HK Magazine: Were you a baggy-panted rave kid? Matt Darey: Haha, you guessed it. That was me with the smiley faces and glow sticks! HK: So did you bemoan the commercialism of rave and feel betrayed and so on? MD: Yeah, when anything gets too mainstream it doesn’t feel so special. I moved on to the nu-NRG after rave so I wasn’t that upset when “Trip To Trumpton” hit the charts. HK: Some bill you as one of the founders of trance. MD: Yeah, I found it under my pillow. Nah, I was there right from its early beginnings back in 1993, when I was a student. Before that, the rave scene was massive and I was making breaks and house. I never really set out to do everything I’ve done though. I was just passionate about making music and everything fell into place. HK: Do you ever feel like plain old trance is pretty dated? MD: Haha. Yeah, sure. Nowadays I play a bit of trance, electro, progressive, house, breaks… Whatever the crowd is into. Music moves so fast and you have to keep up with what’s happening now. I also produce rock music fused with EDM (electronic dance music). HK: Speaking of random genre fusing, what do you think of “new-rave”? MD: Could catch on… What’s it sound like? Does it involve glow sticks and smiley faces? HK: Who is your best friend? MD: Danny Diablo - he’s always sitting on my right shoulder whispering to me in my ear telling me to do naughty stuff. HK: Creepy. MD: Not really… I think most people have them, don’t they? Maybe not so in your face. He’s kinda cool. It started back in ‘92 after I’d been to a rave all weekend and my mate was out for the count. Couldn’t wake him up no matter what I did, so Dan told me to shave off his eyebrows. So I did. It was kinda funny ha ha HA HA ha! Anyway, lot of water under the bridge since then; I’m a lot more inventive nowadays.