It really is amazing someone can accomplish so much in a relatively short space of time. “It doesn’t feel like such a short time, but a cod answer is not wanting to get a real job.” We’ve all been there, doing absolutely anything to put off the inevitable decline into turning into your father, but Matthew has avoided that so far, so there must be something more meaningful driving him on.
As a matter of fact there is, “A deeper answer… would be that I just like telling stories”. Story telling would, it seems, be the common thread of his life, from his hip-hop DJ-ing through to the theatre. “It’s all talking about people from similar circumstances as me, expressing themselves through art. It’s all about perseverance… the plays I’m into reflects that too.” Well that’s something Matthew knows about, having told his mum at 17 he was dropping out of college to make his DJ-ing work on that hotbed of talent down in that there London, pirate radio, before being head hunted for 1Xtra (and directing music for plays on the side and joining the board of directors at Stratford Youth Theatre at 19). Other than storytelling, it would appear the other overarching theme to all his work is telling the stories of the streets, “of shining lights into dark crevices where you shouldn’t go and why we shouldn’t be sat in a scrap yard in Fleetwood watching people eke out an existence”. It should be pointed out that we’re not actually sat in Fleetwood, but upstairs at the Playhouse on the set of Daniel Matthew’s debut play ‘Scrappers’, which Matthew has been directing.
So how has a man who has spent his whole life in London ended up working in a provincial theatre? Other than the fact there was a decent job going, he felt like he had “banging his head on a glass ceiling in London. It’s a chance to learn new skills and learn about regional theatre. And get out of the London bubble. Plus there’s the personal link, my girlfriend’s from these parts and my old drama teacher run’s 20 Stories High [which is a theatre company based in the city,] so I’ve got a readymade network.” But he always manages to find a way to come back to the music and it’s multifaceted relationship with theatre, despite putting music somewhat on the backburner, “as it exists as brand down in London, so I’m prepared to concentrate on directing … but I have actually been asked to write a piece of music for a short piece as part of Everyword at the Blind School [opposite the Phil], it adds a sense of experience to what could just be the small showing of a new work.” I guess you could say that re-appropriating derelict spaces and turning them into something new is part of the ‘quiet revolution’ that is part of so much of Matthew’s work; from ‘Scrappers’ to the backpack hip-hop he’s helped so many fall in love with.
Nonetheless, it’s gonna take some time for this restless chap to settle in right? I mean he is here for the long haul (especially as his option was Shrewsbury – no disrespect to our southern brothers, but ha!), but “I’ve not really discovered [the local hip hop scene], I’ve always known Kof and his manager Yaw, but that’s my only link to it but I’m thinking about setting up a clubnight if I can. If the audience is there...”
It really shouldn’t take him long to find his feet – our nascent scene is beginning to properly flourish, with the likes of No Fakin’ DJs, Nicky Talent, 2K and Jamie Broad beginning to make waves with a number of quality live performances over the summer (including an excellent night with all three supporting the legends that are the Pharcyde). Well Mr Xia, Liverpool really does hopes you stick around for a while.
[CL1]Dead cheesey but I am terrible at thinking of titles. Use anything better if you can think of it?
