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Matt Colton

Matt Colton is an English renowned for his work in the music industry, specializing in stereo, vinyl, and immersive audio formats such as . A Grammy Award winner, he has mastered albums for prominent artists including , , , , and . Colton began his career in music as a radio producer before transitioning to mastering in 1997, initially training at Mastering under engineers Mike Marsh and others. He later advanced to roles involving CD, vinyl, and digital mastering, contributing to projects for artists like James Blake, , , and during his time at Alchemy Mastering in , where he served as director. By the mid-2010s, Colton had established himself as a leading figure in audio engineering, incorporating advanced tools like Sonnox plug-ins for precision in his workflow. Based at Studios in as of 2025, Colton continues to master high-profile releases across genres, including multi-platinum albums and winners such as those by , , and . His notable achievements include 2025 for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and Best Immersive Audio Album for his mastering work on Peter Gabriel's album i/o, as well as mastering the Grammy-winning album Flume's (2016) and immersive mixes for artists including and . Colton's expertise extends to half-speed , pure analogue , and live-to- processes, emphasizing clarity and dynamic range in modern recordings.

Early life

Birth and background

Matt Colton was born on 30 March 1975 in . As of 2025, he is 50 years old. Colton grew up in the rural county of in southwest , an area known for its scenic landscapes and that shaped his early environment. He is professionally known by the nickname "The Alchemist," a moniker that appears in various music credits and reflects his specialized role in audio production. Colton's English upbringing provided a foundational context before his entry into mastering in 1997.

Initial interests in music

Matt Colton, an English , showed an early fascination with music during his childhood, preferring to spend hours alone in his room immersing himself in full albums rather than individual singles. This solitary listening habit fostered a deep appreciation for the complete artistic experience of recordings. At age 19, Colton began working as a radio producer, creating commercials and jingles, which marked his initial professional involvement in the music industry. During his adolescence, Colton began experimenting hands-on with music creation, dabbling in playing drums and producing electronic tracks. He initially aspired to pursue a career as a recording artist, driven by this personal engagement with sound. His self-taught skills emerged through such home-based activities, including programming dance music on an Atari computer in his spare time. Colton's interests were profoundly shaped by the 1990s music scene, particularly the innovative electronic and experimental sounds from labels like Rephlex, Planet Mu, and Warp Records, which introduced him to precursors such as Aphex Twin and other boundary-pushing artists. These influences, combined with his early tinkering with basic recording equipment, sparked a growing curiosity about the technical aspects of audio production.

Career

Beginnings in mastering

Matt Colton began his career in the music industry in 1997 at the age of 21, joining in London's district as a , starting in the role of tea boy before progressing to assisting with computer systems and mastering tasks. The studio, founded and run by veteran engineer George "Porky" Peckham—known for his distinctive pig-logo etchings on records from artists like and —provided Colton with an immersive entry into professional audio engineering. His initial experiences there were shaped by Peckham's hands-on approach, which emphasized practical skills over formal training, allowing Colton to observe and participate in real-world mastering sessions. During his four years at Porky's (1997–2001), Colton benefited from mentorship under engineers like Paul Solomons, who guided him in vinyl cutting techniques and broader mastering principles, including equalization, compression, and stereo imaging. He assisted on diverse projects, such as Leftfield's album Leftism, Faith No More releases, The Charlatans' tracks, Yazoo reissues, and Oasis material, which exposed him to rock, electronic, and alternative genres while teaching quality control and error correction. Colton later described this period as equivalent to a university education, where he mastered CD preparation processes like track compilation, PQ coding for subcodes, and final quality checks, building a foundation in analog-to-digital transitions central to late-1990s audio production. Leaving in 2001, Colton transitioned to more roles, first at Kinetec Mastering (2001–2003), where he took on full engineering responsibilities for a range of and label projects across and music. By 2003, he relocated to to join Optimum Mastering (2003–2007), further developing his expertise on emerging dance and releases, including Claude von Stroke's track "The Whistler," which highlighted his growing proficiency in loudness optimization and management for club-oriented formats. These early endeavors up to the mid-2000s solidified his reputation for precise, genre-versatile mastering, driven by his longstanding passion for music production that had initially drawn him to .

Key studio affiliations

Colton commenced his mastering career in 1997 at in , serving as an initial stepping stone in his professional development. After leaving Optimum Mastering in 2007, he briefly worked at from 2007 to 2008 and independently from 2008 to 2009. In 2009, he joined AIR Studios as a senior , contributing to the facility's renowned production environment over a three-year period until 2012. Subsequently, Colton assumed the role of director and at Alchemy Mastering in starting in October 2012, where he played a pivotal part in relaunching the studio alongside its original founders Barry Grint and Phil Kinrade, fostering its expansion and solidifying its position as a premier mastering house through 2019. In February 2019, he transitioned to Studios in , continuing his work as a Grammy Award-winning and integrating into the studio's esteemed mastering department. Colton's membership in the Music Producers Guild (MPG) has bolstered his professional network by facilitating connections with leading figures in music production and engineering, including opportunities for collaboration and recognition within the industry.

