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Optical (musician)

Optical
Born
Matthew Quinn

London, England
NationalityBritish
Other namesTeknarchi, Morpheus, Matt Quinn, Arteq, Fly By Wire, Little Matt, Area 39
Occupation(s)Musician, DJ, producer, record label owner
Years active1992–present
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Sampler, turntable, drum machine, synthesizer
Labels

Matt Quinn, known by his stage name Optical, is a British musician, producer and DJ. He is co-founder and owner of Virus Recordings,[1] a widely regarded drum and bass record label. He is best known as one half of drum and bass duo Ed Rush and Optical (with his long-time musical partner Ed Rush), whose debut album Wormhole has been described as one of the most significant LPs of the drum and bass genre.[2] He is also the brother of Jamie Quinn also known as Matrix.

Early years

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Quinn started making music as a teenager, and performing as a DJ on the UK free festival scene with Bedlam, Spiral Tribe and Techno Travellers Soundsystem including the legendary Castlemorton Common Festival. He had his first releases in 1992 using the name Little Matt,[3] released on Fat Chuna Recordings,[4] and also under his short-lived hardcore jungle alias Teknarchi[5] in 1993, and later as a techno producer (under various monikers such as Fly By Wire[6] featured on Carl Cox's F.A.C.T 2 release,[7] and Morpheus[8][9]). He worked as a sound engineer and producer from 1992 onwards, (including production credits for the 1994 Jungle anthem "Leviticus - Burial"[10]) for several London music studios including Great Asset Studios (Gray's Inn Road, Clerkenwell, London), Pirate Club Studios (Roller Express, Lea Valley),[11] Fokus Records Studios (London) and JAL/Stage1 Studios (London).[12] His breakthrough successes as Optical include "To Shape The Future"[13] 12" published 1997 on Metalheadz,[14] "Grey Odyssey" featured on Grooverider's successful mix album "The Prototype Years", also "Moving 808's"[15] and in collaboration with Ed Rush and Fierce on "Cutslo/Alien Girl"[16] both on Prototype Recordings.

Along with his drum and bass musician and DJ career he has worked on many remixes[17] and collaborated as a composer, producer, programmer and sound engineer for other notable artists including Rob Playford's label Moving Shadow for which he was credited on Goldie's "Saturnz Return"[18] and Grooverider on whose 1998 MOBO Award-winning[19] album[20] "Mysteries of Funk" he was credited as writer and producer.

He went on to receive the accolade of 'Best Producer' at the 1998 Muzik Magazine Dance Music Awards[21] in London.

Ed Rush & Optical

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In 1995 he first met his main future musical collaborator, another upcoming drum and bass artist Ed Rush[22] with whom he would form the musical partnership that they are both most known for. Shortly after, Rob Playford gave Optical a small space in his Soho office building to use as his studio, and in this studio the duo recorded and released the first of several 12" singles both as Ed Rush & Optical and in collaborations with other artists. Having recorded a dozen or so joint recordings in that studio, the duo considered that a lot of their material produced at the time was not fitting the style for labels like Metalheadz, Prototype and other labels they were associated with[23] but that they still wanted to release it, as the music had been played by the two in clubs with a great reaction from those attending. So they decided to start their own imprint Virus Recordings[1] in 1998.

The first single release was in early 1998, "The Medicine/ Punchbag" and the first full LP release by the duo on the label was their renowned long-play "Wormhole", released the same year, the album that is generally considered one of the defining points in the evolution of the drum and bass genre. The album is recognized as the recording that introduced the sub-genre of drum and bass known today as neurofunk and Optical, as the more technical musician in the duo, is considered by the wider music production community to be one of the genre's original sonic architects.[24]

In 2000, DJ Craze used their track "Watermelon" in his beat-juggling routine which helped him win his 3rd DMC World Championship.[25] They released their second album in 2000, The Creeps (Invisible And Deadly!) which broadened their palette by introducing vocals to the mix[26] and won best album and best producers at the Knowledge DnB awards.[27] Their third album, The Original Doctor Shade was released in 2003 and featured a collaboration with turntablist DJs, Scratch Perverts.[26] In 2005 they took part in the 40 Artists, 40 Days project organised by the Tate Gallery in the run up to London's successful bid to win the right to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.[28] 2006 saw the release of their fourth album Chameleon which saw them using a live band for the first time[29] and three years later followed with Travel the Galaxy. Their track Frontline was use in the soundtrack to the 2008 video game Wipeout HD.[30] In 2014, Ministry of Sound described them as one of the most influential artists in drum and bass.[31] Their most recent album No Cure was released in October 2015.[32]

