Fermanagh DJ/producer Matty Ralph plays Féile an Phobail in Belfast on 8 August. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
He describes his music as "nostalgic rave sounds" and he built his sound on classic trance that made their way to rural Northern Ireland where he grew up, before pursuing DJing while at uni in Liverpool.
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His styles include techno, classic trance, hard house, and hard dance and he scored his first top ten on Beatport with 1999 on Ben Hemsley's label Bebe and he has music signed to Armada, Rave Alert, DOOF, Dreamstate (Insomniac), Polyamor Berlin, and SoundCloud.
Matty also plays: 5 July - Doof In The Park, Dundee, 13 July - ASOT, London, 23 August - Creamfields, Daresbury, 29 September - Hannah Laing Pres, Hi, Ibiza, and 3 October - Rong Indoor Festival, Manchester.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I am an Irish DJ/Producer from Newtownbutler/Fivemiletown in County Fermanagh.
I started my production journey almost six years ago as I realised to have a successful career as a DJ in this era, you need to have your own sound.
My sound can be described as high-energy nostalgic rave and emotionally charged, spanning across classic trance, hard house and techno.
How would you describe your music?
My music is nostalgic, high-energy and dancefloor focused with modern production techniques. My music aims to spark feelings of nostalgia and to offer the listener escapism and euphoria. I like to tell stories with my tracks, making them a transportation device - if they make me feel like I’m on the beach in sunny Ibiza, we're onto a winner.
Who are your musical inspirations?
My biggest musical influences come from Tiësto, Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten, these guys built the house that we all dance in and paved the way for timeless music. In particular, I take a lot of inspiration from Tiesto's In Search of Sunrise compilation CDs. In terms of the modern era, I take inspirations from Ben Hemsley and Hannah Laing due to their musical tastes, and to have the ability to play whatever they want, no boundaries.
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It's so refreshing to see an artist as big as Ben Hemsley have a deep appreciation for nostalgic trance music, bringing back the sounds of the golden era.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The first gig I ever attended was to see the late legend Avicii back in the summer of 2013 at Tennent's Vital, Boucher Road Playing Fields in Belfast. Avicii's music is iconic and he had his own unique sound, so to see a DJ like him as my first ever gig was a mind-blowing experience. I genuinely just felt starstruck witnessing this as a young raver at the time, it was so inspirational. Standing in a field with around 20,000 other people belting out his anthems will long live in the memory forever.
What was the first record you ever bought?
The first ever CD I owned was Paul van Dyk REFLECTIONS, which contained iconic tracks such as Nothing But You and Crush. This was gifted to me by my older brother who was Paul van Dyk obsessed; a timeless album that will stand the test of time!
What’s your favourite song right now?
Right now, and I do not mean to be biased but probably my track 1999 as it is a high-energy emotional banger that takes ravers on an emotional nostalgic journey. This track always goes off in my sets and has picked up some insane support, even from DJs that aren't associated with trancey sounds.
It was one of my favourite productions to work on as it captures the emotion of the late 90s’ Balearic trance sound. However, if I was to choose a track outside of my productions, I would say Ben Hemsley's new track Angel. WOW! what a nostalgic banger.
Favourite lyric of all time?
This is a really tough one to answer, there are simply too many to choose, but one that will always stick with me until the day I die is OceanLab – Satellite. 10/10 emotion and spine-tingling euphoria.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Again, this is also a tough one to answer because there are hundreds of timeless trance tracks that all have a claim to be number one. However, if I have to pick, I am going to go with Push - Strange World. 10/10 that will never fail to raise the hair on your arms!
Where can people find your music/more information?
You can find my music on all major streaming platforms and you can find out where all my gigs are on my socials such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Just Search 'Matty Ralph' or 'Matty Ralph Music' for more details.
Alan Corr
