The Violet Bombshell

It is VITALLY IMPORTANT that you say yes to entering that DJ competition. Be warned, this adventure may take you around the world, and you may find new family and friends. #sonic #rave #rpg #raverpg #adventure

The photos by @hovermediacosplay from @sonicconuk are in and they're amazing!! My videos of the afterparty didn't do the crowd size justice but they've captured it in full swing, you were all amazing! 1: Cosfam being Team Tism 2: The three chaos agents 3: Like I'm pulling the music right out of the screen! 4: just a nice overview 5: oh look, it's my "I'm plotting your demise" face 6: Tactical Tim Tam attack! 7+8: Absolute VIBES 9: New friends singing their lungs out ❤️ 10: wrapped the set on New Horizons - you really were my new horizon, Sonic Con!

Our first time out cosplaying together! @violetbombshell has been involved in the convention scene in the past, and we'd talked about it a lot up till now but never quite got to making it happen - but with @sonicconuk coming up, we finally had DOUBLE the reason to make an outing at @paxaus ! My first time sewing garments without a more senior assist, learnt a LOT of lessons I'll be applying in future to make the process much easier and end up with a better quality result, but we got to meet some amazingly kind people, got stopped a few times for photos by strangers (that's a new one for us!) and generally had a great time even if we couldn't stay as long as we wanted. As the kids get older these things are going to get easier thankfully. Our hermit era is slowly passing.

Friday of @paxaus over and done, we tapped out early in the afternoon to save energy for my show tomorrow in the Together Theatre but damn we had a blast while there!! Thank you to the amazing @violetbombshell for being my rock and sanity checker during the buildup to this, we finally got another day out without the kids 😅 To everyone I got to see, thank you so much and can't wait to see you again tomorrow!!

@violetbombshell has been working her ass off getting my website up and running and I'm super proud of what she's built! Go check it out, link is in my bio or you can just type mattfrequencies.com into a browser and holy shit it works! What's your favourite thing on the site?

Thursday, 6:19pm. Relaxing into a bath, water just about to finish... Into my head slams a DnB style remix of "Big Arms" - the Sonic 3 Final Boss theme. It's epic as hell, I can hear it clear as day, it needs to get made pronto! @violetbombshell agreed to let me go full hyperfocus on it for a few hours in the evening. I clocked off around 10pm, then hit it again Friday while the kids were out of the house. Got about 3 hours on it there too, where I pushed it to V1 state. Saturday evening, another few hours saw it reach V3 after some feedback from trusted friends (thank you @kaizo_trap ❤️) and then Sunday morning I hit publish on the Soundcloud version. @loopsnake has been incredible with helping me master my last couple of tracks so this one is off with them as well. A few comments about this track: Without my partner, it wouldn't exist. Miss that inspiration burst and it's all over for me, I forget the melodies and sounds and they're gone by morning. Sonic 3 is my favourite Sonic game of all time. Not S3&K, just Sonic 3. Amazing OST, incredible level design, and the storytelling without a single word is second to none. Mum would hire S3 from blockbuster in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and I would play it to death for a weekend - but in between I was furiously studying the play guide she got me (remember those?) So I would play and play specifically to get to THIS SONG. Everything about it, the invoked fear as the sky darkened, the actual danger as rings were often at zero from the previous bosses - and it was a four phase fight to get back when you died - the triumphant duel of the musical styles within the song, it's a goddamn masterpiece of Mega Drive music. This version I've made is not totally what I had in my head - I envisioned more church organs, more guitars. But what this song IS, is a celebration of where my music has come to so far. It uses every technical trick I've learned, leans on my existing library of songs and tropes and samples, and is a true representation of what I've come to know as "my sound". So, meet "Progressive DnB" - a made up genre to explain my sound simply. I hope you enjoy it. I'm going to be cooking a lot more. ❤️

Still absolutely fucking pinching myself that I get to play support for @venjent on Friday at one of the most amazing venues in Melbourne! @twistedaudio and @runnchase_ made a dream come true with this one ❤️ I've been following Venjent since I finished my @yourshotau performance nearly 2 years ago (training finished 2 years ago to the day when I'll be playing!). In 2020/2021 disability took my awesome mechanic role building supercharged mustangs at @mustang_motorsport_official and I spent a long time figuring out what to do after that - first working on 3d printing, then acapella recordings and singing. @misclectic pushed me to have a go at Your Shot in 2023 and the rest is history! Stepping out of my house for the first time in years and socialising was really difficult as a newly disabled person, figuring out my limitations and abilities took a lot of effort and support from @violetbombshell , and the opportunities I've had from all corners of the community have been incredible - you all know who you are, and I'm eternally grateful! From wondering if I could actually survive a 25 minute set to eventually playing a 7 hour marathon, I've found my home behind the deck and on stage - and now I have a hell of a musical adventure cued up for you all on Friday, so hopefully I'll see more than a few of you there! Final tickets are nearly sold out, don't miss out!

