About Magic Matt Kelly

My roots, like many DJ's, go back to my early high school days. As a junior in the north Chicago suburbs, I was selected by my peers to deejay monthly high school dances after football and basketball games in our high school gym. This was mostly due to the fact that I owned the most music in our student body, but depending on whether you were a classmate or a faculty member, these dances were either wildly successful or out of control.

It wasn't long until I was in college and learning the ropes of the broadcast radio business, when the underground house music scene soon made its way out of the inner city and into the mainstream. I'd always been a fan of electronically-influenced new wave and hiphop, and house had me hooked like a drug. Within a couple of years, I purchased a basic two-channel mixer from Radio Shack and a pair of standard Technics 1200 turntables and I was learning how to mix. Not long after that, I'd become skilled enough to spin a few nights here and there at underground parties, small bars and nightclubs in northern Indiana.

After several years of the nightclub business and hocking bootleg mixtapes on the streets, 2001 rewarded me with a radio mixshow residency at WSMK 99.1 in South Bend, Indiana. This was a big promotional opportunity that introduced me to a new audience of literally tens and tens of thousands of dance music fans in the area. For over three years I was on the air mixing 25 to 60 minute sets three times a week or more, including Saturdays, and sometimes live from the studios.

The radio gig dried up in late 2004, and I focused on a new worldwide audience via the internet right here on MagicMattKelly.com. I made a small transition to Florida breaks and trance music, but house has always remained my first love. Some of the mixshows I was able to stream live from experimental internet radio station RPM Dance Radio (short-lived, less than a year from 2006-2007), which was terrific fun while it lasted.

And now, these days I'm here with a different career in sunny south Florida, but still enjoying what free time I am able to spend in my mix studio at home, with a couple of internet streaming projects in slow development. Thanks for taking the time to visit, and always enjoy the music. -mmk