What’s the matter? - Rockfeedback chats to club founder Cameron Leslie
By: Alex Lee Thomson
What's the matter? 'Tis the time of year to lean on your fellow man and ask such heartfelt questions, but alas, this is not one of those things. No, we're talking about London's latest block of concrete - a club christened matter.
It seems that London can churn out a new club every week of the year... but this is something altogether different. Built from the ground up, the unreal and ultramodern landscape of the new live venue tucked behind the O2 Arena is nothing shy of a music fans dream. Constructed with a sound system bedded in its foundations and stretching up three floors of razor sharp architecture, the doggedly lowercase matter has quickly become a hotspot for trendy Londonites and dancefloor aficionados.
"We spent a huge amount of time on acoustic models testing to get the sound system right... it's without doubt the most important part of the venue. However, with all the best will in the world it takes time to bed in a bespoke sound system, its easy to forget now but it took us years and three different sound systems to get what we have now in Fabric", said matter and Fabric MD Cameron Leslie.
When live music shifted gear in the 80's The Hacienda was born, and you can't help but compare the two venues. Both have a very cold, almost clinical ambiance about them when empty, but an ingenious projection system insures that every square inch of open space is utilized to warm the prison-like space of matter which when laden with party fiends takes on an apocalyptic energy. Think Morpheus addressing Zion in The Matrix.
"We wanted to seize the unique opportunity of being able to design and build a space from scratch", Cameron said on the planning that went into this astonishing club, continuing, "you wouldn't believe the amount of work going on today alone... we are painting the whole ceiling from white to black and changing the shape of the back of the stage to improve acoustics. It's an intense period of improvement".
Where most venues are mere refurbishments of older music halls built long before the Happy Mondays roamed Planet Earth, matter has the luxury of knowing its purpose and creating a unique space to cater for it. "I certainly don't think it's cold and sterile", Cameron insists, but being one of the un-cool early arrivals at the venues opening night, seeing the venue empty was a jaw-dropping moment of disillusionment. As a room, it is a very clinical and arid space, but the craftsmanship and though which has creatively been put into the space really does give matter a heart. Even down to its location, every facet has been consciously deliberated on to deliver a setting that is far from anything else in London.
"The honest truth is we didn't set out to start a new venue, it found us, and as such we weren't scouting around looking at areas and locations", Cameron discussed on the subject of what and where 'cool London' might be. "We were offered the chance to design and build this space and it just happened to be located in North Greenwich. I would challenge you to find anywhere in London where you have got the advantages we have with this space. Yes it's a slightly different part of town but then so was fabric in 1999; Smithfield was a relative ghost town when we started. We're definitely not West End and why jump into an area that's already got its own scene like Camden? London is moving East and there's people who would find getting to Greenwich much easier than getting to Camden, Shepherds Bush or Wembley, so its relative".
From his fanaticism it's easy to forget that you're exchanging words with the man behind arguably London's most infamous live venue, Fabric, but Cameron insists that matter has not set out to be trendy or elitist. He says, "We've only ever set out to put on great shows, music, acts and artists on an incredible sound system, within an amazing environment with a team that really cares. Some people are going to like that and some aren't. It's a question of choice... I hope matter will be somewhere a lot of people can have a lot of fun. Simple".
Matter's upcoming highlights include Pendulum, Alphabeat, Krafty Kuts and Sam Sparow, and one ungodly mother-effer of a New Years Eve shindig featuring 2 Many DJ's, The Whip, Delphic, Filthy Dukes, Headman, Joakim, Riton and Riotous Rockers all for a wallet friendly £35, which aint bad for somewhere as imaginatively dynamic as matter. More info on all upcoming nights can be found at www.matterlondon.com