Matthew Charles

If it’s a lifestyle you’re looking for then you can’t go far wrong tagging along with Matthew Charles, summers in Ibiza and winters in Dubai! 2006 saw Matthew take pride of place in one of the highest profile residences in house music, Café Mambo Ibiza. Alongside Alex Wolfeneden of Circus fame he, on a daily basis, welcomed the insurmountable talents of Roger Sanchez, Erick Morillo, Pete Tong, Sasha, Frankie Knuckles, Masters at Work, Deep Dish, Junior Jack & Kid Crème, in fact too many to mention here. The highlight of Café Mambos season, as always, being Radio 1 weekend. For one weekend in August the national radio station broadcasts live back to the UK to an audience of millions on the airwaves and the World Wide Web. As if this wasn’t enough, Pete Tongs aptly named Essential Selection was broadcast live every Friday in August from the Mambo studio and DJ box. I’m sure you will agree a musical array of talent any nightclub would be proud of.

As well as his daily seven, yes seven, hour sets at Café Mambo Matthew found time to hold down a residency on Pacha terrace playing weekly at Defected In The House. However Matthews personal highlight for the summer was being given his opportunity to man the main room decks at Pacha flagship night Pure Pacha. Billed alongside Pete Tong, Claudio Cocolluto and Bodyrockers Matthew was rightly excitable, “What a night and what a room to play in. Everyone is here for a good time and more importantly to dance. For me it was effortless and so enjoyable, I hope that came across. Definitely the highlight of my career so far.”

Unsurprisingly Matthews talents were not only restricted to the DJ box. While on the White Isle Matthew managed to squeeze time into writing two separate diaries one for M8 Magazine in the UK and the other for Infusion in Dubai, both of which essential publications for all the up to date info in their respective markets and Worldwide. All this in his first year as a resident on the White Isle, who knows what’s going to happen next year!

Matthew started DJing in his early teens when his ever expanding record collection found him being asked to play private parties in and around his hometown of Paisley which in-turn, as his notoriety rose, led to him being offered his first residency. Every Thursday Matthew would play to 800 plus regulars, quite an apprenticeship. After a couple of years honing his skills and developing his sound Matthew went in search of sunnier climes. In the summer of ’95 Matthew spent 4 months DJing in the now infamous Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa holding down a club and bar residency while guesting at the “Kool Klub” and after hours club Aquarium. Not one to limit his options on his return to Scotland Matthew embarked on a Ba Hons Degree in Marketing and it was during this time he started to promote his own nights in Paisley and Glasgow. Thanks to his hard work Matthew was offered two residencies at the 2000 capacity Glasgow superclub Archaos and a residency at style club Babaza. However he was not restricted to these venues and was regularly seen playing at various style bars and clubs throughout the West of Scotland including the Tunnel, Trash, Budda, The Velvet Rooms and the Glasgow residency of Birmingham glam monsters Miss Moneypennys.

On completion of his degree Matthew took up a sales position at afore mentioned UK clubbing bible M8 Magazine. His day to day responsibilities aside Matthew also managed to find himself alongside not just the best Scotland had to offer but the UK as a whole, the pinnacle of which was DJing with Galaxy Radios Allister Whitehead. It was while at M8 Matthew was given the opportunity to go to European clubbing Capital, Ibiza. What originally was a 2 week working assignment, after the offer of work, soon turned into 4 months. Although Matthew had been going to the White Isle since’94, ’01 was the first time he had made it his temporary home. Although finding himself DJing at Bar M, Savannah, Fabric, Ancient People and Miss Moneypennys Pre Parties like any other aspiring DJ on the Island he had to make ends meet. Putting his Marketing degree to full use Matthew became a flyerer for Godskitchen @ Amnesia and then latterly Roger Sanchez Release Yourself @ IL Divino, “The glamour was relentless.”

Once back in Glasgow Matthew continued to guest at various venues in the West of Scotland but it wasn’t long before the itch for sunnier climes needed scratched, this time it was Dubai. “Arriving in a city that was still in its early stages of developing a scene was kinda exciting. It was a chance to establish a name for myself and grow as the scene grew,” and grow he did. Within a year of being in Dubai Matthew had completed a 6 month residency at Ginseng (influential pre party bar), establish a still running residency at the legendary Sundays at Carters and developed working relationships with all the major promoters, Newdawn, DNA Events, Fluid, and Vibe resulting in playing at all the important venues such as Peppermint Club, ibo, M Level, Oxygen, The Lodge etc billed alongside John Digweed, Benny Bennasi, Harry Romero, Tall Paul, Junior Jack & Kid Crème. However just around the corner was a DJ competition of massive proportions.

Heineken Found@Thirst is a worldwide search for tomorrows DJ talent today and after visiting 32 countries and playing to over 200,000 clubbers worldwide it landed in the Gulf region. With entries from all over the GCC it narrowed down to 30 DJs playing in five heats in Dubai (2), Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Oman. The winner of each heat won themselves a 30 minute slot in the Grand final to take place in Dubai with none other than Paul Oakenfold and Danielle Davoli as two of the four Judges. On Wednesday 6th October 2004 Matthew was crowned Heineken Found@Thirst Winner for the GCC region. The very next night as part of his prize Matthew played alongside Paul, Danielle and Ireland finalist and Scent lead singer Miss Motif to a crowd of over 3,000 clubbers on the Dubai coastline. I think you’ll agree another milestone in Matthews career. The following year and a half Matthews' reputation and confidence grew to the point when he heard from the horses’ mouth that Pete Gooding wasn’t going back to his long standing Café Mambo residency he called Charlie Chester and asked if he would put him forward for the vacant job. The rest as they say is history.

Now tucked up safely back in Dubai after his summer in Ibiza Matthew has been welcomed back to his residences at Carters and Trilogy, voted Nightclub of the Year 2006, as well as adding a weekly residency at 360 which was recently named in the Top Ten bars in the World by FHM. With international dates coming from the UK, Middle East, Asia and Australia, another summer in Ibiza and his residencies in Dubai it looks like 2007 is going to be Matthews busiest year yet!