Herbert, Matthew

Matthew releases his music under a host of pseudonyms . In his opinion, their abundance serves a lofty goal - to confuse the public and prevent such a state of affairs so that the consumer is guided by a well-known and well-known name. The quality of music should be the only motive for its acquisition, the merits of the product should govern the ball - this ideal Matthew calls the word Meritocracy .

Matthew has three most famous and well-known pseudonyms: Herbert is a straightforward, although not without some minimalist house , sometimes with vocals ; Dr.Rockit - electro with a large number of synthesizer keyboards and with shades of jazz ; Wishmountain - rhythmic and quite dance music made from purely non-musical sounds. ^[one]

Matthew released his first record under the pseudonym Mumblin 'Jim in 1994 on t: me label . After that, he changed a lot of fictitious names, as well as record companies .

Wishmountain (1992-1997)

The nickname was born in 1992 at Exeter University. It is here that Matthew is visited by ideas about the relationship of music with the sounds of the environment , and he begins to collect them intensively. After meeting with Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard (founders of Global Communication), Matthew is determined with a direction in his work. In 1996, under this pseudonym, the first EP Radio recorded on the label Evolution / Universal Language Productions Ltd. Subsequently, most releases of Wishmountain were released by Antiphon.

Live performances are an integral part of this project. In the process of execution, Matthew tries to reveal the essence of a particular track , to make the audience begin to react. So, in 1995 , speaking in Glasgow , he managed to keep the attention of the thousandth public, using only a package of chips . Subsequently, his performances became more and more theatrical : Wishmountain becomes a character with its own wardrobe , entourage. The package of chips is replaced by a whole set of kitchen accessories: bottles , forks , plates , tea mugs . Speaking for two years in different countries of the world, Matthew is saturated with the created show and decides to close the project.

Tracks released under this pseudonym always consist of eight sounds taken from one source; the source of these sounds is indicated directly in the name of a particular composition ^[2] .

Doctor Rockit (1995-2004)

The first releases of Doctor Rockit took place on the label Clear, an influential record company in the mid -1990s , which was outside the club movement, more committed to the genre of electric and near-jazz electronic music. What was first designated as an electric project soon grew into something more compelling: Matthew tried to take elements of specific music from the Wishmountain project and add more laid-back, but “raw” swing elements.

The project gained popularity immediately after performances in Germany with the label of Patrick Poulzinger Cheap Records] in 1996 . In 1997 , the full release of "The Music Of Sound" was released on the same Clear. The songs on the album contain samples of ambient sounds from Matthew’s childhood (The Walk, Runner on Hastings beach), as well as noise recorded in restaurants and hotels he visited in Austria with Pulzinger during that period (Motel Rhythm and Café Beograd).

The next release of Indoor Fireworks was released on Matthew Lifelike's own label in 2000 . The album continued the theme of "reflection of everyday life." Here you can hear samples from the celebration of the New Year in Barcelona (Welcome), and the sounds of the engine of the old father's car, and Sydney traffic lights (Metro).

Doctor Rockit marked his departure with the release of the compilation "The Unnecessary History Of Doctor Rockit" on his own label Accidental Records in 2004 . The release collected songs from the early EPs released on Clear to the last single on Lifelike. Matthew made the decision to close the project when he realized that the boundaries between his pseudonyms began to blur and interpenetrate each other. This fact, perhaps, served as a reason for him in the future to record all the works under his own name. ^[3]

Herbert (1995 - present)

The pseudonym by which the majority defines Matthew's work. In the mid-1990s, he released a series of 12 " singles on the Phono label, later compiled on the album" 100lbs ", thereby deeply penetrating into house music to create a specific set of sounds that would later become his hallmark. From that time, he begins to work, combining material of his own composition with pre-configured equipment ( drum machine ).

His musical style takes on a clear shape with the advent of jazz singer Dani Siciliano and the simultaneous release of Around The House on Phonography, later reissued on Studio! K7. The release combines dance house rhythms, sounds made by kitchen utensils, and Dani's vocals. Starting from this time, Matthew decides to become less attached to the "dance floor" and more presses on the "plot" of his compositions.

With the release of the album "Bodily Functions" ( 2001 ), the main issue of creativity was the problem of human existence in an age of indifference. Music tells of birth, death, and everything that flows between these phenomena.

Herbert

• 100 lbs (1996)
• “Parts One Two and Three” (1996)
• Parts Remixed (1996)
• Around the House (1998)
• Bodily Functions (2001)
• Secondhand Sounds: Herbert Remixes (2002)
• Scale (2006)

Matthew Herbert

• Letsallmakemistakes (Globus Mix Vol. 5) (1995)
• Plat du Jour (2005)
• “Score” (2006)
• Recomposed: Mahler symphony X (2010)
• One One (2010)
• One Club (2009)
• One Pig (2011)
• The End of Silence (2013)

Doctor Rockit

• "The Music of Sound" (1996)
• Indoor Fireworks (2000)
• Veselka's Diner (2003)
• “The Unnecessary History of Doctor Rockit” (2004)

The Matthew Herbert Big Band

• Goodbye Swingtime (2003)
• “There's Me and There's You” (2008)
• "The State Between Us" (2019)

Radio Boy

• Wishmountain Is Dead, Long Live Radio Boy (1997)
• The Mechanics of Destruction (2001)

Wishmountain

• Wishmountain (1998)
• Wishmountain Is Dead (1998)

• Official site
• Matthew Herbert Fan Site
• Musician Record Label Website