MATT HANDY
www.facebook.com/matthandydj 💿 www.linktr.ee/djmatthandy
Mention Electronic Dance Music and a name that will crop up is Matt Handy a DJ that has been there from near the very beginning.
Long before the internet superhighway, mobile phones, and satellite TV. Matt was trying to help promote electronic
dance music to a wider audience by copying cassette tapes, sharing the love of records, teaching others to DJ
and arranging convoys to underground parties in the most unique places.
He started playing with Decks and Dance music at the age of 12 in 1986 on his Dad’s very primitive turntables. From then on,
he has been DJing constantly and put on events and run his record shop Hands On Records since 1995.
What started a hobby and passion in his childhood has now developed into spending all his life within the music industry
and gone onto having rocked 1000’s of dance floors everywhere he plays over the last 26 years in some of the
best clubs in the UK and abroad across many styles of music we love.
Matt is one of the most hardworking DJs on the circuit picking up numerous accolades, awards and press for best Club DJ,
best Club Night, Winner of the DJ Magazine Mixing Championships @ Plasa, Earls Court, Mix Moves in Paris
and featured on many Front-page magazine Features, interviews and news articles.
A DJ who has contributed a lot to the progression of the underground scene in his time of
dedication and passion to the music he loves so much.
BIOGRAPHY
Matt has passionately been collecting electronic dance music from its early beginnings
since 1986 and for over 40 years followed the trends and genres within it.
The interest grew from early childhood coming from a very musical background and being a classically trained musician
in his youth playing the piano, saxophone and any other instruments he could get his ‘Hands On’. Then when he was about
11 years old, electronic keyboard music became his main interest listening to Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwork, New Order,
Human League, and other electronic artists at the time.
The house revolution started to take hold in the late 80’s with artists like Steve Silk Hurly, Farley Jack Master Funk,
Coldcut, Todd Terry, Orbital, 808 State, N-Joi, Beats International (Fat Boy Slim’s early band) and other pioneers
of the scene and by this time he was hooked and collecting anything with a beat and samples.
In 1989, Matt got hold of his first pirate radio station cassette tape, broadcast from a van on top of a hill in Rochdale Manchester UK,
aptly named ROCHDALE FM and started to copy it up for all his friends and start spreading the new sounds as far and wide as
possible for people to hear. Altern 8 – Night in motion still being a favourite.
In 1990, Matt visited IBIZA and experienced the White Isle in its Height of hedonism watching DJs like CARL COX @ PACHA,
which was too be one of his life changing moments at the age of 17 once back he stated seeking out more of the same vibe in the UK.
One of his most regular places was Sterns (The House on the Hill) and other events like Tribal Gathering, Fantasia, Universe,
World Dance, Club UK, Empire (Bentleys), Central Park, Vision, Obsession, Fusion and many more.
It was not until 1992 that he began to learn to DJ himself and start to perfect the craft, playing house, hardcore, jungle, techno and
early rave tunes like Moby, LFO, Micky Finn, Top Buzz, Aphex Twin, Shades of Rhythm, K-Klass, Lenny Dee and other pioneering
artists. Building up a vast collection of records full of seminal classics from labels like Suburban Bass, Shut Up and Dance, Production
House, Low Spirit, XL, R&S, Plus 8 the list of labels and artists goes on and started playing at underground events all across the South
Coast and further afield playing all the early house and techno and hardcore and rave.
In 1995 he started to champion the new fresh underground House, Harder House and Trance sound that was slowly emerging from
pioneers and other inspirations like Tony De Vit, Mrs Woods and Blu Peter, K90, Jon 00 Flemming and was picked up as a resident by
HOUSE HEAVEN and then went onto gain residencies at SPOOKY, ADULT ACTION, THE GLASSHOUSE, SLAP N TICKLE and
dozens of others. All massively successful and popular nights at the time playing alongside DJs like CARL COX, SASHA, JOHN
DIGWEED, TONY DE VIT, JON 00 FLEMMING, JON THE DENTIST, BLU PETER, BRISK it was a dream come true for matt to be
billed alongside his inspirations such as these.
In 1997, Matt mixed off hundreds to win the GEMINI UK mixing Championship at PLASA, EARLS COURT, LONDON
and came 2nd in Europe at MIXMOVES in Paris, both with live audiences of 1000’s and appeared on UK and French Television
as well as winning countless other competitions in the UK. His art and dexterity for mixing, scratching, editing, and cutting had
been recognized to a wider audience across the UK and now OVERSEAS also as well.