Notable artist collaborations

Matt Colton has collaborated with a wide array of prominent artists throughout his career, mastering key albums that have achieved critical and commercial success. His work spans rock, electronic, and alternative genres, contributing to releases by established acts and emerging talents alike. Notable among these are projects with Arctic Monkeys, including their 2022 album The Car and the 2020 live recording Live at the Royal Albert Hall, where his mastering enhanced the dynamic range and clarity of live performances. Colton's contributions extend to iconic bands such as , for whom he mastered the 2023 album , delivering a polished sound that captured the band's raw energy; The Cure's Songs of a (2024), emphasizing atmospheric depth; and Depeche Mode's (2023), refining the electronic textures for broad playback compatibility. He also worked on Thom Yorke's 2025 track "Dialing In" from the Confess soundtrack, ensuring immersive spatial audio elements, and Aphex Twin's experimental releases, preserving intricate sonic details. Additional collaborations include George Michael's catalog remasters, Ellie Goulding's pop-oriented albums, and his techniques highlighted psychedelic production layers in various projects. In the realm of Mercury Prize winners, Colton mastered albums for several laureates, including James Blake's self-titled debut (2011), Sampha's Process (2017), Michael Kiwanuka's Kiwanuka (2019), Arlo Parks' Collapsed in Sunbeams (2021), and Little Simz' Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021), each of which contributed to their respective award wins by optimizing audio fidelity for diverse listening environments. His Grammy-associated projects further underscore his impact, such as Flume's Skin (2016), which won a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album; Ozzy Osbourne's Patient Number 9 (2022); the double Grammy-winning debut by Wet Leg (2022); and The Rolling Stones' Grammy-winning Hackney Diamonds. These efforts often involved subtle enhancements to sonic clarity, particularly in live or multi-format recordings, allowing the artists' visions to translate effectively across vinyl, streaming, and high-resolution formats.

Technical expertise

Mastering formats and processes

Matt Colton's expertise in stereo mastering encompasses specialized vinyl processes that prioritize audio fidelity and physical medium constraints. In half-speed vinyl mastering, the process begins with sourcing high-resolution masters, often from original analog tapes or uncompressed digital files, followed by playback at half the standard speed—typically 16 2/3 rpm for a 33 1/3 rpm record—while the cutting lathe operates at the same reduced speed. This allows the cutting stylus to modulate the lacquer groove more gradually, capturing finer details in high frequencies and reducing inner-groove distortion for enhanced clarity across the disc. For pure analogue , Colton employs an all-analog signal path to preserve the warmth and of source material, starting with tape restoration using machines like the ATR-100 or A80, then routing through analog equalizers and compressors before direct cutting on a Neumann VMS-80 with preview heads for real-time monitoring. This method avoids digital conversion, ensuring the final reflects the original recording's organic character without added artifacts. Live-to-vinyl sessions represent Colton's most immediate analog approach, where performances are captured directly to in a single, uninterrupted pass. The process involves setting up microphones and instruments in the studio, feeding the live mix through a minimal analog chain to the cutting lathe, which etches the groove in ; any errors require restarting, emphasizing and the raw energy of one-take recording. This technique, conducted at facilities like Metropolis Studios, yields limited-edition pressings that capture the spontaneity of live sound. In immersive audio, Colton excels in Dolby Atmos mastering, creating spatial sound experiences by rendering stereo or surround mixes into object-based audio with height channels for three-dimensional immersion. This involves upmixing elements to position sounds in a 3D space, balancing the bed layer with dynamic objects for enveloping playback on compatible systems, as applied to projects enhancing listener engagement through precise spatial placement. Colton's mastering philosophy centers on to avoid over-compression, which he views as detrimental to musicality, instead advocating for balanced that preserves and emotional depth while honoring the artist's vision. At Alchemy Mastering, he integrates tools like Sonnox Oxford plug-ins—particularly the for transparent gain and for surgical adjustments—to achieve this precision in hybrid workflows. Since beginning his career in 1997 at Porky's Mastering, Colton's toolkit has evolved from predominantly analog setups to a digital-hybrid paradigm, incorporating vintage tape machines and lathes alongside software for versatile format delivery, enabling adaptations like the spatial Atmos version of Peter Gabriel's i/o album.

