To say that Matthew Xia is a jack of many creative trades would be an understatement. The former 1Xtra DJ, journalist and composer is now an Associate Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East where he co-directed the well received I was Looking at the Ceiling and then I saw the Sky. Following his early love of music and theatre, Matthew by-passed university and got first hand experience with many landmarks along the way including standing in for the legendary BBC radio DJ John Peel. Matthew explains why he is now ready to go down one path and how being proactive can change your life.

July/August 2010

Matthew Xia

I’ve always had a love of music and theatre. Theatre gave me somewhere to express myself, to get rid of pent up energy and to have a creative outlet. At the age of 11 I joined Theatre Royal Stratford East’s Youth Theatre where I stayed until I was 16.

By then my life was beginning to go in a direction that I hadn’t planned. I landed myself a slot on pirate radio and began broadcasting a hip-hop show to west and central London. Two years later that show, Tales from the Legend, was picked up by the BBC at their new flagship digital black-music station 1Xtra.

I stayed at 1Xtra for the next five years interviewing some of my biggest hip-hop icons. By this time I had started getting approached by various magazines that enjoyed the tone of my show, and wanted to capture it on their pages. The first article I wrote was for the Sunday Telegraph. It was an article about the film Kidulthood which had just been released.

Then came Hip-Hop Connection, a magazine I had read as a teenager. Now here I was with my own column. That column developed into a full page. Before long I was writing a bunch of articles. Being at 1Xtra was fantastic. I even got to cover for the legendary radio DJ John Peel.

After five years my time at 1Xtra came to an end. I had started to move into the world of theatre. I was mainly composing and musically directing shows that had a contemporary urban feel to them. My main collaborator was (and still is) a fantastic designer, director and visionary called ULTZ. He asked me to come and co-direct a show called The Blacks at Theatre Royal Stratford East. The show was critically acclaimed by most of the national and regional press and it gave me my first real taste of directing.

Since then I’ve gone on to direct shows at The Hackney Empire, short films and more shows at Theatre Royal Stratford East where I am now established as an Associate Director. As for my journalism, I applied for the Guardian’s post graduate placement scheme for young black Asian and minority ethnic journalists. Despite having never been to university I was accepted onto the programme and ended up having a range of articles published in the very paper I buy every morning. 

In terms of music, my DJ-ing career continues, including stints at the Ministry of Sound and Fabric as well as gigs across the UK, Norway, Tenerife and Paris. I’ve gained a greater understanding of composition and this has led me to write music for a 50 piece orchestra as part of The Big Dance.

I’ve hopefully reached a point in my career where I can start to really choose the path I’m travelling down. I wake up and have ideas and then start talking to people to get these ideas out of my head and into the real world. I’ve just produced a concept album on stage Re: Definition for Urban Development, which stars a whole host of urban music stars including Omar, Shola Ama, Ghetts, Maverick Sabre, Crazy Cousinz at my spiritual home Theatre Royal Stratford East.

I’m now working on a stage adaptation of the 1979 film The Warriors and writing a new musical called A Clean Break. In terms of directing I just want to continue working, and working hard. If there is one thing I’ve learned to date, it is this: if you want something, be proactive about getting it. Put yourself in the right places, and stay diligent.

Biography
Matthew Xia is a freelance director, musical director, composer and Associate Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East. As a journalist he has written for publications including Hip-Hop Connection, Sunday Telegraph and The Guardian, broadcast for Radio1, 1Xtra, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 4 and Galaxy FM. Known for promoting new UK talent under the pseudonym Excalibah, Matthew filled in for the legendary John Peel on BBC Radio 1 giving airplay to artists such as Estelle, Sway and Plan B. He won Best Radio Show and Best Radio Presenter in the hip-hop press for his 1Xtra show in 2003, 2004 and 2005. His film and theatre credits include performing in Tube Tales(directed by Armando Iannucci), Aeroplane Man, 10 Poet Jam and Spoke Fest as well as Da Boyz, an adaptation of Rogers and Harts The Boys From Syracuse which he composed and musically directed, and Jean Genet’s The Blacks, which he co-directed, composed and starred in. Matthew has lectured and directed workshops and projects for Soho Theatre, Central School of Speech and Drama, Mental Health Trust, Theatre Is, Cardboard Citizens, Crying Out Loud, Arts Council England and NAYT. He is currently working on a stage adaptation of Sol Yurick’s The Warriors.

Details of Matthew’s latest projects can be found at www.stratfordeast.com

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