It seems only yesterday that Brisbane’s underground subculture was buzzing with the bulletin that Matt Kitshon was due home from China’s Shanghai. Always an enigmatic character in Brisbane’s clubbing vista, his years abroad had maintained that ambience of mystery, which not only stood out from the crowd, but served to lead and inspire the Brisbane scene. It’s now the first anniversary since his return, and he’s stayed true to form as a ‘serial non-conformist’. With his tall figure and intimidating appearance, complete with multiple tattoos and piercings, you might be be understandably terrified to come across Matt Kitshon in a dark alleyway. “I’m a vampire,” he states by way of explanation, as he tucks into a hearty breakfast at 9.00 at night. I don’t dare argue with him – he even has the same piercing blue eyes as the characters of Underworld.

Hailing from Sunnybank, Matt grew up in a stable middle class ‘normal’ family with a mother as a homemaker, and a dad as a foreman. Matt was bred on a diet of Australian rock, though he admits that he was introduced to Carmen, Cats and Les Miserables. At twelve, he branched out and purchased his first record, Fame – though he maintains that the gift of a toy record player from six was the catalyst to his vinyl addiction. Why didn’t he ever become a musician? “My grade 2 teacher stifled twenty years of music prowess,” he grins. “I got handed a triangle.” What does music mean to him? “It’s so powerful,” he outlines. “It’s a drug you take through your ears. It changes your mood, your perceptions. It takes you back in time. It’s my universe.”

The first club Matt ever went into as a punter was the Beergarden at Expo ‘88, though he became a regular at such clubs as Patches at The Arena, Manhattan, Scores, and especially The Beat – usually heading through the backdoor for entry into Brisbane’s premier gay bar. Brisbane nightlife of the late 80s and early 90s meant that if you wanted to listen to anything alternative to the norm, you had to go to gay bars. “That’s where the dance music was at,” Matt comments. Listening to then Beat residents such as Angus and Kessin, Matt notes that guys like Mark Briais, Jason Rouse and DJ Freestyle all ‘came out’ as DJs at the same time as a result of listening to the fresh rhythms from The Beat. “I loved that music,” Matt reminisces. “The music was tough; it was driving. At 140BPMs, it was acid heavy and just hard on the floor.” Working throughout the day, Matt was at clubs at night and his DJing came about as a transition from ‘professional clubbing’.

“I never intended it to be a profession – it was an escape from day to day that grew into something more.” In 1995/96, Matt and Mark Briais started “Millennium”, a night of underground house on Thursday nights at The Tube. “I didn’t get paid a cent ‘cos I loved it,” Matt comments. “All the artists got paid – but I never made anything. I didn’t need to. It was for the love of the art.” Matt was also responsible for the Secret Sessions parties in northern NSW, including Fingal Beach which happened once every few months and they were free, by invitation only. “But they weren’t exactly legal. It was a very ‘summer of love’ hippy-esque sorta vibe.” By 1997 these parties were “outta control. Four hundred people were turning up; they took advantage of the situation,” he accounts. “The impact on the environment was becoming an issue too. I don’t wanna be doing more than damage than I have to.” Then warehouse parties took over in Brisbane. “It was really a straight community who had started their ‘education going to The Beat,” Matt expresses. “A different mash of people from different walks of life would be there for the music – and no other reason.”

By 1998, Matt was playing at any number of clubs, with a notoriety as a DJ who could mess with your head and keep the beats hard, with gigs all over town. “This is my life, my passion. I’ve sacrificed alot for this.” Like what? “I stayed with a dayjob I hated to support my vinyl habit. And relationships with people.” Matt states. “I have to be a recluse,” he points out. “I don’t want to be too caught up in the club culture. Besides, I’m not defined by what I do. I was rude and obnoxious before I played records for a living.” Having “raped, pillaged, divided and conquered”, Matt chose to look beyond his home borders and left Brisbane. “I had been in the same position for a long time,” Matt claims. “I couldn’t see a way forward and I was stagnating. I was wondering what the f*ck I had done with my life.”

