Bushwacka!

Matthew Benjamin, a percussionist in the London School Symphony Orchestra who was
converted into a member of the infamous Rat Pack after a warehouse party in ’88, has
been DJing for over 30 years now. From that first Acid House experience Matthew
quickly started playing all over London, holding residencies at four of the most famous
clubs in town by the time he was 18 years old. From London the gigs spread
countrywide, doing up to 8 shows a weekend, and then into Europe and the USA by
1992.
It was via a mutual friend Mr C that Layo & Bushwacka! first met, whilst Matthew was
working at his studio, and by the mid 90s the two had started writing music together.
Over a decade later, the partnership has yielded three artist albums, three mix albums,
internationally renowned club residencies and a superb record label.
By 1999 they’d already composed their debut album, ‘Low Life’, released on End
Recordings, the label spawned by The End. The album announced the arrival of the duo as
a force in electronic music, with a record that brought together electro, house and breakbeat
fused with blues, dub and downtempo, all underpinned and informed by their collective
experience of underground culture. This inclusive and open minded approach to sound
became the blueprint for their future work.
Their sophomore album followed in 2002, this time released on the mighty XL Recordings.
Entitled ‘Night Works’, the record featured their unforgettable top ten hit ‘Love Story’, and
took their sound onto a bigger and broader canvas, charting all over the in the process.
The accompanying live show brought further acclaim with stunning shows from
Homelands to Sonar, whilst their famous DJ sets had now garnered residencies at some
of the world’s finest clubs including Space in Ibiza, Warung in Brasil and of course The
End in London. While this explosion was happening, Matthew was also achieving huge
solo success with his remixes for Depeche Mode, his bootleg of Michael Jackson’s Billie
Jean, and getting phone calls from Madonna wanting him to work on her music. It was a
crazy time.
Their End residency, known as All Night Long, became one of the capital’s most revered
nights with Layo & Bushwacka!