Mattafix

Mattafix
Origin London, England
Genres
Years active 2005–2010
Labels
Website myspace.com/mattafix

Mattafix were an English electronic duo, consisting of vocalist Marlon Roudette and producer & keyboardist Preetesh Hirji. Their sound was a fusion of hip hop, R&B, reggae, dancehall, blues, jazz, soul and world. Best known for their 2005 hit single "Big City Life", they won the Sopot International Song Festival in 2006.

Biography

Marlon McVey-Roudette was born in London and is the son of Cameron McVey, a British music producer,[1] and Vonnie Roudette, a designer and artist from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.[2] As a young child he moved with his mother and sister to St. Vincent, where he began his music career, and returned to London when he was 18.[3] Preetesh Hirji was born in London of dual-Indian parentage and grew up in the heart of West London, where he started at Eastcote Studios on Kensal Road.

Signs of a Struggle (2005-06)

Mattafix released their first single, "11.30 (Dirtiest Trick in Town)", as a limited edition on Buddhist Punk Records on 13 January 2005. However, the song never charted.

Their second single, "Big City Life", was released by EMI on 8 August 2005. It was a considerable hit, managing a number 15 in the United Kingdom and a number 1 in Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and New Zealand. It also had considerable success in other European countries where it reached the top 20. It can also be heard on the soundtrack to the hit video game FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, designed by EA Sports, and was included in the NOW! 62 UK compilation, the duo's first and only song to date, to be included in the series.

Signs of a Struggle received positive reviews and had success in Europe where the band toured extensively throughout 2006-08. Signs of a Struggle was a Triple J feature album in April 2006.

The duo toured with the likes of Jem and Joss Stone on their UK tours to promote the album, and have also opened for Sting, in Milan, before a crowd of more than 100,000 people.

Their fourth single, "To & Fro", was released on 13 March 2006. The single was released as a download only in the United Kingdom.

Rhythm & Hymns (2007-09)

On 7 September 2007, Mattafix released the first single, "Living Darfur", taken from their second album Rhythm & Hymns. It was available as a download only. The single was released physically on 22 October 2007. The video features Matt Damon in the intro. The track was featured as part of the Save Darfur Campaign. Working alongside humanitarian agencies operating in the region, the band filmed a video for the song in the refugee camps in the region. The video became extremely popular on YouTube and to date is the only music video by an international group to be filmed in a war zone.

Speaking in June 2008 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, Roudette explained the musical background to Rhythms & Hymns: "With this album I wanted to bring through more aspects of the live show, which is something maybe the first album lacked. You know, we do go out with a seven or eight-piece band, and that has become a big part of the Mattafix sound. So, in addition to keeping the hardcore element and programmed beats from last time round, with Rhythms & Hymns we've also used a lot of live drums. Also, we've added quite a lot of influences that we got from the road. Particularly in places like Johannesburg, where we played a couple of great shows."[4]

The album was released on 23 November 2007 in most European countries. In Australia, it was released on 17 November 2007.

Mattafix remixed Lady Gaga's song "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". Their remix appears on her iTunes Remix EP,[5] however, not in the UK version.

Marlon Roudette solo album, Matter Fixed (2010-present)

In April 2010, Marlon Roudette made a video appearance where he spoke about recording and making the record in his home-based studio.[6] However, via Facebook, it was announced that Roudette and Hirji had gone separate ways, due to their different new ideas for future projects. Marlon Roudette is now working on a solo project with the Universal label, apparently to be released in May 2011, which has brought abundant attention to fans. He is yet to come up with his new artist name; whether to stay with the name Mattafix, or choose a new stage name; perhaps his own. "Mattafix presents...Marlon..." was a quote from a late 2010 YouTube video, as an updated possibility for his album title and/or stage name. Marlon Roudette has confirmed that the new album is "not a radical shift but definitely different. More instrumentation and more in depth musical compositions." Marlon Roudette has stated that the album is pretty much completed, but the album is still being "fine tuned". On 9 July 2011, Marlon Roudette confirmed that the name of the first single from the new album is "New Age", and the name of the album will be called Matter Fixed.[7] In September 2011, "New Age" reached number one in Germany.[8]

On 13 September 2011, Roudette announced that he signed to Warner Music Group for the UK.[9]

Discography

Albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
AUT BEL EU FRA GER ITA POL SWI UK
Signs of a Struggle 10 60 62 75 35 12 64 15 159
Rhythm & Hymns — 69 92 48 73 17 87 22 —

Singles

Year Title Chart positions
AUS
[10]		 AUT
[11]		 BEL
[12]		 FRA
[13]		 GER
[14]		 ITA
[15]		 NZ
[16]		 NOR
[17]		 SWI
[18]		 UK
[19]
2005 "11.30 (Dirtiest Trick in Town)" — — — — — — — — — — Signs of a Struggle
"Big City Life" 19 1 12 17 1 1 1 3 1 15
"Passer By" — — — — — — — — — 79
2006 "To & Fro" — — 56 — 73 56 — — 56 —
"Cool Down the Pace" — 52 — — 82 25 — — 63 —
2007 "Living Darfur" — 21 50 50 32 2 — — 13 — Rhythm & Hymns
2008 "Things Have Changed" — — — — — — — — — —

- Radio Favourites (download only)

Music videos

Year Title Director(s)
2005 "Big City Life" Scott Franklin
"Passer By" John Rankin Waddell
2006 "To & Fro" Max & Dania
"Cool Down the Pace" Max & Dania
2007 "Living Darfur" Mattafix
2008 "Things Have Changed"

References

  1. ↑ "El Bosquejo: Arena Homme Plus: Buffalo Stance, part 1". Lbosquejo.blogspot.com. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  2. ↑ "Mattafix: Marlon Roudette". Islandmix.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  3. ↑ joshua osoro pickering. "Mattafix: Brit hip hop in Darfur". Cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  4. ↑ Mattafix interview by Pete Lewis, Blues & Soul, July 2008.
  5. ↑ "Lady Gaga - Eh, Eh Remix EP". iTunes. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  6. ↑ Hot97 SVG on 12 April 2010 at 3:46am View Blog (12 April 2010). "Mattafix's Marlon speaks about working on new album - Hot97 Live". Hot97svg.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  7. ↑ "Attention all Mattafix fans! « Hairouna Across The Seas". Hairounaacrosstheseas.wordpress.com. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  8. ↑ "Erstes Nummer-eins-Album für Lenny Kravitz - media control". Media-control.de. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  9. ↑ "Done! Signed to...". Facebook. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  10. ↑ Steffen Hung (26 February 2006). "Mattafix". Australian Charts. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  11. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Austrian Charts - Mattafix". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  12. ↑ Belgian Charts - Mattafix
  13. ↑ Steffen Hung. "French Charts - Mattafix". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  14. ↑ "German Charts - Mattafix". Musicline.de. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  15. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Mattafix". Italian Charts. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  16. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand Charts - Mattafix". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  17. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Mattafix". Norwegian Charts. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  18. ↑ Steffen Hung (23 October 2005). "Swiss Charts - Mattafix". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  19. ↑ "UK Charts > Mattafix". Official Charts Company.
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