Award Winning Vocal Coach with 20+ years experience. Students have supported Imagine Dragons, won Musical Theatre Awards, Opened Reading and Leeds main stage and more!

Find out more about Matthew

• When did you first develop a passion for music and your favourite instrument?

  My interest in music started as a very young child seeing my Dad play the Piano. My gift for singing (my favourite instrument) was unique to our family, but it soon became obvious that music was going to be a big part of my life and I grew up learning the Piano, Oboe and performing in prestigious choirs including Westminster Abbey, The Farnham Youth Choir (winners of the Sainsbury's Choir of the Year competition) and various others - including barbershop, orchestral and chamber choirs.
  
  Between the ages of 16-18, having been trained to the highest levels, my interests moved towards songwriting, popular genres and the recording aspect of music and that eventually led to what I do now running a recording studio and artist development business where I get to not only pass on my expertise to help create the singers of the future, but I am also working in the music industry myself, with songs I've written used on television shows, including Love Island and Bad Bridesmaids.

• Is there a particular type of music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  Imagine Dragons, Dan & Shay and Sam Ryder at present! I have a wide variety of genres I like listening to but the songs from these three never get boring.

• Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  The Artist Development Programme that my business is famous for. It's created opportunities for singers who've come from nothing, to perform on Imagine Dragons' world tour, have songs on TV, win best newcomer awards, celebrity endorsement - even have their face plastered all over times square by Spotify themselves!
  
  Through comprehensive training, personal styling, photoshoots, videos, recordings and promotion this is by far the most riveting course I can imagine a student of music taking if their goal is success in the music industry.

• What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  Mastering any instrument takes many, many hours and each have their own complications when learning, but having done it myself I would say Piano because of the need to not only learn how to play with both hands doing completely different things, but also because you have to be able to simultaneously read two different staves - the bass and treble clef, when playing and reading the music!

• What are your keys to success?

  Never give up. Never compare yourself to others. Always listen to feedback and allow yourself to improve and grow from it.

• Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and Max Martin (producer/songwriter). Three musicians I admire massively. Michael for his phenomenal musical talent that still influences music today, Celine for her incredible vocal skill and emotion she puts into her singing and Max because he shaped almost every hit song of my childhood. I could learn so much from each of them.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  Know your nervous twitches! Everyone has them, whether touching your hair constantly, wringing your hands or whatever. Mine as a child was swinging my arms back and forth when stood in choir formation and the rest of the choir were stock still - I didn't realise it until someone pointed it out to me from a different choir in a competition we were in. I didn't believe them at first until I got on stage again and almost did it again! From then on, I had to grab hold of the sides of my trousers so that I couldn't swing until I got used to not doing it!

• What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  In the two decades I've been working in music I have never received a review from a client that was less than 5 stars. I'm proud of that and think that says it all. I am passionate about people. Passionate about improving people, helping others reach their goals in a non-intimidating, fun way whether I'm working with children or adults.
  
  Finding a teacher is a two way thing - the teacher has to be right for you and if they aren't, the teacher should let you know too - for instance, I don't teach examination material or genres such as Opera. There are fantastic teachers for that, but it wouldn't be me. When you have the right match the sky is the limit to what you can achieve.