Mattes has been associated with Jewish programming on WFMU longer than any current staff member, having volunteered for the first of many marathons of the fledgling “Hebrew & Jewish Program” in 1978. During that marathon, the announcement was made that Mattes had recently served as the ceremonial “Mayor for a Day” in Elizabeth, NJ while attending the Jewish Educational Center. That piece of information has been repeated by Nachum more often than any other biographical fact of any staff member (or other historical figure) in the past 16 years.

Shortly after Nachum took over at WFMU, Mattes officially joined the staff. He took his “solo flight” at filling in for Nachum during one of the first marathons when Nachum decided to spend the morning sprawled out on the floor, having nearly fainted from a bout with the flu. This was not, however, Mattes’ first on air experience. He had been co-host of a WYUR radio show with Dave Kufeld and host of the Saturday night Jewish music show at WYUR during the 1978/79 season, while on his one year stint at Yeshiva University. Following his tenure at Rutgers/NJIT,Mattes alternately worked in the field of Jewish youth and computers.

Currently, Mattes is the Business Manager of the Passaic Public Library and lives in Elizabeth with his wife, Caryn, and their two boys, Aryeh and Eli.