Matt Crepeau will share the DJ booth with Shoulders on Wednesday 5th of June here at Phanganist, we catch up with him to find out what he is all about...
Hi , so tell us your Phangan story…
I came to the island for the first time in 2007. The first person I met was Marc London an ex-pat from the UK who had been here since the 90’s. He took me around the island to Guys Bar and Backyard and he let me play music at those places.
He was really great at offering me guidance in those early days. People like Marc truly helped bring the DJ culture to the island early and paved the way for every DJ here today whether Thai or foreign. I was saddened to hear that Marc passed away a few years ago.
Have you been djing a long time?
Since 1997 I’ve considered myself a DJ. There’s been times I worked 5 nights a week in Bangkok and times I only played 5 times a year in USA. So I started 20 years ago but it's been off and on.
How did you get into it?
In the mid 90’s during my teenage years I was really into the mixtape culture that came from NYC. I was living in Haverhill, Massachusetts and getting a new mixtape meant it was a copy of a copy that had to make its way up from NYC.
The Latino kids from my neighborhood were always the first ones to get the tapes. They seemed to have a cousin in every city between where we were at and NYC who would pass the tapes along up the interstate.
My favorite tapes back then were from DJ Doo Wop. Listening to Doo Wop ‘95 Live’ mixtape made me want to become a Hip Hop DJ. Around 1996 Rave culture was big in America and I went to a Rave called ‘Operation Boom’. I heard electronic DJs and saw kids break dancing for the first time at ‘Boom’.
Between 1998 and 2001 I worked at the college radio station and played Hip Hop records on air.
I went to school in the mountains and started to DJ at snowboarding events and this meant lugging turntables in the snow up a hill. The Snowboarding event work led to a job with Red Bull North America and this led to my transition from Hip Hop to Electronic music. Red Bull really changed my life and got me away from the hood mentality of the 90s. I started going to see DJs play at the ‘Phoenix Landing’ in Cambridge, Massachusetts which is a tiny bar with an amazing sound system and it really influenced me. I wanted to dig for the best records and spent time at ‘Satellite Records’ in Boston.
(Photo courtesy of Robo Wynn)
Sum up what kind of musical journey you take people on…
If I had to describe what I play as a journey it’d be like a trip through Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, London, Berlin and Zurich as far origins of the sound.
What have been some of your best gigs?
The 2000 US Open Snowboard Championships at Stratton, Vermont USA. The 2001 ‘Stimilon Motocross Challenge’ in New Hampshire, USA.
August 2007 Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan Thailand. October 2009 at an abandoned mansion in County Kerry, Ireland. 2010 ‘Varblane Terrace’, Tallinn Estonia. December 2010 Koh Chang ‘Extravaganza’, Koh Chang, Thailand.
Resident DJ position at Hotel Muse in Bangkok 2012. April 2014 ‘Magic Garden’, Koh Chang Thailand. Rhythm Alliance Stage, 2016 ‘Revolt Festival’, Maine USA.
You'll play Phanganist on the 5th of July, what will you do?
I heard I’m working with Gary Shoulders from London so it should be fun to go back and forth track for track and play off what he is doing.
What makes you unique in the Techno/House world?
I’m not so unique but I’m just as every bit competent as the next DJ whether superstar or hobbyist. I’m not too different from a DJ you’d find in Brooklyn or St. Petersburg.
Why this music in particular?
It’s an escape from the mainstream of information people are force fed in society. It’s meant to free a person not lock them into place. Move your body and open your mind to it.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
My first overall goal is to stay as healthy as possible. This has already been a big year for me as I went back to USA and graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor's in Communication. It still hasn’t really set in that I’ve finally graduated.
From here out I’m looking at career prospects where I can do something creative. I’ll stay on this island a while where if possible I’d like to maybe teach English or work in a resort.
What do you like to do in your free time on Phangan?
I’ve taken advantage of the low season rates on hotel rooms and got a super comfortable place for wicked cheap. In the room I got the fridge stocked with Red Bull and I spend some time on music and social media.
Mostly I got the Aircon blasting and Deutsche Welle Television (DW News) and RT (Russia Today) playing. I haven’t binged on international news in ages.
Some mornings I hit the breakfast buffets because...endless bacon. I’ve made a Vlog with a selfie stick while walking Haad Rin. I’d really like to make more Vlogs from the beach.
And leave us with your music philosophy….
Music has been a motivating factor in how I lived for a long time. I’ve travelled the world because of music driving me to want to go to new places. In the US I would drive 4 hours to Brooklyn for Techno party and I flew 10 hours to Berlin for the Techno scene.
Sometimes I get to play but mostly I like to go hear others play. I’ve never been a DJ who is above listening to other DJs or going to parties I’m not playing at.
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