, oboe and music theory from the Royal College of
Music. Yet Matt is a graduate of club culture as much as he is of the
classical world, citing his youthful raving days in the early 90's as
the most vital part of his musical education. 'That's what got me into
dance music basically. Going to raves like Telepathy, Living Dream and
Raindance. I was going to music college on Saturday having been to Fun
City at Busby's the night before. I'd listen to Ray Keith and Randall
and then go and play Schubert the next day' . Whilst at LCU Matt was
introduced to the potential of the studio, and post-graduation he
accepted a hands-on position running the studio and engineering at
respected drum n bass label SOUR and its off-shoots Emotif and Botchit &
Scarper. During that time, he worked on a number of jungle, hip hop and
breakbeat projects including early releases from the likes of Ed Rush,
DJ Trace, Blim and current label mate Raw Deal. In addition Matt was
mixing and engineering Roots Manuva and Blak Twang for hip hop indie
Sound of Money, and ventured into production himself, releasing
jazz-jungle tracks under the monikers Morf, Jilt and Spectra 1000.
Having absorbed all things breakbeat, Matt was then thrown right into
the hub of the newly-emerging underground garage scene in '96, when
leading scene DJ's Ramsey & Fen came to the studio for a session. Matt's
skills as engineer / programmer were employed on the duo's remixes of
Kym Mazelle's 'Big Baby' and 'Quality': now cult classics. 'It really
opened my ears. All those musical bits I had wanted to put in drum n
bass I could fit into garage.' Matt continued to work with Ramsey & Fen
co-producing (as 'RAFMAT') 'Style', 'Desire', and the legendary
underground anthem 'Lovebug': the drum programming on which became
influential on the scene's two step development. With rocket-like speed,
Matt gained a rep as the most sought-after (and hardworking)
engineer/programmer, keyboard player and co-producer on the underground
garage scene, working constantly with the VIP label and a host of DJs
including Daryl B and Jason Kaye.
Throughout '97, Matt contributed to an astonishing number of the scene's
hottest tunes, shaping the garage sound of that year, but the mysterious
'M. Coleman' printed on countless 12"'s was about to come into his own.
Matt released his first solo productions in late '97, namely 'My
Love'/'Rocket' and 'Anyway' as Matlok. As the new year dawned, Matt
emerged as MJ Cole with his own aptly-named label, Prolific Records. A
string of acclaimed cuts: 'Flava Fever' / 'Guilty', and 'Talk To Me'/
'Treat Me Right' (as Box Clever) followed, whilst 'You're Mine' with Guy
S'Mone blew up both as a garage and R&B anthem, becoming THE tune of '98
at flagship UKgarage club, Twice As Nice.
The remix work also came thick and fast, with Matt delivering class rubs
for a variety of artists including Soul II Soul, Somore, Urban Species,
Gerideau, Goldie, Gwen McRae, Another Level and State of Mind to name
but a few. However it was the single 'Sincere' that brought the name and
inimitable sound of MJ Cole to a wider audience; giving the mainstream
its first glimpse of a true musical potential within UK garage. Having
whipped up an underground storm via its initial release on Metrix
Records, 'Sincere' was then snapped up by AM:PM and subsequently became
a Top 40 hit.
1999 continued to see Matt drop a handful of well-chosen, well-received
remixes. His mix of Glamma Kid & Shola Ama's 'Sweetest Taboo' cover was
a favourite on garage floors, and Matt equally impressed with mixes of
'Nights Over Egypt' (for Incognito), Masters at Work's classic 'To Be In
Love', Valerie Etienne's 'Misunderstanding' and his progressive,
beat-centred version of 'TLC's 'Unpretty'. Brit hip hop headman Roots
Manuva and Breakbeat Era's Roni Size also put Matt's mixing skills to
use.
In the summer of '98, Matt found his home with Talkin Loud. The
acclaimed soul-fest 'Waiting for The Day' (featuring vocalist Richard
Anthony Davis) augured well as his debut promo release. This was
followed at the end of the year with 'I See / Give Me Back My Love'; a
much sought-after 7" which saw MJ Cole venture fully into emotional,
soul-song territory.
..........................................................................
I hope you guys go out and buy the SINCERE LP, I will when I see it,
damn AZ record stores suck down here.
Essential
UniverSoul/ Urbanite Recordings
http://hipjoint.iscool.net (real audio mix @
http://www.swell.net/reg/locals/essential/ )
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