Matt was playing tribal & tech house at the DJ Magazine 200th issue party at Turnmills, warming up for PAUL VAN DYK,
TALL PAUL and LOTTIE among others and their comments and praise encouraged Matt even further
‘You’re amazingly quick and precise and your tunes are awesome’.
Also, in 1997 his talent was noticed by legendary promoters at the time SPOOKY PRODUCTIONS and gained another residency with
them for many years and went on to play THE END, MINISTRY OF SOUND, ENZO’s and more. Then picked up by legendary club
ENZO’s, Legendary promoters SUNNYSIDE UP playing legendary venues such CAMDEN PALACE, SW1, GARDENING CLUB,
IMPERIAL GARDENS, 414 and many more. Along the way he was then picked up by ANTIWORLD the biggest underground promotion in LONDON at the time and played many events for them to 1000’s of people at Alexandra Palace, O2 Brixton Academy, SeOne, Stratford Rex.
Well over 1000’s of gigs later and dozens of residencies and hundreds of clubs and underground locations and raves across the UK
and in Europe such as Ibiza, Holland, Amsterdam Love Parade, Poland, France, Greece, Canada, USA, Denmark, Germany and many
more. 2026 still sees Matt carving his unique approach to dance music mixing all styles of new and old sounds within his sets, and still
loves using vinyl being an Oldskool DJ at heart but embracing the newer technologies.
Matt has had a strong fan base now for over 30 years and has inspired many others into the industry
with his teaching and events, which he has always given up & coming DJ’s a chance to live their dreams.
Matt Handy has also been one of the original pioneering people responsible for some of the finest events and scene altering moments
over the last 15 years or more on the south coast, including many of the best underground parties of the mid 90’s and 2000’s, the
mighty CONTACT which is celebrating with a 21 year reunion event next year, the memorable RED ROOMS , FEEL REAL , ECLAT ,
OVERLOAD THE FORT (A 200 year old fort a mile of shore) and many more.
Matt Handy is a man who has followed his passion and simply eats sleeps and breathes dance music in all its many forms and has
helped many others over the many years of his dedication to the scene he has been a big part of for over 25 years.
Over this time championing the sounds of OLDSKOOL, HOUSE, PROGRESSIVE, TRANCE, TECHNO, HARD HOUSE,
HARDTRANCE, HARDSTYLE, HARDCORE, RAVE, ACID HOUSE, DOWNTEMPO, CHILLOUT, BREAKBEAT
at some of the best venues and events across the UK and held many residencies abroad in Europe.
Matt is a natural born DJ and musical minded artist that is not fixed by any style!!
HANDS ON RECORDS
The idea for Hands On Records was born in 1995 firstly as a hobby and due to the vast amounts of music he was collecting through his
passion, also wherever Matt was playing many other DJs were asking where he got his tunes. So, to get the music out to even more
people and DJs than it already was he used to drive round in his car dropping off promos, acetates, and test presses from DJ /
Producer friends in the industry as favours to help get them more exposure. This then developed into a full-time business for Matt
stocking all the best labels and tunes in many genres and supplying lots of the scenes Top DJs till the present day.
DJs PLAYED ALONGSIDE
Matt has supported and headlined alongside 100’s of some of the dance scenes biggest and best DJs over the years in
many different genres of music. Here is just a few of the more well-known top names in no order and style.
CARL COX, PAUL VAN DYK, PETE TONG, MAURO PICOTTO, MARCO V, JON OO FLEMMING, TONY DE VIT, JOSH WINK,
ALTERN 8, 808 STATE, LENNY DEE, YOJI BIOMEHANIKA, LISA LASHES, MARK EG, ALEX KIDD, SCOT PROJECT, CALLY & JUICE, DJ SY, DARREN STYLES, LOTTIE, SHOWTEK, RATPACK, SL2, PENDULUM, OXIDE & NEUTRINO, TERRY FRANCIS, LAURENT GARNER, LAYO & BUSHWACKA, MR C, TIDY BOYS, LAB 4, INFECTED MUSHROOM, ASTRIX, KUTSKI and many many more.
