Matthew Nelson (born 22 April 1967 in Loughton, Essex, England), better known as DJ Slipmatt, is a British electronic music

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and DJ. He was one half of breakbeat hardcore group SL2, who had a 1992 UK hit with "

On a Ragga Tip "On a Ragga Tip" is a song by British breakbeat hardcore group SL2, released as a single in 1992. The song contains samples of Jah Screechy's "Walk and Skank" and Kid 'n Play's "Gittin' Funky (UK Remix)". The song was a success, peaking at 2 ...

Biography

In 1988, while working as an electrician and courier, Nelson obtained his first turntables and started playing hip-hop and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

. He then founded a pirate radio station named "Raw FM" in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, and in 1989 began his professional DJ career as DJ for the Raindance rave event. His first music production was in 1989 where Slipmatt collaborated with DJ Lime forming SL2. The single, "Do That Dance", was released in that same year. This was followed by the number 11 UK chart hit "DJs Take Control" / "Way in My Brain". The follow-up single, "

", reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1992. As a result of their chart success, the band were propelled into the media spotlight and made appearances on '' Top of the Pops'' and other television shows. SL2's chart success continued with a remix of "Way in My Brain", which made the top twenty in the UK chart. Amidst the chart success, Slipmatt cemented his name on the

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

DJ circuit and was a regular at major Fantazia and Dreamscape events. In 1993, Nelson set up a new project, the SMD series (Slip Matt's Dubs). The first release, ''SMD#1'', sold over 10,000 copies, with a further three instalments following in the series. A

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

collected these recordings. 1994 saw the release of "Breaking Free" and "Hear Me" on Slipmatt and Lime's own Awesome Records imprint, the former being embraced by jungle and rave DJs alike. The tracks were later remixed by DJ SS (Formation Records) and DJ Seduction (Impact Records) respectively. By 1995, Slipmatt's DJ sets had veered strongly towards the tougher hardcore genre and Nelson set up Universal Records to represent this burgeoning style. Releases from

Force & Styles Darren James Mew (born 23 May 1975), better known as Darren Styles, is an English record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter from Colchester, England. Originally a member of the breakbeat hardcore group DJ Force & the Evolution, Styles found s ...

(as A Sense of Summer), DJ Sy & Unknown, DJ Demo and others followed. The tracks "Breaking Free" and "Hear Me" were again remixed, this time by Ramos & Sunset Regime. As Slipmatt, he has compiled and mixed several albums, including ''United Dance Anthems 1 & 2'' and ''Moondance True Rave Anthems''. Slipmatt's remixes include many remixes for

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

and various well known and established record labels. Since 1994, Nelson presented his own radio shows on Kiss 100 as well as numerous other stations over the years. Nelson has played in the US, Australia, Thailand, and around Europe. He has DJ'd at

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

's Space, Es Paradise, Eden, Summum, and most of the San Antonio West End clubs. In 2003, Slipmatt's track, "Space", peaked at #41 on the UK Singles Chart. Slipmatt has DJ'd at Fantazia, Raindance, Moondance, Dreamscape, Pleasuredome, Hardcore Heaven, Dance Concept, Helter Skelter, One Nation, United Dance, Uprising, Dizstruxshon, Alderney Bunker Parties, World Dance, Slammin Vinyl, Glastonbury, Bestival, O2 London & thousands of raves over the years.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1967 births Living people English DJs English electronic musicians English techno musicians Hardcore techno musicians Breakbeat hardcore musicians English record producers English drum and bass musicians People from Loughton Musicians from Essex Electronic dance music DJs