Biography - DJ Mad Mats (Raw Fusion Club & Rec / Jugglin’ Rec, Stockholm)
Mad Mats music endeavours started in the mid 80’s when he left his break dancing career (swedish champ 1985!) to become a hip hop and scratch dj at the early hip hop jams in Stockholm. But a trip to London in 1989 and a visit to the notorious Dingwalls (Talkin’ Loud) where Gilles Peterson & crew was spinning records left a strong impression. After taking an interest in producing hip hop Mats started collecting “breaks & samples” which later introduced him to the whole spectrum of black influenced music. In the early/mid 90’s he was the producer of a hip hop, jazz and soul unit called Boogaloo which had great success, especially in Japan where they sold over 30 000 albums.
When Mats in the early 90’s discovered house music (through a “Louie Vega” mix tape) he has since then been influenced by all forms & shapes of underground club culture. Mats strongest quality is that he can display an impressive variety of music in his dj sets and is famous in Scandinavia for playing just about anything on a dancefloor. Everything from retro to future soul, hip hop, jazz, disco, house, detroit techno, latin, drum’n’bass, new jazz, electronica, brazilian, reggae, funk, afro and much more is blended together with a fresh touch of b-boy sensibility. Basically he’s a dj you can book for a straight up house, hip hop or nu-jazz club but just as well to retro jazz, funk & latin clubs. He has on numerous occasions been voted Sweden’s best dj and is one of the most respected musical figures in Scandinavian club culture.
Nowadays Mats runs the internationally known Raw Fusion club once a month in the heart of Stockholm. The club has been running strong for over 8 years with diverse guest dj’s like Joe Claussell, DJ Spinna, Kerri Chandler, Peanut Butter Wolf, Jay Dee, Marcus Intalex, Theo Parrish, DJ Harvey, Jazzanova, Laurent Garnier, Richard Searling and Carl Craig just to name just a few. The club is a reflection of Mats musical personality and has become the by far the most important club for underground dance music in Scandinavia. Mats and his partners have also successfully arranged two international jazz/soul festivals, the first one in 1998 and the second in 2000. Both festivals where a great success and featured artists and dj’s like The Roots, Terry Callier, Gil-Scott Heron, Attica Blues, Faze Action, Gilles Peterson, Jazzanova, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Louie Vega and many more.
In 1999 the Fusion imprint released a compilation called “Fusion – A Soul Classics Collection” which was compiled by Mats himself. The record was mainly sold within Sweden but still managed to sell around 10000 units even though the musical message was far from commercially compromised. In 2002 the label is now grown into an independent record label, which is simply called Raw Fusion Recordings but is now run by Mats together with his partner Peo. Just like the club the label displays a wide mixture of black dance rhythms but always with that extra soulful approach. In 2003 Raw Fusion also started up Jugglin’ Rec, a sub-label where you can find more hip hop and soul influenced music.
When Mats is not in the clubs around the world spinning records he also has a part time job working in Stockholm premier record shop (Record Mania, Mats is mainly taking care of the vinyl orders but is also finding time to stand behind the counter recommending the latest imports from around the world.
With Mats it’s underground music 24 hours around the clock. Just the way he likes it!
Mad Mats guest spots (international):
Japan Tour 2005
Australian Tour 2004
Canada Tour 2004
Life Force (Tokyo)
Club Neo (Tokyo)
Metro (Kyoto)
Destination Out/Cargo (London)
Plastic People (London)
Off Centre/333 (London)
Warm (London)
Spiritual South (Brixton)
Seen (Bristol)
Jelly Jazz (Plymouth)
Jazz Rooms (Brighton)
Jazz Café (London)
Notting Hills Art Club (London)
Point 101 (London)
Heavenly Social (London)
Rainy City (Manchester)
The Vaults (Edinburgh)
The Velure (Dublin)
Movement (Toronto)
Mercury Lounge (Ottawa)
The Gods (Montreal)
Waffles & Falafels @ The Apartment (New York)
Turntables On The Hudson (New York)
Tropics Of Cancer (New York)
Coz (New York)
Soho Grand (New York)
Milk (San Francisco)
Weekend Club (Madrid)
Soul Back In House (Vitoria, Spain)
Kontrapunkt (Zagreb)
Le Marquise (Lyon)
Soultronik (Strasbourg)
Metronomic @ Tijuana Club (Gent)
Root Down (Freiburg)
Into Something (Munich)
Party Keller (Munich)
Soul Power (Cologne)
Jazzhouse (Freiburg)
WMF (Berlin)
Watergate (Berlin)
Sonar Kollektiv Festival (Berlin)
Franz Club (Berlin)
Delicious Doughnut (Berlin)
Depot (Tübingen)
Bag Of Goodies (Tübingen)
Vinyl Vibes (Cologne)
Kuppol (Bern)
Vibe Club (Augsburg)
Worldwide (Vienna)
Soulsugar (Vienna)
Kerma (Helsinki)
Wahoo (Helsinki)
Soda (Helsinki)
Spirit (Tallin)
Mutant Disco (Tallin)
Vega (Copenhagen)
Rust (Copenhagen)
Professor Bop (Aarhus)
Jazid (Oslo)
Head On (Oslo)
Bla (Oslo)
Fonii (Oslo)
Miles Ahead (Bergen)
Opera (Bergen)
Cafe Sting (Stavanger)