Early Years
Matt was born & lived till the age of nine in the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe.
Both his parents were special needs teachers, but his mother Pam & sister Pippa were very keen amateur singers & musicians. Pam sang in local opera productions & Pippa won music scholarships. Though he had not shown any particular musical aspirations when young, later in school Matt became a fan of the punk scene & started drumming in school bands influenced by The Clash, The Cure, The Cramps & The Stranglers. He attended a number of early punk/new wave gigs in London by bands of this genre. Matt then studied Sociology at Thames Poly (now Greenwich University) in 1983-1986 where he continued to attend many gigs in the Poly 'Cellar Bar' checking out nearly everyone that came through regardless of his personal taste. He was also into the alternative club scene attending clubs like the Batcave, The Wag and The Mud Club.
Pre-Gene musical history
Matt's very first school band were called The Passion Killers which did some original music but mainly covered songs by other bands like the Cure and The Clash. His first college band were 'The Go Hole' which he formed with college friends John Mason & Lee Clark. John Peel at BBC Radio 1 gave the band their first airplay of self released AA side 'Flight of Angels/Spanish Fly' single & a debut Maida Vale session followed.
After leaving college Matt remained in the band & started work at Our Price records in Lewisham where he ran the reggae section. With the other staff & customers being mostly into black, R&B & soul artists, Matt also came to love & buy records from these genres.
GENE
The bands debut single 'For The Dead' was released in 1994 on Costermonger Records which was a label set up specifically for Gene by music journalists, Keith Cameron & Roy Wilkinson.
The single gained particular attention from the music press & soon Gene were hotly pursued by many larger record labels & publishing companies. A major record deal with Polydor Records & a publishing deal with Chrysalis Music soon followed, though they continued use the Costermonger Label name for the early releases around the debut LP Olympian which charted in the UK LP charts at No 8.
The Go Hole eventually morphed into a new indie dance band 'Sp!n' which John Mason's younger brother Steve Mason (later of Gene) joined. Sp!n were spotted by the producer Stephen Street & Jerry Smith (who became Gene manager) playing in a Fulham pub & the band signed to their Foundation label. Stephen produced the bands first singles 'Scratches In The Sand', followed by 'Let's Pretend' & the 'In Motion' LP.
Sp!n were having some success in the indie charts when they were unfortunately involved in a horrific car crash on the M40 motorway whilst on their way back from a gig at Dudley JB's. Their transit van had broken down on the hard shoulder and a lorry driver, who had fallen asleep at the wheel, veered off the motorway & hit the van which had the band members inside & the road crew with their heads inside the bonnet. Their were no fatalities, but the serious injuries involved meant that Sp!n could not continue in their current form.
Matt & Steve, who were not as badly injured, later decided to recruit a new singer & bass player for Sp!n. Bassist Kev Miles had been their road manager, Daz Walton’s, school friend & flatmate & he joined first. Then they recruited Martin Rossiter as singer after meeting him in the Underworld club in Camden. This completed the second Sp!n line up & the quartet recorded 1 EP 'Hot Blood' which received some radio play on the lines of previous Sp!n singles.
However, soon the band realised that the new line up had a chance to change the name & start afresh. Matt's suggestion of 'Gene' won the name debate & all members began contributing music & writing. They soon developed a unique, sound & chemistry.
Gene then continued releasing records & headline touring across Europe, Asia and the USA until 2004. Their 2nd LP Drawn To The Deepend (for Polydor) also achieved top 10 UK chart status but the 3rd Polydor LP Revelations released in 1999 did not fare as well sales wise despite containing many fan favourites.
The band were subsequently dropped by Polydor & went on to release a live LP 'Rising for Sunset' on Snapper Records recorded over 3 nights at the legendary Troubador Club in Los Angeles. This event was one of the first ever broadcasts live over the internet which was still in its infancy. Their final LP Libertine was released in 2001 on their own Subrosa record label. Despite keeping the dedicated fanbase Gene called it a day in 2004 when singer Martin decided to call time on his involvement.
Since GENE
After the Gene split Matt continued in the music industry until 2008 doing some session drumming and also managing the punk band, Mower, signed to Graham Coxon's Transcopic label.
Matt & Steve Mason also formed the band Palace Fires with Nottingham based singer Ed Bannard & bassist Mike Buchanan. Palace Fires released an eponymous titled LP in 2008 & 2 singles previous to that.
However, though it was a much loved project the lack of commercial success with it drove Matt to seek a different career path around this time. His hobby of collecting wine swapped places with music to become his main job & he started a wine business called 'The Bordeaux Cellar'.
Matt did not make any attempt to play or write again until 2019 when he took a guitar on holiday to write his first solo songs. Due to the 2020 pandemic lockdown Matt was unexpectedly able to complete 20 songs & he commenced recording in March 2021, once again with producer Stephen Street at the helm, who Matt had first worked with 30 years previously. Various musicians made guest appearances on the LP including Steve Mason & Kev Miles of Gene, Mick Talbot, Stephen Street, Peredur Ap Gwynedd, Kenny Dickenson & singer Olivia Russell. Matt shared the first taster track from the recordings in August 2021.
