Manning the DJ table

Known for his funky hip-hip mix and ranting, scratching style, KutMasta Kurt (Kurt Matlin) started DJing back in the '80s at Santa Cruz, California's community radio station KUSP. His show aired on Saturday nights and featured live mixing, rhyming, and beat boxing. It was in the early '90s when he started DJing in the Bay Area that he hooked up with renowned rapper Kool Keith, the former leader of Ultramagnetic MC's. Since then, it seems like the two can never be separated.

"It's challenging, but it's fun, because he's such an eccentric guy. We challenge each other's ideas and it's a lot of fun working with him," Matlin spoke of his relationship with Keith in an interview before his show at Q Bar on February 10. "Now we're working on 'Dr Dooom; Part Two'. Kool Keith will be the serial killer, psychopathic rapper - I mean the character. We're finishing up right now. I think it's better than the first part; it has this blasting hip-hop sound to it, funny lyrics and it has like this dark and violent side to it. To me it feels like horror movies, you know, they try to be serious and horrifying but they're funny."

His previous works, mostly collaborations with Kool Keith and Motion Man, include "Sex Style" (1997), "Dr Dooom - First Come, First Served" (1999), "Matthew" (2000) and "Diesel Truckers" in 2004 - the same year Matlin released his first compilation album "Redneck Games".

Besides producing and DJing, Matlin practically does everything one can in the music production. "If you want to make a living in the music business, you've got to be able to do everything. I do music productions for groups on my label Threshold Recordings, remixes, engineering and mixing sometimes, cut vinyl, tour management and booking. Now I want to do more composing and arranging."

Matlin had just finished the two-month long tour in Australia and was scheduled to perform at Q Bar in Bangkok and Koh Samui. His long awaited second act in Thailand was greeted by a legion of fans that gradually filled the dance floor. Unfortunately, they wouldn't get to see the maestro with his signature mask on this time. "I lost it," he says. "I was in Germany and somehow I lost it. The guy found it and he sent it to me. But he put it on a boat or something, so it's going take a long time. The thing is I don't wear it as much as I used to, because there's this guy called MF Doom that started wearing a mask. So I feel like he copied me a little, and some people that don't really know me think I copy him. Then I had to explain this to people."

Mellow and laid-back with no baggy trousers or bling-bling accessories on, Matlin might not appear as a hip-hop DJ to some. He even got refused to get on the stage in the Czech Republic once for not looking "cool" enough to be a big name DJ. Perhaps pimping the look is not what he can do very well, but surely his styles spur collaborations with talents from more underground collectives such as Planet Asia and Blackalicious to Beastie Boys, Luscious Jackson and Linkin Park.

"When they were still Hybrid Theory, they wanted to do something with their album and they came to me with the demo." Matlin recalled his encounter with Linkin Park in the remix version of the global hit "In The End" back in 2002. The version also featured Matlin's long-time collaborator MC Motion Man. "I thought [the demo] was okay but it didn't grab me so to speak. But they liked what I did and they wanted to work with me.

Normally I don't approach people, I want people to come to me and ask me to work with them because they like what I do. Actually what I do as a producer is to see their vibes, recognise where their strengths are and help them develop those strengths. Producers have different attitudes about collaboration. I'm more like a person who likes to adapt and not demanding people to do what they don't want to."

When he DJs, though, it's different. "Sometimes I have certain music that I like and sometimes I have to play something else because the crowd wants to hear it. DJing is kind of like that. I'm very opinionated about what I like but I can keep everybody happy, no big deal."

Manta Klangboonkrong