Mixing contributions

While Matt Colton's primary expertise lies in mastering, he has undertaken audio mixing as a complementary role, particularly in the Dolby Atmos spatial audio format, to enhance immersive listening experiences for select projects. This work began gaining prominence in the 2010s as Atmos adoption grew in the music industry, allowing him to adapt stereo stems into three-dimensional soundscapes while preparing mixes for subsequent mastering stages. His approach emphasizes maintaining sonic balance across elements like vocals, instruments, and ambiance, ensuring clarity and musicality that translates effectively from studio to live playback environments. A notable example of Colton's mixing contributions is his work on James Blake's 2023 album Playing Robots Into Heaven, where he handled the mix and mastering. Drawing from his prior experience mastering Blake's earlier releases, Colton focused on in-the-box to position audio objects in a , highlighting the album's heavy basslines and atmospheric hooks—such as in tracks like "Tell Me" and "Loading"—to create a sense of depth and movement that complements the artist's electronic and soul-infused style. This project exemplifies his technique of leveraging familiarity to achieve consistency, avoiding over-compression and prioritizing for optimal preparation in the mastering chain. Colton's Atmos mixing extends to reimagining classic catalogs for modern playback, including contributions for and , where he balances legacy recordings' raw energy with spatial placement to revive their live-like intensity without altering core elements. These efforts, often secondary to his mastering duties, underscore his role in bridging traditional studio mixes with immersive formats, ensuring elements like guitar riffs and crowd ambiance are proportioned for both intimate headphone listening and expansive home theater systems.

Awards and recognition

Music Producers Guild awards

The , a UK-based organization representing music production professionals, established the Mastering Engineer of the Year award to recognize individuals who demonstrate exceptional technical skill in preparing production masters for commercial release, including credits such as "Mastering Engineer," "Mastering," or "Mastered by." This accolade highlights contributions that elevate audio quality across formats while addressing industry challenges like preservation and format compatibility. Matt Colton first received the MPG Mastering Engineer of the Year award in 2013, honoring his work on high-profile releases that showcased precise sonic balance and innovative processing techniques amid the era's loudness wars. His efforts that year, including mastering for artists like the on their album AM, underscored his ability to maintain clarity and impact in dense mixes, reflecting broader career growth from his early roles at studios like AIR Mastering. In 2018, Colton earned the award again for projects that exemplified technical excellence, such as his mastering on Depeche Mode's Spirits in the Forest documentary soundtrack and related releases, where he navigated complex and archival material to deliver cohesive, high-fidelity results. This win emphasized the award's focus on industry impact, as Colton's processes helped preserve artistic intent in an increasingly landscape. Colton secured the honor for a third time in 2020, recognized for mastering diverse works including Ellie Goulding's , Michael Kiwanuka's Jewels in the Crown, and projects by and , which highlighted his versatility in handling pop, , and genres while tackling challenges like streaming optimization and cut precision. These accolades, spanning his over two-decade career, affirm his role in advancing mastering standards through meticulous attention to detail and collaboration with top artists.

Grammy Awards

Matt Colton received the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 67th Annual in 2025 for his mastering work on Peter Gabriel's album i/o, where he handled the stereo, double vinyl, and versions to ensure sonic clarity and depth across formats. This marked his first Grammy win, recognizing his technical precision in elevating the album's immersive and physical releases. The same ceremony saw Colton nominated in the Best Engineered Album, Classical category for Andrés: The Blind Banister by Andrew Cyr, Inbal Segev, and the Ensemble, highlighting his versatility in classical mastering. Prior to this, Colton earned a nomination for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023 for his mastering on Wet Leg's self-titled debut album, which also won Best Alternative Music Album that year. His mastering contributions extended to other Grammy-winning projects, including Flume's Skin (Best Dance/Electronic Album, 2017), Ozzy Osbourne's Patient Number 9 (Best Rock Album, 2023), and The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds (Best Rock Album, 2025), where his work on vinyl and high-resolution formats preserved the artists' dynamic ranges and tonal balances. These achievements built on his earlier recognition from the Music Producers Guild in the UK, affirming his expertise on an international stage. Colton's Grammy successes have solidified his reputation as a leading , influencing global standards for album preparation in both analog and spatial audio contexts by demonstrating how meticulous mastering can enhance artistic intent across diverse genres from to .

Educational contributions

Lectures and workshops

Matt Colton has engaged in and hands-on workshops focused on audio mastering techniques, drawing on his technical expertise to educate aspiring engineers and producers. At the 2013 London Electronic Music Event, Colton delivered a demystifying the mastering process while exploring specific challenges in electronic music production, such as achieving clarity and dynamics in dense arrangements. As part of the Production Academy at Alchemea College, Colton participated as a special guest, contributing to the mastering instruction. In 2016, he conducted a guest workshop at dBs Institute in , where he outlined the mastering engineer's role.

Teaching roles

Matt Colton has held various guest lecturing and tutoring positions at music and audio institutions, focusing on mastering techniques and practices. At Alchemea College in , Colton served as a special guest for The Production Academy, a specialized organized in collaboration with Sample Magic, where he contributed to instruction on mastering. The program emphasized hands-on training in recording, , and mastering for electronic and genres. He delivered a guest at dBs Institute in , detailing the mastering process, including technical quality control, creative decision-making, and his career path as a . This session aimed to provide students with practical insights into professional audio workflows. Colton also presented a at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, , as part of the Masterclasses in Mastering event. Co-presented with George Shilling, the full-day workshop covered mastering for vinyl, CD, and digital formats, drawing on his experience with artists such as and . Additionally, he conducted a demonstration lecture at , addressing over 100 attendees in a large hall. The session highlighted mastering challenges and playback systems, using examples from his work on James Blake's recordings to illustrate low-frequency handling.

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