King Cole

I'm just about to wake up... I think..."
Polite to the nth degree, MJ Cole has no reason to be so apologetic. He is still wide-eyed and in top form, despite being caught in the headlights of the scrutinous dance (and now mainstream) media. Unlike virtually every other knob twiddler doing the rounds, Coleman's musical background is steeped in equal doses of electronic and classical music.
"I was a classical musician to start with," begins Matt. "I played the oboe from about ten and the piano from about six. I went to the Royal College of Music on Saturday morning and I was very big on music at school.
When I was fourteen or fifteen I started going out to parties and getting into girls and music, he continues. That was 89 or 90, so when the dance music thing started I was there right at the right moment. I got into hardcore and drum n' bass for years I was an ardent fanatic. I used to have decks at home and all my mates were into it. I went out to buy records every lunchtime and went to all the clubs, getting into all the DJs and all the tunes and annoying neighbours with the sound from my bedroom. I was doing that but still going to music college. I'm into doing different things and I get a thrill from new things and opposite things. I'm a sponge and I'm still absorbing.
The product of a lifetime of sponging is the hyped to the hilt and lauded to the skies long player Sincere.
"The first day it was out it was amazing," rhapsodies Coleman. "I went into HMV and it was racked up at the front of the shop. It was a dream of mine for years and years and years to do an album. So many people got shelved or dropped or recorded an album and it didn't come out or got withdrawn. There are so many pitfalls along the way. To get the album out in itself was fantastic and for everyone along the way to like it is brilliant is well. To be acknowledged as a producer with the MOBO Awards, and the Mercury Awards, I really feel that I've had a pat on the back from quite a few people.
For me as a serious musician and as someone who spends a lot of time in the studio late at night working really hard, it is really good to get such public accolades. I got a nice award being nominated [for the Mercury Prize] this spirally trophy which is on top of my telly. Me and Roni (Size) just ended up getting absolutely pissed out of our faces which was quite amusing. We were the last people to leave the whole place.
One thing that characterises Coleman, and to a certain extent the garage genre, is a lesser level of negativity compared to the petty bickering rampant in techno and house circles.
"Even in the drum n bass scene there is quite a lot of Aw! You gotta stay underground, don't sell out or go commercial, " explains Matt. "I think the two step thing by its very nature is such a vocal thing and so much more song-structured music. There's hooks and things to sing along with! It lends itself to being commercial.
A lot of people ask me do you feel you've sold out because you're signed to a major label? , and I don't feel like that at all because I know I haven't tried to make music to be commercial. When I was making the album, I wasn't thinking oh, this has to be more hooky . It was in the lull between speed garage and two step so I had finished my album before this year's rollercoaster started. I've been true to myself and I think it is a sincere album.
To date, Coleman's live duties have included everything from Glastonbury to V2000 to the Montreal Jazz Festival.
"We did a couple of shows like v2000 but they were only one-off gigs. It wasn't like we were on a tour bus for ten days. It s been a fantastic year and it just was another really exciting thing to do. It's been a challenge, in the way that DJing is a challenge and now turning my album into a live act," enthuses Cole. "It was difficult to create the time to sort it out. Go back and get all the tunes up. Get everyone together to rehearse. A lot of people steer clear of doing the live thing. But we're showing that it can be done on its own and the garage two-step thing can stand up on its own as soul music."