A YOUNG musician from Hexham has turned his hand to record production as he rolls out an exciting side project.

More associated with acoustic guitar, Matty Stokoe has added another string to his musical bow and is producing drum and bass hits as part of a new venture.

The 20-year-old has launched his own record label, Statik Records, which he will use to get his own material out as well as promoting and producing material from other artists in the North-East.

Matty, who is a second-year music student at Sunderland University, is a promising singer-songwriter in his own right and regularly runs the open mic nights at Hexham’s Tap and Spile pub.

But his latest project is taking him slightly off his usual path, swapping indie rock and roll for the more high-tempoed dance genre, drum and bass.

Already, Statik has produced and released its debut single Secrets, which has received air time on BBC Radio Newcastle and is available on iTunes and Spotify.

Matty picked up producing skills through his course, based at The Sage Gateshead, when it held its free, six-week Generator music production course.

Now he is putting them to good use by providing vocals, keyboards and synthesisers in his home studio – with his guitar work yet to feature!

Matty said: “It’s something I really enjoy doing; it’s something different and opening new doors with my music.

“When people think of drum and bass, they think it’s a really heavy genre, but it’s not all like that and it’s coming into the mainstream.

“I started to get into music production about a year ago, and I really like drum and bass music, so though it would be a good change to suit my skills.

“I started the record label as a platform to distribute my own music, but also to get other artists on and get their sound out there. It’s all about networks for people and creating new opportunities.”

Matty has been helped with the formation of Statik by enlisting the help of Hexham-based journalism student James Robinson and Ovingham’s David Bell, a film-making student currently at Manchester University.

David produced a music video for Secrets and it has had well over 500 views on Facebook.

After the success of Secrets, there are more tracks upcoming from Statik, with the next one due to be dropped within the next month.

The record label was rolled out with a launch night at Hexham nightclub Studio, when Matty was joined behind the decks by local DJs Chris Walker, aka Rhythm Rebel, Ash Fairless (Frash) and Lewis Browell (& Sons). Lucas Pattison, of Allendale, provided the sound system.

Matty said: “It’s not very often it happens in Hexham, so it was good to get dance music in the town and invite some good local DJs to give them a little gig. It’s a good chance to give everybody the opportunity to play and spread the word about their music.

“In the future, we’ve got plans to get some more nights in Hexham and Newcastle because the launch evening was well-attended.”

Any local artists looking to produce tracks can contact Matty at statikrecords757@gmail.com.