No musical Recloose

The oft-repeated tale of Matthew ‘Recloose’ Chicoine’s unusual ‘demo-on-rye’ entry into the music business has now become part of techno folklore. Suffice to say, on that fateful day in spring 1997, legendary Detroit producer, Carl Craig received an unusual sandwich courtesy of the then music student.

Almost immediately, he was signed to Carl’s Planet E label, resulting in his 12” debut, So This Is The Dining Room. “I tended to gravitate more towards Carl's take on the Detroit sound because it was experimental, deep, soulful, and weird all at the same time,” he says, explaining his reasons for approaching the well-respected producer.

“He helped me by sharing his studio knowledge, but more through developing my ear for the music he did and [with the] input he gave me into what I was doing.”

A year after the release of his well-received first album, 2002’s Cardiology, he relocated to New Zealand, but views his time spent in the city as crucial to his musical development.

“Starting out as a producer and DJ in Detroit, I was exposed to lots of different people, experiences and sounds I wouldn’t have come across growing up elsewhere… looking back, I’d definitely consider those years the most important in my aesthetic development.”

However, as well as having a considerable affect on his personal life, the move down under influenced his recording career: “Inevitably, my sound changed quite a bit because there were new stimuli at play - new sounds, an amazing culture and also the vastly different physical environment. Beyond this, I found a plethora of talented musicians here who I quickly began to work with, and I think this in turn did a lot to change the direction of what I was doing.”

Evidence of this could be seen on his 2005 follow-up album, Hiatus On The Horizon, which, thanks to Chicoine’s use of live instrumentation, was something of a departure from the largely electronic Cardiology.

Later that year he formed the 8-piece Recloose Live Band, featuring many of the artists he worked with on his sophomore release. The group went onto to tour New Zealand, Australia and Europe, also recording the funk compendium, Backwards and Sideways in 2007.

On listening to his third full-length effort, the forthcoming Perfect Timing, it’s not hard to see how playing with others in a live setting has helped Matt develop the musical template he first set out on Hiatus:

“What I tried to do more on this album was write songs that were dancefloor friendly, musically and sonically stimulating, and primarily driven by an electronic funk and soul aesthetic. Forming and playing regularly in a band with amazing musicians has helped develop my own confidence as a player and songwriter. As a producer working solely in the studio it was hard to imagine taking this musical leap, but the process helped demystify the dimensions of playing with other people and collaborating creatively.”

Perfect Timing seems to have roots in the soul and funk productions of the early eighties and indeed, Matt confirms that it was the records from this period that he took as inspiration when making the album.

“It was partly for nostalgia reasons, but I also felt a personal need to hear more of that electronic funk and soul sound that used to drive a lot of both underground and popular music. I think in the end the whole project worked because it was not a style that most of my co-writers were used to. It challenged them to try something a bit different to their experiences and I've found that getting musicians out of their comfort zones usually results in an exciting performance.”

However, despite the emphasis he’s put on recording and playing live with others of late, Matt foresees a return to more solo efforts in the near future.

“The studio is definitely beckoning and I anticipate I'll take to getting back to basics for a while in more of that Detroit, Planet E-days type approach - samplers and synths!”