MATTHEW CORBETT

Matthew started out in the underground dance scene, running an indie label and touring with his live drum and bass outfit.

MIKE WILKIE

Mike started his career in major labels and publishing companies in the 80s before becoming involved in commercial pop production, he eventually settled into music for film and TV in the mid nineties.

Matthew Corbett and Mike Wilkie (aka Lockdown Media) are two of the UK’s most successful composers of music within broadcast media, undertaking production music and direct commissions across a wide spectrum. Their work has been heard in TV productions, advertising, film, radio and online across the world for over twenty years.

As a young musician Mike had refused to return to an austere boarding school and instead joined local bands in Cornwall after enrolling himself at Camborne technical college. He studied the ‘Mickey Baker Jazz Chords’ book whilst he should have been revising for exams, and this set a ‘creative precedent’ for the future!

He went on to play jazz in Paris and also travelled to Germany to play with a band providing him with a broad range of life experiences. Mike started a successful industry career in both major and independent record labels and publishing companies in the 80’s including Epic, United Artists, Chappell International and Bronze.

He won a ‘Leslie Perrin’ award for Press and PR whilst at the Epic label working for the likes of Wham, Meatloaf, Altered Images and Neil Young. He also worked with the Norwegian group 2 Brave (London Records) before becoming involved in commercial pop production and composition later that decade.

He eventually settled into music for film and TV in the mid nineties and was signed to both London Music and to Zomba Music during this time. “I only ever really wanted to be a creative and to compose, I never felt that being on the executive side of the business suited me”.

Matthew grew up with classical training, learning piano, violin, viola and theory from the age of six. In his late teens he became immersed in the burgeoning global dance scene and assembled a studio of ragtag equipment to begin experimenting. During the nineties he undertook various projects for Zomba and spent time in both the UK and Norway in commercial production situations.

In the coming years he started releasing vinyl and formed indie drum and bass label Speedlincs with a cohort of like-minded producers. Extensive touring and festivals in the UK and abroad followed with his live drum and bass outfit Next Wave Of Jazz, playing alongside the likes of The Prodigy and Roni Size Reprazent.

Matthew and Mike also own the critically acclaimed ‘Freshtone’ sample label, and their ‘Lost Tapes’ and ‘Vintage Drums’ sample releases have been used by some of the world’s leading producers, both topping distributor download charts for over three months. Their ‘Lost Tapes 2’ has been reviewed within the media as ‘one of the top ten sample packs ever released.’ They also won an ‘Online Music Award’ way back in 2001 for having been part of a team to create one of the first music download sites for professional users ‘3Qsound.com’.