DJ Matty in a spin after winning top competition

The first ever winner of a prestigious competition to find the best DJ talent is from Burnley.
Decks Factor winner Matty Robinson after his victoryDecks Factor winner Matty Robinson after his victory
Decks Factor winner Matty Robinson after his victory

Matty Robinson was crowned the winner of the Decks Factor 2018 after he beat off competition from 119 rivals at the contest held in Ibiza, known as clubber's island and a mecca for some of the world's top DJs.

At just 21, Matty already has a string of gigs under his belt and he is a regular DJ at several nightspots in Burnley including Remedy Gin Bar and Mojitos.

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The competition was organised by Strictly Old Skool, known as SOS, an events organisation devoted to a genre of music and Matty was a hit with the judges and also the public who had to vote for him online to get him to the final.

Matty in action on the decksMatty in action on the decks
Matty in action on the decks

Matty said: "I had to upload a set of my music to the website and people had to vote for it.

"But rather than just press the 'like' button the voters had to actually listen to the entry and vote on its merits which counted towards me going into the final."

Matty, a former pupil of Unity College in Burnley was one of 12 finalists flown out to the island to compete for the crown in front a a judging panel and also a crowd of devotees and The Beach, a seafront bar and club.

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As Matty was the last of the 12 to play he started to feel a bit nervous but he used that to his advantage as he noticed that many of the other DJs appeared to let their nerves get the better of them.

The audience show their appreciation for MattyThe audience show their appreciation for Matty
The audience show their appreciation for Matty

He said: "A few of them were just concentrating on playing the music without looking up so when it was my turn I started to interact with the crowd."

Matty's clean cut "boy next door" image was a hit with the judges and the audience and when he was named as the winner he could hardly believe it.

He said: "Apparently one of the crowd went up to one of the judges and said that I was their winner and he just smiled and winked at her."

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And the prize to play at superclub Eden, where top DJs including Pete Tong, Gatecrasher and Godskitchen, have headlined was a dream come true for Matty.

Big hearted Matty was so impressed with another DJ, Claire Brocklesby, who was runner up to him, he invited her to share the set at Eden with him.

Matty, who lives with his parents Angela and Scott, said: "It was an awesome experience, I still haven't come back down to earth yet."

The icing on the cake came for Matty when SOS management offered him a contract and the chance to play at some top venues throughout the UK.

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Experienced and well known DJ Matt "Slipmatt" Nelson has also offered to mentor Matty.

Matty, whose dream venue to play would be the Hideout Festival in Croatia, said: "The details of the contract are being worked out now but this is such a fantastic opportunity for me, I feel really excited about it."

A music lover since he was a child, Matty, who has two brothers, James (10) and Luke who is 27, plays the keyboard and can sing a little but it wasn't something he ever took seriously, unlike DJing.

Matty is studying for a BA Honours degree in Electronic Music Production and DJ Practice at the School of Sound Recording in Manchester.

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He is working towards his ambition to mix and produce his own music that can be done through software containing different instruments to create a unique sound.

And he also plans to start his own collection of vinyl records when he has saved up enough cash.

He said: "The joy of having modern digital equipment means you don't have to cart lots of heavy records around but a lot of people say you aren't a "proper" DJ until you have your own record collection.

"At the moment this is not something I can stretch to on a student budget."

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A fan of Funk, House and Techno music Matty hopes he can make a living out of doing something he absolutely loves.

He said: "The music and the people I work with is the important thing to me and always will be."

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