CLUBS | EVENTS | RESIDENCIES
Ministry of Sound, The End, Camden Palace, Empire, Sterns, Interdance, The Manor, Raindance, Spooky, Seone, SW1, Frantic, Boomtown Festival, Glade festival, Bionic, Contact, Storm, Fantasia, Club UK, Slap & Tickle, Banana Moon, Wobbleberry, Overload, Pacha, Es Paradis, Ibiza, Amsterdam, Love Parade (Holland), Poland, Vivid, We ♥ Oldskool, Nukleuz, Enzos, Houseworks, Electrik Kingdom, Amplified, Mixmoves, Rex Club (Paris), Influence, Antiworld, Adult Action, Legacy, Goodlove, Retrospective, Audio Surgery, Tribal Medicine, Project Storm, Technosis, Code Blue, Freedom of sound, Guilfin Festival, Bone, Pure FM, Wobbleberry, 666, Eclat
And many many more.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
DJing @ Love Parade Holland playing alongside Marco V & Benny Benassi and more (30’000 people)
DJ Headlining @ RADIO ONE after party Portsmouth with PAUL VAN DYK (5000 people)
Playing @ DJ Magazine 200th issue party @ Turnmills warming up 4 PAUL VAN DYK and more
Headlining the first UK techno party in POLAND
Resident DJ for Contact (23 Years)
Resident DJ for Enzos (6 Years)
Resident DJ for Spooky (5 Years)
Resident DJ for Sunny Side Up (5 Years)
Resident DJ for Overload (4 Years)
Resident DJ for Adult Action (5 Years)
Resident DJ for Eclat (3 Years)
Resident DJ at the Drome before it became SE1 (2 Years)
Resident DJ for Antiworld (3 Years)
Resident DJ for Revolutions, Ibiza (4 Years)
Resident DJ for China White, Ibiza (4 Years)
Resident DJ for AD200 Events, Andorra (5 Years)
Resident DJ for Bilbord Nightclub, Andorra (3 Years)
Running HANDS ON RECORDS (31 Years)
Winning international DJ COMPETITION @ Plasa, Earls Court, London (1997)
Winning international MIXMOVES DJ COMPETITION in PARIS, FRANCE (1997)
Winning various other DJ competitions judged by DJs such as JAMES ZABIELA, CUT MASTER SWIFT, DJ POGO,
TONY PRINCE (DMC OWNER AND FORMER DMC CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS)
Teaching 1000’s of youngsters and adults across the UK including those with special needs the art and craft of mixing, all about the music industry and love of music.
PRESS & AWARDS
Winner Plasa, Earls Court, International DJ Competition in association with Gemini, LONDON
Winner Mix Moves, International DJ competition, PARIS, FRANCE
Front Cover and Centre page feature RANT MAGAZINE
Centre Double Page feature AND MAGAZINE
100’s of magazine and newspaper articles
Mixmag voted Number One party of the month for CONTACT
Mixmag voted runner up for best night on the South Coast
Various Club TV and Radio appearances and interviews
Awards for best DJ and Club Nights
HANDS ON RECORDS (Est. 1995)
Over 150’000 distribution spread across all internet and email listing relevant events, music,
and general information about the scene (Oldskool and younger generation clubbers)
Over 1/2 a million hits across all relevant websites worldwide in the past year.
Over 10’000 records in stock (We have seen every worthy label and release since 1990)
EVENT MANAGEMENT
LABEL MANAGEMENT
ARTIST MANAGEMENT
STUDIO SERVICES
DJ WORKSHOPS
TEACHING
Matt has had a long history teaching the youth and adults about DJing and the music industry in general.
Working with organisations and charities like the N.S.P.C.C, Y.M.C.A, YOUTH MUSIC and many more.
Also, teaching a BTEC National Diploma in Music Technology at Chichester College for 6 years.
DISCOGRAPHY
(Unreleased)
MATT HANDY – GLOBAL CHANGES
MATT HANDY – CONTACT
MATT HANDY – VAPOUR SPACE
MATT HANDY – CONTACT ANTHEM
WEBSITE LINKS
JOIN THE MATT HANDY ARTIST PAGE @ www.facebook.com/matthandydj
EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE ON FACEBOOK (1/2 MILLION FACEBOOK LIVE VIEWS)
HANDS ON RECORDS www.facebook.com/handsonrecords
WE ♥ OLDSKOOL www.facebook.com/weloveoldskool
CONTACT www.facebook.com/contactevents
www.handsonrecords.co.uk
This page will be updated with his next gigs, mix downloads and forthcoming tracks and archive footage.
DJ BOOKINGS 💿 PRESS ENQUIRIES 💿 LABEL DEMOS
Email: info@handsonrecords.co.uk