About Magic Matt Kelly

Okay, so you want to know about Matt's musical interests.... Magic Matt Kelly is a dance music beatmixing DJ focusing on trance and breaks, and also hiphop. He also spins disco house, progressive, and some techno and hardhouse. Matt got his start like most DJ's, starting off at experimenting at home and in high school DJ'ing high school dances, spinning mostly Top 40 and R&B tunes.... a wide variety that was necessary to learn how to properly work crowds and connect with them.

Magic Matt Kelly launched his DJ career on a professional level in 1993 shortly after buying his first set of Technics turntables. It was quite evident back then that his life was about to turn down a new road and never look back. Before the music and before the turntables, Matt’s rather humble beginnings started with playing music for fellow students during his junior year in high school in Chicago, then evolved into a radio job with a local student radio station his senior year in school. Matt stuck with a part-time radio career while attending college, intent on becoming a radio broadcaster. However, a new sound caught Matt’s ear early in his college career: house. As Matt became enraptured by the soulful and electronic melodies, he also became familiar with and grew to love other electronica genres as well, including techno, trance, and freestyle. Over time, he assembled a collection of 12-inch dance singles which included an assortment of early Chicago house, techno, hiphop, and freestyle. It was also in this time period that he acquired his first set of turntables and began to learn the technical skills of beatmixing dance music.

While living in Indiana, Matt’s earliest influences came from the likes of nearby legendary Chicago DJ’s and producers like Bad Boy Bill, Julian Perez, Mike "Hitman" Wilson, Steve "Silk" Hurley, and Detroit legend Kevin Saunderson. Matt carefully studied and listened to the styles and mixes from various DJ’s, learning and incorporating bits and pieces of their techniques as he fused these elements into his own style. He began to record and distribute his own partymixes and spun at parties for free, hoping to get noticed and catch a "big break". Matt’s persistence paid off with spots at various clubs throughout Indiana, until a friend gave one of his mix CD’s to local radio station WSMK in South Bend in late 2000. Matt was invited to become part of a weekly Saturday evening mixshow called The Mixdown, and quickly became well-known and respected as one of the top DJ’s in the area thanks to his efforts put forth in the broadcasts. Matt’s ability to find and break out hot new dance music, as well as smooth transitional mixes that featured a powerful blend of trance, hard house, and progressive house songs heard nowhere else in northcentral Indiana, quickly became his trademark. The fusion between radio and mixing dance music was a natural one for Matt, and he continued to produce 3 radio mixshows featured weekdays, even in the absence of the former "Mixdown" radio program. Two of the new weekday mixshows consisted of hiphop, and mixing it was something new and foreign to Matt. While many house DJ’s make their beginnings in hiphop, Matt turned the tables (no pun intended) and brought his house skills to hiphop, focusing on seamlessly blended mixes that no other hiphop DJ in the area was doing. That style quickly made him a local favorite among area hiphop fans, radio listeners, and clubheads.

Matt continues to evolve and develop his style and turntablism ability. His strength continues to be his ability to mix a wide variety of musical genres rather than focusing on just one, including house, trance, progressive house, and hiphop. While he resists being pigeon-holed, he fits best into the style of house/trance DJ’s, and has taken new direction in recent months by melding breakbeat and electro tracks and elements into his selections. In doing so, he hopes to break out of the fast-growing crowd of trance DJ’s that seemingly threaten to overrun the club and underground music scenes. As the trance and breaks genres continue to develop and grow, Matt hopes to remain in the forefront, bringing the sounds to new audiences everywhere, and entertaining with a wide variety of styles, skills, and selections as well. Current influences and favorites include DJ Icey, George Acosta, David Guetta, Ferry Corsten, Kaskade, Axwell, and The Freemasons.

Some shouts going out to Magic Matt Kelly's friends in the biz.... first and foremost, his partner in kryme, Jammin' Joey B, DJ Stickyboots, JP ''Jammin'' Preston, Jacob Edwards, DJ Orion, J-Daddy, Troy aka DJ Dingo, the WSMK crew (Toby T, Dwayne Wayne, Shannon Dogg, and Pablo G), Paul Anthony, & DJ Grind!