Matt FX: Serving Up Big Dish Energy

For over a decade, Matt FX has occupied a singular lane within dance music and New York culture. Whether soundtracking a generation through his music supervision work on Broad City, curating unforgettable nights across NYC's club landscape, or crafting his own distinctly playful strain of house music, he's consistently blurred the lines between scene-maker, tastemaker, and artist.

Now, the founder of Non-Friction Records returns with Big Dish Energy, a delightfully eccentric collection recorded between New York, London and Montreal. Featuring collaborations with Greg Paulus, The Fitness and Moroccan vocalist Thaïs Sala, the EP captures the label's ethos perfectly: groove-driven, slightly unhinged, deeply musical and impossible to pigeonhole.

Ahead of the release, Mixmag Caribbean caught up with Matt FX to discuss the stories behind Big Dish Energy, the evolution of New York nightlife, building the Non-Friction family, and why the best dancefloors have more in common with dinner parties than most people realize.

1The title Big Dish Energy immediately feels like it comes from a very specific universe. What's the story behind it, and at what point did you realise these tracks belonged together as a project rather than individual singles?

Big Dish Energy is about abundance. Big grooves, bigger personalities, a rock solid vibe, and a good laugh. The EP wasn't conceived as a grand concept record. These were songs that came together organically with friends over the last couple years - somewhere along the way I happened to realize they all shared the same personality. Whether it's the off-kilter soundscape, the spoken-word moments, or the sense of humor, they all belong in the same slightly sideways universe, which I suppose is the Non-Friction universe.

You recorded this EP across New York, London and Montreal. Can you identify a moment, sound or feeling from each city that ended up embedded in the music, even if listeners might not consciously hear it?

Can we go track by track? Watch Your Mouth is deeply influenced by my first few times out in Brooklyn hearing this new sort of funky post-minimal sound being championed by Sweely, Garret David, Gene on Earth, Can You Jigit? etc. over the last few years. I’m very serious about not taking dance music too seriously, and I am so glad to know there are brilliant producers out there who feel the same way

I’ve had a lot of late nights in Brooklyn with Greg Paulus in my day, and Delulu definitely harnesses that sort of jazzy, delirious sound I love him for. Greg has been holding down a weekly jazz night at Milagrosa for many years now and it’s truly one of the most inspirational places you could possibly be on a wednesday at midnight. That sort of 8-bit keyboard solo at the end was actually kind of my very first jazz, ever - bless his soul for pushing me into laying that down!

Although I actually met Thaïs in Montreal, we made Hold The Phone in London a couple days after I got to see Make A Dance for the first time at a party they threw with Paula Tape. Even though Thais is speaking in french on the track, the idea for it - both in its musical production as well as in its lyrical concept - were heavily influenced by that night, from the immaculate vibes on the dancefloor to the slightly less immaculate upset drunk girls yelling at each other in the smoking area.

Lastly, Big Dish Energy was made in Montreal with Darien aka The Fitness. It was a couple nights after we’d played Datcha together, and candidly, from the jackin’ sort of minimal tech-house vibe to Darien’s absolutely absurd vocal freestyle, it really is classic The Fitness - and therefore Montreal - through and through.

You've spent years shaping culture from behind the scenes as a curator, DJ, music supervisor and connector. When you sit down to make your own records, do you ever have to consciously silence those other versions of yourself?

Working in television and nightlife taught me that people don't remember polish– they remember moments. The records I make aren't trying to impress chinstrokers. They're trying to make somebody grin unexpectedly at 2:30 in the morning.

New York nightlife is constantly being declared dead and then somehow reinventing itself. What's one misconception people outside the city have about the current state of NYC club culture?

Indeed there has been quite a bit of ‘NYC is dead’ slander over the last few years and I just won’t have it. I truly believe we are in a proper renaissance right now, as someone who has been DJing in the scene for over 15 years I can proudly say that there has never been so many amazing clubs, parties, dancefloors, and soundsystems in the city as there are right now. It’s always so funny to me when I hear people reminiscing about the golden era of what is now considered ‘indie sleaze’ - those clubs all sounded like shit!

