25-year-old DJ/producer Matt Cooper from Leeds, UK (whose birthday was on the actual day of the heat) is the competition’s third contender. Here Mel Sutton catches up with the young gun at Space to talk DJing, music technology and Ibiza… Mel also chats to Space’s production manager, Pedro, about what ingredients make for a winner/2009 resident DJ at Space Ibiza! Originally from Lancashire, now based in Yorkshire, Matt has been DJing since 1999 and started producing his own tracks last year. As a DJ, Matt first won industry support from Mixmag as a Future Hero and from Galaxy FM on their Nu Breed radio show. In 2005 Matt started a residency at KissDaFunk, the same year he hooked up with the infamous Dirty Disco crew in Leeds. And it was here that his decks ‘n’ EFX wizardry continued to turn heads, including that of Steve Lawler. Production-wise, the track that Matt used in his DJsounds’ video mix, ‘Triptup’, is his first finished production and is to date unsigned. Matt now joins Heat 1’s Lewis Ryder, Heat 2’s Carlton and Heat 4’s winner Matt Phantom, who played Space on 28th August. Words: LRC