An urban legend and producer behind five UK top 40 singles
The word ‘quality’ and Matt Cole have run hand in hand right from the start of his diverse and inspirational career. To the casual observer and mainstream music fan, Matt is the producer behind five UK top 40 singles (including the top ten hit ‘Crazy Love’), the artist behind albums ‘Sincere’ (his groundbreaking debut) and ‘Cut To The Chase’ (which featured collaborations with UK star Sean Escoffrey and heavyweight soul mistress Jill Scott plus Jamaican Dancehall legend Elephant Man). Both albums were released under his MJ Cole artist name and through Talkin Loud / Mercury Records to huge acclaim. So much so that he has been nominated for a Mercury Prize and received MOBO Best Producer award.
Unsurprisingly, his profile and talents as a producer, remixer and arranger have lead him to work with some of the world’s biggest artists such as Tom Jones and Mariah Carey. However on the opposite end of the spectrum and to the dedicated clubber and dance music follower, Matt Cole is a true pioneer of the UK Garage scene – an urban legend no less, who retains a deep respect on the ever-discerning underground.
Never one to be pigeonholed, Matt has ploughed an unusually wide and all-encompassing professional path. His student days studying classical music at LCU and the Royal College contrasted with his nights raving to hardcore and jungle at Telepathy and Raindance. In that same sprit he has gone on to draw together skills as a studio engineer with string arranging; song writing with DJing; and the sophistication of classical composition with the raw energy of bass-powered sound systems. One thing that’s certain with Matt is that he will continue to confound musical expectations. A quick look at the artists he has remixed over the last few years – Masters At Work, Mariah Carey, Roots Manuva, Dido, Nitin Sawney, De La Soul, Lamb, Nat King Cole, Shystie, Amy Winehouse – illustrate perfectly his ability to flit between genres coupled with the magpie-like instinct for filching elements of different styles.
2003 also saw MJ Cole Dj’ing throughout the world. He has toured the U.S. and has played in practically every European country and further tours of Australia, the US and Europe are already planned for 2004. More recently he has re-launched his own label, Prolific Recordings and is concentrating on nurturing new British talent. When he first set the label up in early ’98, releases such as ‘Flava Fever’ / ‘Guilty’ and ‘You’re Mine’ became instant anthems on the underground garage scene. Matt’s plans to revamp and re-launch Prolific materialised fully when Andy Lewis – who had lead the Locked On label into glory with artists such as The Streets – happily agreed to become label manager.
Whether it’s making cool downtempo grooves with Grant Nelson & Matt Schwartz or killer uptempo dubs with Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown, MJ Cole is no one trick pony, and naturally the same applies to his label. Prolific Recordings and its self-explanatory offshoot Prolific Dubs sets out to be a fertile musical ground and filter that’s a reflection of MJ Cole the artist, the producer and all round sound-addict.
