Matt Hart is a multi-talented UK electronic/industrial music artist. He has been writing music under his own name for about 15 years, while playing guitar and bass with London industrialist CONCRETE LUNG and DJing at Slimelight. After the release of the back catalogue Anthology of Corrosion in 2017, he continues to write new material and performs a number of shows.
1. Your biography is quite impressive. You play violin, viola, and trumpet and you are a part of the Countess of Wessex’s String Orchestra. I read you had played for the Queen. Can you tell us about that experience?
Matt: Well, if you’re counting, I also play guitar, bass and a bit of piano/keys too! But yes, my full time job is playing viola in a string orchestra, and we regularly play in Buckingham palace. I’ve not actually met the Queen, but have chatted with the rest of the royal family and they all seem nice enough, especially the Countess. To be honest, it’s nothing that special to me these days, just part of the job.
2. Your music expression however is influenced by industrial and electronic music. What’s the story behind it? What are your favourite bands of the genre?
Matt: I got into Fear Factory when I was about 16, when a friend leant me Remanufacture. From there, I bought Demanufacture and really got into anything that was heavy and had synths in it. The likes of Skinny Puppy and Ministry were only a small step away!
3. How did you end up becoming a producer and a DJ on top of all that?
Matt: I started writing my own stuff about 15 years ago and was well into it at the time, but then was invited to play guitar and bass for London industrialists CONCRETE LUNG, so my writing took a back seat. I was hanging about Slimelight a lot at the time and was also asked to DJ some tunes while I was on tour, so I guess I really fell into the DJing. It really has kick-started my solo career as I’ve made a lot of friends while doing it and some have been very supportive of my solo stuff.
4. You released the album Anthology Of Corrosion in 2017. What are your thoughts on the album?
Matt: I really just released that as a way of saying goodbye to some of my old tracks that I had written a long time ago and never really expected for it to sell. However, I have sold a few copies, so it was a good move to get things started.
5. Judge & Punish EP sounds much darker. What can you tell us about it?
Matt: This was the first new music that I released and it was the stepping stone towards my idea of releasing things little and often. It certainly was darker, but I guess that’s what I was feeling at the time. Combining the heavy influence of classical with my love for industrial music just seemed logical at the time.
6. Chaos Rising EP from 2017 is a concept album. The EP got sequels in 2018 in the form of Chaos Rising 2 and Chaos Rising 3. What’s the idea behind it?
Matt: Chaos Rising is the story of man versus machine. It fascinates me where we will end up as a society and whether machines will become so autonomous that they will end up taking over. I guess we will never know, but I enjoy telling the stories from the perspective of men and the machines.
7. You released 3 remixes this year. Can you tell us more about that?
Matt: I’ve met so many amazing people and producers/artists that I really wanted to have their stamp on my music. There are more to come and I’m looking to put it on CD once I have the collection!
8. You recently played with Grendel. What can you tell us about that experience?
Matt: Playing with Grendel was an amazing experience. I’ve never played keys for a band before. However, I can play and understand piano/keys, so it kind of came naturally. It was certainly weird not being the opening support act of the night and having the time off between soundcheck and gig! When I recently supported Grendel I had about 15 minutes between my own soundcheck and the gig!
9. What can we expect from your shows?
Matt: I guess my idea of a live show is to give the audience something different from what they would listen to on record. Sometimes the versions of the track are different but over all there is a certain theatre to the show. I keep adding something different to each show, so hopefully even an audience that has seen me before will get a different experience too.
10. What are you working on at the moment?
Matt: Right now I’m working on the new album. I am adding vocals to tracks that I’ve had as instrumentals for a while. I am adding finishing touches and sending the tracks to my engineer. This album is going to blow away anything I’ve done so far and I’m pretty confident about that!
Bandcamp: https://matthart.bandcamp.com/
FaceBook: www.facebook.com/djmatthartuk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mattghart Instagram: @matthart3808
