Lone aka Matt Cutler from Nottingham has been busy in the underground making blissfully chilled out beats and ecstatically hyperactive tunes for the past few years. Averaging an album a year the Englishman has been exploring new possibilities of the past and developing an original style which has seen him recently being signed to R&S. We catch up with Matt to talk about video-games, playing at Berghain and nineties rave.

When did you start producing music?

It was a long long time ago. I was about 10. But I wasn’t any good until I was 15 or 16 when I got a PC and got more serious about it.

You’ve got a new EP on R&S called Echolocations- what does it sound like?

It’s from the same sessions as my last album Emerald Fantasy Tracks I put out last year. It’s kind of putting an end to that style I was working on really. It definitely continues that nostalgic rave vibe from Emerald.

You’re early stuff on Lemurian was a bit more chilled out than your recent stuff like Pineapple Crush and Once in a While- what influenced you to up the tempo?

Just boredom really. I get bored quite easily just doing the same thing. Before I got signed I was making all sorts of music so it’s always made sense to keep changing the music I put out- and I’m going to keep doing that. As soon as I get bored of one thing I’ll try another. There’s no point limiting yourself to one style or whatever.

What do you think your next style will sound like?

I’m working on the next album now and there’s stuff that’s a lot faster, a lot heavier but then there’s some really chilled out stuff as well.

There seems to be a lot of retro video-game vibes going on with your songs. Were you a big video game fan?

Yeah, big time! I don’t intend for that to come through in my tunes, but I know what you mean. Maybe because that was the first music I memorised because you play computer games for so long and the tunes just loop, so maybe it just sunk in.

Are there any specific games whose music impacted you?

Streets of Rage II on the Mega Drive has the best music. It’s kinda like hardcore rave done by some Japanese guy. I can still listen to that now and enjoy it.

Is there a good music scene in Nottingham?

Yeah, it’s cool. There’s a lot of people into techno and experimental stuff. There’s a bunch of guys who run a label called Wigiflex, which is a night as well. Geiom and Spamchop are involved with that- it’s great. But I’m not there anymore so I’m a bit out of touch with what’s going on in Nottingham. I’m in Manchester now.

Your set at Bloc went down really well- did you have a good time?

Yeah, it was great, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t have any expectations or anything. I just came out and played my usual set of stuff I’m working on and some tracks people hopefully knew and it seemed to go down okay.

You played at Berghain in Berlin last week- what was that like?

It’s a crazy building, and it’s definitely got the best sound system I’ve ever heard- so clear and so loud. Jimmy Edgar and Machinedrum were on that night and they were both awesome and I played at 5 in the morning! The place is mad- it’s hard to explain it.

You’ve released an album a year since the beginning of the Lone project- do you spend a lot of time writing?

Most of the time. At the moment it’s actually less than I ever have because I’m playing a lot of gigs now. But before all I did was work on music. I’m not making as much as I’d like at the moment but every chance I get I’m working on it.

Tracks like Moon Beam Harp are unashamedly influenced by early nineties rave- are you very familiar with this period?

Yeah, definitely. I was into all that hardcore stuff from 91-93 and jungle, Chicago house and Detroit techno. That was the first music I listened to. I was 10 years old and instantly fell in love with it.

Do you take samples from these old tracks?

Only certain stabs and stuff which are famous from those tracks. But I don’t use a lot of samples really. I spend a lot of time making my own stuff sound like samples.

The closing track on Emerald Fantasy Tracks The Birds Don’t Fly This High is pretty special- do you remember when you wrote that song?

I was in between moving houses and I had to stay at my mums house for a few nights and I made that track there. All I used was a laptop and some really shit speakers and I made that track one night- not a really special story really!

Echolocations is out now on R&S records.