Matt Xavier's tastes as a teenager included a diverse mixture of psychedelic rock and aggressive street beats, not to mention the hip-hop sounds and influences of Eric B & Rakim, NWA, EPMD, Slick Rick and Gangstarr. This eclectic blend of street and psychedelia led to Matt's mastery of combining atmospheric tech house with tribal grooves, and psychedelic techno and breaks.

In 1993, on his 17th birthday, he was stunned by techno music at the raging Club NASA parties in... Read more Matt Xavier's tastes as a teenager included a diverse mixture of psychedelic rock and aggressive street beats, not to mention the hip-hop sounds and influences of Eric B & Rakim, NWA, EPMD, Slick Rick and Gangstarr. This eclectic blend of street and psychedelia led to Matt's mastery of combining atmospheric tech house with tribal grooves, and psychedelic techno and breaks.

In 1993, on his 17th birthday, he was stunned by techno music at the raging Club NASA parties in Manhattan's Tribeca district. While hanging around the chill-out rooms of NY clubs, many NYC deep house and techno DJ's turned him on to the sounds of Source Experience, Plastikman, Vapourspace, Orbital, Braincell, Irresistible Force, Moby and Aphex Twin. As those sounds enhanced his new love for electronic music, his expectations changed: he became interested in NYC club promotion and first felt the impact of Long Island's nightclub culture at Club Caffeine. Matt knew one thing for sure after that: he had to get involved.

Using business insight he gained as a NYC and Caffeine promoter, Matt and a partner Mike McEvoy formed Island Vibe Network and began organizing warehouse events in the Long Island area. By 1995, Matt's determination led him to discover a new techno format emerging from England and Germany: Psychedelic Trance (GOA). Soon, he was organizing the first psy-trance parties in and throughout NY's Long Island area. His DJing of the earliest GOA set at the legendary Caffeine led to Matthew being considered the pioneer of the Psychedelic/GOA format on the East Coast of North America, which led to his foundation of the extremely successful psy-trance production company, Tsunami Productions.

With Matthew Magic as resident DJ and Music Director, his company organized the first psy-trance acid parties in NYC and began a trend that soon dominated the East Coast. His dedication to the format and culture has been key to the creation of today's scene: his company was responsible for major events at Liberty Science Center Museum, Island of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Pavilion, Manhattan Center, Roseland, Vinyl, Limelight, Tunnel, Life, and Asbury Park Center. DJing has taken him around the country to events such as the Burning Man, WEMF, Ultra @ WMC, Caribbean Eclipses Fest, Moontribe, Stuck On Earth and many others. Matt's work came full circle when he gained a coveted Friday night DJ spot at his electronic "birthplace", The Shelter (VINYL). His Tsunami events successfully rotated with Danny Teneglia's "Be Yourself" parties for 1-½ wild years. Performing to packed-in crowds, he shared his stage with over 80 live acts and DJs including BT, Slide, Mark Allen & Tim Healy of Electric Tease & Quirk, Francesco Farfa, Tsuyoshi Suzuki, KoxBox, X-Dream, Total Eclipse, Dick Trevor, Hallucinogen, Josh Wink, Micro & Frankie Bones. At the same time, his impulse to create dance music flourished as he attended college to study the audio engineering and music theory required to create quality dance music.

As the millennium came to its end, so did Matt's work in the Psychedelic culture. His tastes had changed, and he yearned for more musical diversity than the GOA format could offer. January of 2000 saw his last days as a devoted psy-trance spokesman, but opened a world of new opportunities, many yet to be seen.