@violetbombshell has been learning a new skill - GrandMA! The OnPC node was a significant investment but extremely necessary to hit the level of control and automation we want to with this show for @thebookofdivergence - can't wait to show you how this develops!

It hasn't all been fun and games, taking up music has meant long days and nights away from my family, family who support the hell out of what I do - and I'm grateful for them! @violetbombshell has been my constant companion, supporter and business partner in getting @thebookofdivergence going, my little multiple path musical adventure - we are often talking about crowd choice mechanics and working on lighting or artefact design. This passion project is entering a new phase of development, and taking it to conventions like @thegameexpo is an entirely new challenge! We're always open to suggestions of new locations, new spaces to bring this wild idea to, so don't forget to hit me up if you like the concept!

What's happening with The Book of Divergence in 2025? Let's have a throwback to the time we took over @melbfringe Fringe Hub to play an interactive DJ story in @thebookofdivergence ! We learned a lot from this performance, and once again it changed how we will be playing the book in 2025 in a major way. Our overarching goal is still to have voting be organic and accessible, without relying on people having their phones out, and we have big plans on the go in that regard - coloured foam batons to help your will shine brightly in the dark, for one! The mission for 2025 is to reach a regular crowd size of 100, sustained throughout the show. How? Earlier, more obvious voting points, more frequent chances to change the way the story is playing, and more opportunity to correct towards a different path... Or to reinforce what's going on! We've also heard the (frequent) comments that the storyline is hard to follow when the microphone is hard to hear - we have some solutions in play! But how to get people in the door? Well, we don't have any plans to run our own ticketed event again this year. Between the economic downturn and our own ability (or rather, disabilities) it's become obvious we need the Book to be integrated into spaces like @questing_at_questival or @glitchnightclub , and we hope to bring it to @fortressmelb sometime soon - but we have other major events in our sights too. We're gearing up for 2025 and Brother Seth, Father Mathew and The Glitch are ready for you! To the seekers of Divergence: Destiny awaits in the Church of Bass! Melodiam, Tympanos, Rhythmos! --- @jeromaia.detto on the roving camera @violetbombshell on technical support and photography @euan_clarke on postering and stomping the streets

Wahey, photos from the @melbfringe showing of @thebookofdivergence ! Throwing back to a bloody amazing time, laughter, big emotional feels and a mosh straight outta hell (well, if hell is populated by middle aged nerds who run out of energy way too quick 🤣) Thanks again for @violetbombshell for shooting, @jeromaia.detto for advising, and @kingtriggered for moshing in with vigour! @misclectic was up front and center the whole time, @euan_clarke smashed the postering, and friends new and old came to decide the fate of the Rave! Thank you everyone!! As has happened every time we've run the show in a big way, there's major developments happening behind the scenes and we can't wait to bring them to you 😁

Melbourne Fringe Festival, you were AMAZING, thank you!! @melbfringe 2024 was our first time really sending everything we've been working on this last year at full tilt, all the lighting design done by myself and @violetbombshell working flawlessly, the venue audio sounding fantastic, and most importantly - the crowd, YOU, being the story drivers and owners of this world we've created! What is the Book? - That, is up to you. A story driven to the depths of hell in our search for passion, embracing our primal selves and becoming one with The Glitch, the church of bass became a chapel of chaos, and you drove the way there. Thank you. @thebookofdivergence @jeromaia.detto on 360 cam, thank you! 1: Red Light Green Light, @kaizo_trap got me onto this by @mikecandysofficial and its stuck around, so much fun to play 😁 2: Brother Seth getting his groove on with Tenacious D and Evangelion into... @jonnyatma 🤘 Sonic 2 Special Stage! 3: Father Mathew, seizing control back and forcing the vote, who will drive the show from here? (Lashmush Prince of Persia) 4: The Glitch, gleefully taking ownership of the floor to the strains of Be Prepared (@jonathanymusic ) 5: Paradigm, the music to the story of Kaizo Trap, a portent of the trap within... Danger lurks down this path! (smashing @leslie_wai_ into @naeleck that violently was unnecessary but fun) 6: but the question is... WHO CAME FOR DRUM AND BASS? It's time to let the Werewolf howl and summon BAPHOMET! (Antti Martikkainen slammed into @doctorwerewolf is a transition I came up with for @questing_at_questival , it's stuck around because I LOVE it so much!) 7: after choosing to descend into hell, The Glitch corrupted techno into hardstyle, again via Naeleck and @azath0th_music (Lilith, FTS and Rave to the Grave, keep up or perish!) 8: a double I love, Tear Jerker x Clapper 😈 9: I smell... Sickness. Masochists, Sadists, those who love pain. You're filthy. I love it! (@pendulum / @noisia_official into @weareallsynners violent remix of Down With The Sickness) 10: what would a trip to hell be without @mick_gordon and the DOOM OST? KAR EN TUK, let's mosh! Yes, this is where @kingtriggered busted my rib. It's lore now.