A move to Shanghai changed Matt’s perspective of the world. “China taught me patience. I’ve gotten softer,” Matt grins. “Most importantly, I didn’t lose the passion for what I do.” Playing in a variety of clubs throughout Asia, Matt notes that “Australians have grown up surrounded by music on the radio and in clubs. But Chinese people don’t really know anything outside of traditional Chinese music and Canto-Pop. So, I was playing something that was really new to them. There is so much segregation of music today,” Matt acknowledges. “You hear the same bassline for two hours supposedly with twenty different artists – where is the creativity? So much of music is commercialised with the artists exploited. Sure you have to compromise in the grand scheme of things, but you can walk the line between education and tunes people are familiar with.”

So what’s his signature sound? “I don’t have a signature sound,” Matt attests. “Really, my best traits are my eclectic tastes. It’s nice to have changes in music,” Matt notes. “I can play anything and like anything – except for beats over 160BPMs. I just can’t appreciate it. But I’ll play house, tech and maybe even breakdown into DnB.”

With the rather spectacular move from Shanghai to Brisbane for the opening of The Met, Matt notes that it was “exciting to see everything come together. From seeing the paint not even on the walls, to setting up the sound system. Within the twelve months I’ve been there, it’s done really well,” Matt acknowledges. “The Met has gone from strength to strength. Anyone can do a party – but not anyone can keep a club banging. The issue is though, I’m me. A big club can become impersonal. Two thousand people in the one room wouldn’t notice the difference between me or Carl Cox – and that takes away the reason why I started playing records. Education in a small room is much easier. I needed to do my own thing and play the music I wanted to play. I have a good work ethic – I don’t mind the responsibility. But I really needed the change, a different perspective. I couldn’t step back from what I was doing. The Met won’t change at all. It’s a great team but they don’t need me. The only difference about Met now is that I’m not there. I needed to go out and do my own thing again; be more in control of my DJing. Now I’m unattached, I can do what I like; pick and choose. I’ve got lots more free time these days!”

So where is he now then? He’s excited about Planet and MASS in particular. “I’m looking forward to working with the Kink brand. I think that’s more suited to me. I just have more fun playing to fifty people who want to be there than the four thousand who don’t care. While I give kudos to good quality popular music, there isn’t an art to playing hits. DJs are really just educated jukeboxes. It’s not like you’re a recording artist or a musician for fucks sakes!” Matt laughs. “Being a DJ is like any other profession – it can be taught and be picked up. I’m not sure how much art is in DJing compared to a musician. It’s not my music – it’s my selection, my mix, my pick of tunes that I present,” he says.

“DJ is what I do – not the sum of my heart. No DJ is more than the music they play. My job doesn’t give me an insight into life or change my outlook. I just love what I do. For me, it’s about taking the unknown tunes and making them accessible. I’m too underground to be enjoyed commercially but not underground enough to be ‘underground’” Matt grins. While he promises that he will be staying for another year at least, Matt also reveals he’s looking forward to more interstate and international touring. “Like Japan and China. I’ve got meetings in Berlin when I head to the UK at the end of December where I also have a couple of gigs lined up in London. It sure will be an exciting time!”

With a passion for discussions on philosophy, politics and religions, Matt doesn’t judge or discriminate – preferring to hate everyone equally. “I’m sarcastic bastard who is also a tormented soul at heart,” Matt notes. “I know I’m hard to deal with.” What if you hadn’t been a DJ? I ask him. “I’d have been the perfect assassin,” Matt responds. “If there’s a war, you want me on your side.”

Fortunately for Brisbane, there is no war, though when you hit the dancefloors on Planet Nightclub and MASS, it will be hard not to believe as his rampant rhythms and noxious beats tear at your musical soul – as Matt Kitshon is determined to render brain cells senseless. For the moment at least, Brisbane’s former ‘Lost Son’ remains with us still; and long may he reign supreme.

Catch the enigma playing at the following dates in the leadup to New Years…

Dec 21st: Dusk @ Planet Nightclub
Dec 21st:Edukated DJs @ Monastery Nightclub
Dec 22nd: MASS Nightclub
Dec 22nd: Planet Nightclub
Dec 25th: Xmas @ The Monastery
Dec 29th: Mass
Dec 29th: Planet