To anyone who thinks NYC is currently lacking, I encourage them to visit East Williamsburg and explore the incredible new clubs we have to offer. We are so spoiled!

If someone discovered New York exclusively through its dancefloors in 2025/2026, what would they learn about the city that they'd never understand from social media or mainstream media coverage?

While I have nothing against the large format (mostly techno and tech-house oriented) parties getting shine on social media, where NYC truly shines for me are the clubs where people know the security guards by name, the owners know all the regulars, and someone notices if you disappear for twenty minutes. The small rooms that punch above their weight and the medium sized ‘camera sticker’ clubs that tend to really dial in on crowds that are *actually* there to dance.

To shout out some of the former, I think Dead Letter No.9, Nightmoves, Ciao Ciao, Outer Heaven and Milagrosa are some of the best little rooms in the world, and for the latter Signal, Refuge, Green Room / 333 are easily where the most forward thinking music in the city can be heard, and where you’ll find me! Also H0L0, but I think you can still snap a pic in there..

Non-Friction feels more like a community than a traditional label. What's something you've borrowed from hosting parties and building nightlife spaces that you've applied directly to running the label?

Running a label isn't that different from hosting a party. My job is to bring together interesting, talented people, make them feel welcome and heard, and create the conditions where everyone can do their best work. We may not always agree - ask anyone in the crew, I happen to be very particular - but I think the end result is always stronger when everyone feels empowered to fight for what they believe in.

Most labels talk about building a 'family,' but very few actually feel like one. What are the unwritten rules that hold the Non-Friction crew together?

I actually just spent the weekend in upstate New York with my mentors from Crew Love, aka the big family started by Wolf + Lamb and Soul Clap, and in many ways they taught me everything I know about a DJ Crew-as-family.

A lot of the time, people throw around the word 'family' because it sounds good in a press release. If I’ve learned anything, it shows up in much smaller ways. Making someone dinner after a show. Lending gear. Talking through disagreements before they become resentment. That's the culture I want to build."

You're known as a professional gourmand as much as a DJ. If Big Dish Energy were an actual meal served at a late-night spot after the club, what would be on the plate and why?

Oh, that’s a good question. But if I’m keeping it real, the late night spot serving meals after the club for me and my crew is my apartment, not a restaurant! If it was truly a ‘big dish’, I think it would be a katsu curry with all the fixings - a giant platter of rice covered with Japanese curry, chicken + pork katsu, shrimp tempura, pickled radish, etc. - though recently I’ve been more likely to serve tacos and burritos to my friends at 2AM in actuality.

You've worked across television, nightlife and music production—three worlds that all rely on creating emotional responses. What's a technique from TV storytelling that you've secretly used when constructing a dance record?

So, I have this full length album I’ve actually been sitting on for like, 3 years now, and something that deeply inspired its structure was the ‘story wheel’ aka the hero’s journey. If you take it as a 3-act piece each track serves a very specific purpose in terms where it’s going emotionally. There’s this track on it near the end of the album where I literally can’t help but envision a protagonist and villain circling each other atop a dark spire, in those moments before they finally clash into a long-awaited duel. I’m working up the courage to finally put it out - maybe later this year or early next.

Beyond that, I am literally constantly sampling lines from television and film. For relatively obvious legal and financial reasons I try my best not to sample other music, but when it comes to a cheeky line of dialogue, I truly cannot help myself.

Here's one you've probably never been asked: imagine a future anthropologist discovering only three things from your career—a Non-Friction release, a Broad City soundtrack cue, and a recording from one of your DJ sets. What do you hope they conclude about life in New York during your era?

I would hope that they would think of life in New York as very colorful, maybe a little crass, and a hell of a good time.