Optical

London-born Matt Quinn, who records as Optical, began making music as a teenager and has been active in electronic music since 1988. At 17, Quinn was producing, and Phat Tunes was his first hardcore label. He also DJed on the UK free festival circuit, appearing with Bedlam, Spiral Tribe and Techno Travellers Soundsystem. His brother Jamie Quinn records as Matrix; the two launched Metro Records, whose opening releases included Matrix’s “Double Vision” and Optical’s “Shining”. Quinn’s work in drum and bass has included production and DJing since the genre’s early days.

In 1997, Optical’s single “To Shape the Future” came out on Goldie’s Metalheadz. That year also brought “Quadrant 6 / Concrete Shoes” on Moving Shadow. His releases included work for Prototype and No U Turn, and the single “Cutslo/Alien Girl”, made with Ed Rush and Fierce, appeared on Prototype Recordings. Optical also worked with Goldie on the album Saturnz Return and was credited as a writer and producer on Grooverider’s Mysteries of Funk; he engineered that album as well.

Optical’s long-running partnership with Ed Rush became the duo Ed Rush & Optical. The pair founded Virus Recordings in 1998, with Quinn owning the label, and released their album Wormhole that year. The record is associated with the development of neurofunk. In 1998, Optical and Ed Rush also made the single “Funktion / Naked Lunch” for V Recordings. Further duo albums followed with The Creeps (Invisible and Deadly!) in 2000 and The Original Doctor Shade in 2003. Optical’s own releases have also included the single “Let It Go (Original Mix)” on Dutty Audio in 2016.

In 2016, Virus Recordings issued the albums 20YearsOfOptical, Vol. 1 and 20YearsOfOptical, Vol. 2. Optical’s DJ activity has included a 2023 set with Ed Rush at The Steelyard for 25 years of Virus. In 2026, he played at TivoliVredenburg on 4 September and at Le Bikini on 2 October.