Media Junkie Presents... Matt A. On Acid: 404

I would like to invite everyone who happens by, both the regulars and the curiosity seekers, to enjoy the newest feature on Media Junkie, Media Junkie Presents... 

This feature is unique in that it allows me to finally share something I have wanted to share for a long time with my readers - my mixes.

As a young child, I hoped to become a musician.  I played drums in the school band all through middle school and into my sophomore year in high school, where I foolishly dropped the class due.  I've owned two guitars - an acoustic and an electric that I saved up my money for as a young teenager, sacrificing weeks of comic books - and numerous keyboards.  Unfortunately, I discovered that you can only learn so much if you aren't born with a natural gift and my dream of becoming a musician met an abrupt end.

As the years went on, I found out that I was a much more talented writer than a musician - a talent I often used writing CD and movie reviews in Word documents on my own computer, just for fun.  As my musical horizons expanded and I got into dance music, I discovered another outlet for my limited musical talent - DJ mixing.

Unfortunately, turntables are expensive, not to mention mixing boards and other gadgets and, of course, the vinyl itself.  So I turned to technology to help me out and I took an interest in music editing programs.

Since 2001 I have been digitally mixing as a creative outlet.  It began with simple, single song remixes painstakingly created in a single track audio editing program.  I began with a remix of Limp Bizkit's "Nookie", which is incredibly embarrassing to admit to now that I look back, Moby's "James Bond Theme" and "Everytime You Touch Me", and several others before eventually upgrading to Acid Pro 2.0, a multi-track audio editor then-published by Sonic Foundry.

My first full-length mix was titled Matt A. On Acid - so named for the program used to create the mix and the misconception that drugs and the dance music scene go hand-in-hand.  It was meant to be a sarcastic joke, as I'm about the cleanest person you'll ever meet.  To me, music is my drug and anyone who has ever gone to a concert with me can attest that I spent half the show with my eyes closed, getting lost in the sounds.

Matt A. On Acid, and its sequel of the same name, were mish-mashes of electronic music styles and while they were decent for first and second efforts, I no longer look back on the collection as fondly as I once did.  Too many compromises were made just for the sake of completing the mix. 

It wasn't until 2003, when I put together a mix of progressive house (or trance, if you prefer) music entitled Progress In Emotion, that I felt comfortable with my skills as a mixer.  I am by no means a professional, and there are still kinks and compromises in nearly every project I've ever done that irk me, but at the same time they add to the charm.  After all, I do this for fun and for my own listening enjoyment and now I'm proud to be able to share it with anyone who wants to listen.