I was digging through some old emails today and found this interview from Secrets that I was supposed to post when we had him out for a Devils Night party last October. I don’t know what happened and why I forgot to post it, but it never went up. After reading it over today, I figured screw it, it’s still somewhat relevant, he was just out here for Photosynthesis Festival, and it’s mildly entertaining.

A little back story. I met Matt at some after-hours house party in Detroit after a Dan Bell show when I was back for Christmas several years ago. Bunch of dudes, hanging out, playing techno. We were just getting Sweatbox started at the time and looking for some talent to play from Detroit and Matt was more than willing to bring the Guys on Drugs experience to Seattle. About a month later, we had him and E. Spleece play the first show at Goldies and have been booking them regularly ever since. Matt goes by Secrets, makes disco edits, plays techno, throws some of the wildest parties I’ve ever been too under the Gary Springs Hunting Club name (Shxt Show!) and generally lives up to his dirt-bag persona. Here’s the interview…

How long have you been making music?

Well, I started off doing music in Fast Tracker when i was about 14, so about 17 years. Holy fuck that makes me sound like a grandpa. Me and a friend did a noise project called Pink Hat when i was 15, and i guess those tapes are selling now for lots of money through all the noise scene, funny.

How do you perform?

I do live edit stuff mostly. I DJ sometimes, but i can’t afford a scratch amp or records, so I mostly just do the live thing. I use a beat up old Behringer BCR2000 that has has multiple drinks and some blood spilled on it over the years, and it still works like a first-class jet airliner and I run Ableton on my shitty PC laptop that is about 4 seconds from cardiac arrest.

How long have you been throwing parties?

Started throwing rave parties in the late 90’s at some seriously shady places in Detroit. whorehouses, abandoned buildings, etc. When we had Hawtin and Marco Corola play one time, we just kicked in the door to an empty loft, ran an extension cord up the stairs from the lower floor, and just plugged in and went for about 20 hours. People like Derek Plaslaiko ended up on the floor shirtless and covered in filth.

How is Detroit treating you now that you’ve moved back from NYC?

Detroit has been treating me quite well. There is a ton of postive shit going on here for once. The artists in this city are just pretty much taking over everything whether the city officials like it or not. We are just taking over land, taking over abandoned buildings and setting up hackerspaces, music venues, gallerys. Its like a fucking free-for-all here, its great. People from places like London and NYC are actually moving here for once. It’s crazy and I’ve never seen anything like it.

Tell me a little about GSHC and how you came to that. Where do you find inspiration for these party themes?

Well we started out doing Gary Springs Hunting Club as kind of a scream to the scene here to stop taking itself so seriously. The way we look at it, it’s a fucking dance party, we’re not trying to save the planet or help out Katrina victims, we just want to fucking party and go wild. People need that, especially here. We usually come up with our themes after being awake for 43 hours on massive amounts of drugs and some sort of weird inside joke that ends up not even making sense to us is put in motion to “be” the party

What’s new with Guy on Drugs?

Spleece and myself have lots in the works for the G.O.D project, have some records coming out soon, as well as a tour.

What’s coming up in the world of Secrets?

Have some edit type stuff records coming out on Secret Mixes/Fixes, Todd Osborns & Brian Gillespie’s Galaxy Sound Company, and some techno stuff coming out on Blank Artists. Doing more of my Secrets disco stuff recently, people really seem to be diggin on that.

What do you think of Seattle, based on the couple times you’ve been here?

I love Seattle. I’m super honored that we (Guys on Drugs) got to play the very first Sweatbox party and to see how far the whole scene has come there. Last time I was back playing a party for the infamous Grindle, I did a Secrets disco edit set, and a Vacuum techno set back to back, and that was a lot of fun for sure. Exited to come back for one of the best holidays (especially in Detroit) Devils Night.

What is your overall feeling about Detroit, do you find it a good place to call home?

Yeah, I always get the urge to move back to NYC or San Francisco, but for now I’m staying here and living for cheap. There is so much good music here, it’s hard to get to hear everything. Lots of good people here doing lots of good things that never makes anyone money. Its like a city full of promoters and musicians that should all be in hardcore therapy.

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Check out some of Secrets tracks and live sets here.

And the Gary Springs Hunting Club blog here.