2015 also saw the release of their first headline mix on the long running Fabriclive series of mix CDs, FabricLive.82. They had a long relationship with the London club Fabric having played at the opening weekend in 1999[33] and appearing on the first drum and bass mix released by Fabric in 2002 (FabricLive.06 mixed by Grooverider).[34] Following Islington Council's decision to revoke Fabric's licence in September 2016, Ed Rush & Optical took part in a benefit show to challenge the decision.[35] In November 2016 agreement was made to reopen the club.[36] As well as numerous club appearances they have performed at many well known festivals including Boomtown (2018/2022)[37] EDC (2011/13/14/15/17), Dour Festival (2006/2015),[38] Nocturnal Wonderland (2001,2011/2019),[39] Glastonbury (1999 and 2014)[27] Bestival in 2013,[40]

Virus recordings

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Although the Virus imprint was initially intended for self-publishing the duo's own Ed Rush & Optical material (a practice that is common in indie and dance music), Virus' subsequent releases have featured many notable drum and bass artists like Fierce, Matrix, Cause 4 Concern,[41] Noisia,[42] Bad Company, Pendulum, Ram Trilogy (Andy C, Shimon, Ant Miles), Audio, Mefjus, The Upbeats, Optiv & BTK, Insideinfo and many others.[1]

Discography

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Early works

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Singles/EPs

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As Optical

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Albums

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Singles/EPs

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Optical remixes

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Production credits

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As Ed Rush & Optical

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Albums

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Singles

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DJ mixes

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Ed Rush & Optical remixes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Virus Recordings | Discogs". Discogs.
  2. ^ "Fabriclive 82: Ed Rush & Optical". Fabric (club). 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Little Matt | Discogs". Discogs.
  4. ^ "Little Matt". Discogs. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Teknarchi on Discogs". Discogs.
  6. ^ "Discogs - Tracks Beta". Discogs.
  7. ^ "Carl Cox - F.A.C.T. 2 | Releases | Discogs". Discogs. 1997.
  8. ^ "Fly By Wire". Discogs.
  9. ^ "Morpheus". Discogs.
  10. ^ "Leviticus - Burial". Discogs. 1994.
  11. ^ "The Top 10 Rave venues of the Nineties". 10 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Just Another Label | Discogs". Discogs.
  13. ^ "Optical - To Shape The Future | Releases | Discogs". Discogs. 1997.
  14. ^ "Optical: D-N-B Legend". djtimes.com. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Optical - Moving 808s / High Tek Dreams | Releases | Discogs". Discogs. 1997.
  16. ^ "Ed Rush, Optical & Fierce - Cutslo (Lokuste Mix) / Alien Girl | Releases | Discogs". Discogs. 1998.
  17. ^ "Optical | Discogs". Discogs.
  18. ^ "Saturnz Return - Goldie | Credits". AllMusic. 27 January 1998. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  19. ^ MOBO/GROOVE RIDER
  20. ^ "The Mobo Awards - everyHit.com". www.everyhit.com.
  21. ^ "muzik magazine". www.muzikmagazine.co.uk.
  22. ^ "Interview with Ed Rush & Optical". dnbportal.com. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  23. ^ "Ed Rush & Optical: History of Virus Records Interview". YouTube. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  24. ^ "DOA discussion of "Wormhole"". dogsonacid.com. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  25. ^ Sutton, Matthew. "Watermelon". Dnb365. Matthew Sutton. [verification needed]
  26. ^ a b "Ed Rush & Optical feat. MC Ryme Tyme". Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  27. ^ a b "5 Steps with Ed Rush & Optical". Datatransmission.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Ed Rush & Optical 40 Artist, 40 Days". Tate.org. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  29. ^ "Ed Rush & Optical still big in the game". DJ Mag. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  30. ^ "Three Speech » WipEout HD Soundtrack Announced". Three Speech. 26 February 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  31. ^ "These are the masters of Drum & Bass". Ministry of Sound. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  32. ^ "theartsdesk on Vinyl: Volume 11". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  33. ^ "Hi-Five:Ed Rush & Optical". XLR8R. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  34. ^ "Insider Interview #008:Ed Rush & Optical". UKF News. Retrieved 1 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  35. ^ "Fabric throwing benefit Concert, Art Exhibition". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 4 December 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  36. ^ "Fabric to reopen after deal struck with Islington Council". 21 November 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016 – via Evening Standard. Cite news requires |newspaper= (help) [verification needed]
  37. ^ "District Announcement: Sector 6".
  38. ^ "ARTIST - Dour Festival 2024 | 17+18+19+20+21 July". Dour Festival.
  39. ^ "Lineup – Nocturnal Wonderland 2024". www.nocturnalwonderland.com.
  40. ^ "Bestival stage times:who's playing when". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 5 October 2016. Cite web requires |website= (help) [verification needed]
  41. ^ "Matrix/Fierce / Cause 4 Concern – Life History Vol. 1". Discogs. 2001.
  42. ^ "Noisia - End Game / Unveil". Discogs. 2006.
  43. ^ "Ed Rush & Optical:full official chart history". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
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