Sumantri - Bad Little Girl - [Gruvhaus Dogtown Z Mix]; Chug Records
Color Freq 'Mind Lattice' (Polyester Music)
Color Freq 'Mind Lattice' [Gruvhaus Twisted Mind Mix]; Polyester Music
Gruvhaus 'Manhattanights' (Annex)
Gruvhaus 'Learning Process' (Annex)
Gruvhaus 'Intimate Connection' (Tree House)
Gruvhaus 'Inspired By' (Release Records)
Gruvhaus 'Frostreet' (Fugu Records)

Musical influences:
Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Nine Inch Nails, Digable Planets, Eric B & Rakim, Epmd, NWA, Dr.Dre, Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Slick Rick, Brand Nubien, Digital Underground, Nice & Smooth, Gangstarr, Special ED, Fatboys, Run DMC, Portishead, Massive Attack, Orbital, KoxBox, Plastikman, The Source Experience, Vapourspace, Pure Science, Cari Lekebusch, Braincell, Genecom, Vector, Jesper Dahlback, Lenk, Freaky Chakra, Single Cell Orchestra, Soul Oddity, Mr.C, Terry Francis, Nathan Coles, Jay Tripwire, Swag, Richard Brown, RAC, Cherry Bomb, Grant Dell, Asad Rizvi, Craig Richards, Hipp-e, Peace Divison, Spincycle, Junkie XL, Voyager, Hi-Fi Bugs, Andy Page, Vibrasphere, Son Kite, Ticon, Blue Planet Corporation, Eat Static, Green Nuns of the Revolution, Simon Posford, Hallucinogen, Shpongle, The Infinity Project, Slinky Wizard, Sheyba, Orion, Gab Oliver, Deep Funk Project, Dj Purple, Slide, Oliver Lieb, LSG, Irresistable Force, Mixmaster Morris, SYZYGY, Tipper, Crunch, K&D, Tribstoff, Coco Steel and Lovebomb, Anoesis, Casper Pound, New London School of Electronics, Future Sound of London, X-Dream (the german guys), The Advent, Bushwacka, Dave Mothersole, Der Dritte Raum, Speedy J, DRAX, Symbiosis, Air Liquide, Frankie Bones, Jimmy Crash, Adam X, X-Crash, Reade Truth, Brian Walters, Dj Denard, Heather Heart & Under One Sky.

Studio Productions:
Matt's first venture into the production field was under the name GRUVHAUS. The "Frostreet" project combined elements of driving tech house percussion, wet dubby atmospheres and a fat rolling bassline. To say the least, it was a success! "Frostreet" was quickly signed to SOG Records sub-label FUGU and immediately picked up by U.K. tech house DJ Terry Francis for Club Fabric mix series "Fabric #02". It climbed to #12 on the Balance Promotion chart and is still considered a favorite among the tech house Dj culture. His second release GRUVHAUS -"Inspired By" was signed to Canadian record store RELEASE RECORDS. "Inspired by" reached #10 on Balance and gained worldwide support from circuit DJs such as, Deep Dish, John Digweed, Jimmy Van M, Chris Fortier, Max Graham, Trendoid, Medway and Plastic Fantastic.

Following that was a small experimental venture on a newly formed Brooklyn tech house label ANNEX. The Clean Serene EP's deep minimal feel, dubby grooves and delicate melody gained excellent chartings with many underground enthusiasts. Matt Xavier's progressive project COLOR FREQ-"Mind Lattice" was immediately signed to UK powerhouse label, HOPE RECORDINGS, for POLYESTER MUSIC and puts him in rank with all too successful Timo Maas, Max Graham, Starecase, Leon Alexander, and Ian Wilkie. This outing incorporated his past psychedelic influences, but also opened the door for his first remix as GRUVHAUS. The "Twisted Mind Remix" soon earned Matthew a remix of Sumantri's 'bad little girl' for Chug Records Canada.

DJing:
Matt Xavier now holds 2 resident DJ positions in Los Angeles for such long running events as Green Sector and $2 Tuesdays at 'The Mor' and regularly performs at the famous southern California Full Moon Desert Gatherings for Moontribe. His DJ style blends dubbed-out atmospheric tech house with tribal-influenced grooves, and uses deeper forms of psychedelic techno or tripped-out breaks to top off the set. With many years of peak-time dance floor experience, he can satisfy the most demanding high-energy audiences, and his love for deeper soundscapes offers an experimental aura that can bend the mind of any after-hours dancer. His combination of music theory and positive energy enables Matt to cultivate an aggressive "in key" mixing style that's sure to please any listeners -- and leave them wondering which record is which! Show less