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For this special track talk, I’m thrilled to introduce Goshawk, aka Matt Rivem, a true deep house veteran who’s left his jazzy, soulful imprint on the genre. You might recognize his work with Rhythm Plate or his mesmerizing solo productions that have landed on renowned labels like Atjazz and Hudd Traxx. Matt’s music speaks to the heart, blending warm, analog textures with deep, soulful beats. Today, he takes us on a journey through ten tracks that have shaped his sound and inspired his latest release, Loyalty, on Lumberjacks in Hell. Let’s dive in and explore these iconic tracks that reveal the roots of Goshawk’s signature groove.
If I had to pick one record that got me into the music I am into now, it would have to be this. I first heard it aged around 14 and I was at that stage in my teens where I knew I was into music – I just wasn’t sure which music I was REALLY into. I’d always tape the top 40 off the radio every Sunday to listen to whilst doing my paper round, diving for the pause button whenever a track came on that I liked. I remember the first time it came on the radio, sitting there transfixed, it completely blew me away. There was something about the chords, bassline and vocals that just resonated with me – it was (and is to this day) a completely blissful piece of music.
Plus it’s got my favourite karaoke lyrics ever “Oooh weee oooo caaarr eeee”. Around the same time, The Beloved also released the incredible remix album ‘Blissed Out’, which in my mind is one of the best deep house albums of all time.
This record will always remind me of working in Hard to Find records in Birmingham, which I did for two years in the late 90s. The best part of my job was when people brought in their old record collections for sale – 90% of the time they would be shite but every now and again you got a SERIOUS collection – it was like christmas day going through them all! It was in one of these collections that I first stumbled across this and from the opening bars I was hooked. This has it all for me, nagging sax hook, bouncing analog bass, smooth chords, euphoric pianos and a nice bongo breakbeat that kicks in a minute or so in. So simple, but for me – perfect.
I bought this from Selectadisc in Nottingham (RIP) on the same day I bought FSOL ‘Papua New Guinea’ (which itself is based on a MBM sample) and it’s fair to say both purchases were played a lot at my house. The ‘Satyricon’ LP is hugely influential on my sound, in particular their use of samples; from their funky as fuck drum/breaks programming to the weird and wonderful sound collages they put together. The whole ‘Satyricon’ album is made up of 99% samples and none of them are obvious or out of place – it just works. ‘Mindstream’ is great, as well as the original there is also the superb Orbital ‘Mind the Bend the Mind’ remix – which they liked so much, they put it out sans vocal as ‘Remind’ on their Brown album.
To be honest I could have done a Top 10 consisting solely of Murk productions, so it was quite difficult to pick just one – but for me this is the ultimate Murk anthem. It came out in 1994 and coincided with my first year at university where the study was a distraction from my enthusiastic initiation into Deep House, Nottingham style. In 1994 Nottingham was in it’s house heyday – every week there were amazing nights and free parties thrown by DIY, Smokescreen, Go Tropo and Babble to name but a few – and they were rammed to the rafters – ravers, students, crusties, hippies, townies all as one and properly dancing/falling over to the best music ever. This track sums up those crazy, slightly out of control times – everything about it is bonkers; that female vocal drenched in backwards reverb, the chanted ‘High Up’ refrain, the nagging synth riff and the best ever BOWWW bass sound.
This is taken from his classic proto-ambient ‘Apollo’ album, which was recorded to soundtrack the Apollo moon landings – and boy does it nail it. It’s a beatless, instrumental epic that perfectly manages to convey the mixed emotions of grandeur, loneliness, triumph and fragility which I would associate with spaceflight. The highlight of this album is this awe inspiring piece, which is just eye wateringly beautiful. Quite frankly, it sounds like a celestial choir of angels singing along to God playing on the keyboards – I could quite happily die in space
It’s really hard for me to pick just one track from the Tribal records back catalogue but this has to be right up there – it’s more of an album than a doublepack as all the remixes are so different. And brilliant. Just shading it for me would be the ‘Deep Dish Does X’ mix which is a stunning fusion of deep, detuned electric piano chords, repetitive ‘Ecstasy’ vocal along with chopped/skippy drum beats. Cool chords breakdown in the middle as well. I remember buying this as a present for my brother’s birthday – however, when I got home and had a quick listen I liked it so much I kept it for myself and gave my brother a tenner instead – if you’re reading this, SORRY JIM! ps: whatever went wrong with Deep Dish? They were untouchable in the mid 90s.
Now i love vocals. Big time. And this is one of THE best vocal House tracks ever made in my opinion. It will always remind me of my brother (see what i did there?) before he went to live in Japan. I have very fond memories of both of us on the dancefloor at The Bomb in Nottingham and then the DIY DJ dropping this. The reaction was one of pure joy and brotherly love – ie: hippy shit. Brings a nostalgic tear to my eye every time I listen to this one – deffo one for the funeral list.
Now let me get this straight, I am convinced I was French in a previous life. A lot of my favourite music (and house music) is French: Sebastien Tellier, La Funk Mob, Motorbass, DJ Deep, St Germain, Breakbot, Phoenix, Pepe Bradock, Playin For the City, Air, I:Cube to name just a few. Then you have the new wave of house producers such as Brawther, MLIU and Art of Tones – as they say – “TRES BIEN”. This track gets the nod as it reminds me of first meeting Martin Atjazz, Clyde and the rest of the derby crew. This EP, Trankilou ‘Atom Funk’ and the first Motorbass 12s all came out at around the same time and completely converted me to this unique ‘French’ house sound. Merci beaucoup!
I first started recording as Rhythm Plate in 1999 with my best mate Ant Plate (YSE Saint Laur’ant) – and this is one of my favourite RP productions to date on the brilliant Winding Road records. It will always remind me of DJing at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona – I was asked to play at a fantastic party in a super plush 5* hotel complete with pool and panoramic views of the Barcelona skyline. Probably one of my favourite DJ gigs ever. Highlight has to be one rather ‘refreshed’ Spanish lads wearing sunglasses inside walking/face planting into a closed patio door not realising there was glass there.
Which brings me full circle to my latest solo release as Goshawk. I’m super proud of the whole EP this is taken from. I still can’t believe an initial WhatsApp conversation with Marcel Vogel from Lumberjacks in Hell led to this collaboration with the super-talented LYMA, who took about 48 hours to record these immense vocals over an instrumental. This is one of those ‘pinch me’ tracks that you can’t quite believe you have been involved in
Thank you, Goshawk, for sharing these defining tracks and the stories behind them. Your musical journey, rooted in soulful, deep vibes, has inspired countless listeners. Don’t miss Goshawk’s latest EP, Loyalty, available now on Lumberjacks in Hell, a stunning release with tracks that echo his passion for groove and depth. Head over, take a listen, and let Goshawk’s sound take you on a soulful ride!
DJ | MUSIC CURATOR & SELECTOR | PODCAST MAKER | BLOGGER Professional online interpreneur. Coffee practitioner. Electronic music culture maven. Total music guru. Infuriatingly humble problem solver. Food & sports fanatic.
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