A person in a wheelchair, wearing a hoodie and neon green hat and shoes, sits in front of a bright white background. Large yellow text on the left reads, Mat The Alien.

Really Good Vibes Only: Mat the Alien Returns to Rifflandia.

A person in a wheelchair, wearing a hoodie, appears to be propelled backward by a wall of large, loudspeakers emitting sound waves in a dimly lit room.

If you’ve gone to a club night or music festival on the West Coast over the last 20+ years, chances are you’ve seen Mat the Alien behind the decks—or at least on the bill. This prolific DJ and producer has been a staple of the scene for over two decades, both here in B.C. and beyond. 

Known for his affinity for heavy beats and basslines, Mat first got interested in music as a kid growing up in the UK, where his dad owned a record shop. This is where he discovered the UK acid house warehouse scene of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Inspired, he started DJing at the age of 14, and when he relocated to Whistler in the mid-90s to pursue his love for snowboarding and mountain biking, he began to further refine his musical chops. 

A person wearing sunglasses and a hood stands against a dark green background. Their face appears doubled and blurred in orange and red tones, creating a surreal, ghostly effect.

Mat’s sets became known for their eclectic mix of bass-heavy, broken-beat genres combined with impressive turntablism skills. He traveled the world spinning tunes and created long-running club nights in Whistler and Vancouver. He became a staple headliner at B.C. music festivals like Bass Coast and Shambhala, held down an 8-month residency in Las Vegas, and established a record label, Really Good Recordings, to showcase original music by himself and other artists.

A person in a wheelchair wearing a hoodie sits against a green background. Their face is partially obscured, and glowing neon text on their chest reads OPEN LATE. Motion blur creates a ghostly effect above their head.

In October 2020, Mat had a life-changing bike accident, which left him paralyzed from the armpits down. After spending six months in hospital, he returned to his love of music, adapting his studio, spinning sets for radio shows, and creating new original music—even working on his first new track before he’d even left the hospital.

"Doing something you love, if you have that passion for it, then you'll do it no matter what,” Mat said in a 2022 CBC interview.

Mat has stayed prolific since his accident, producing several singles and EPs exploring dubstep, drum and bass, dub and breakbeat—all genres you can expect in one of his live sets. He’s also returned to the decks, performing for the first time since his accident on stage at 2022’s Bass Coast festival and at several gigs since—and this year, with a Thursday set at Rifflandia.

Mat’s performances aren’t just about a bass-heavy, wide-ranging set—they’re also about the crowd. Over the years, Mat has built a strong fanbase and following, so expect lots of signs and merch sporting his signature phrase (Really Good), and an enthusiastic crowd stoked to see him on stage and hear just what tunes he will drop.

A vintage television showing a mans face is being beamed up by a large, glowing UFO in a dark, smoky atmosphere. Light from the UFO shines down, focusing on the TV.

“I wouldn’t have necessarily picked to be on a stage in front of people, but once you’re up there, it could be thousands of people, and you see people dancing and have a really good time and reacting to the music,” he said in an interview with Shaw in 2022. “It’s a really good feeling for sure.”

Yeah, really good!


– Amanda Farrell-Low. Amanda Farrell-Low has been covering arts and music in Victoria and beyond for about 20 years now. One day she will come up with a really clever bio. For now, she continues to enjoy the best of culture Victoria has to offer, including Rifflandia, as often as she can, often with her nine-year-old in tow.

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