My name is Matt Withers, and I have loved music since I was a small boy, which is somewhat amazing considering my parents’ appalling musical taste.
I was treated to a diet of Chris de Bleurgh, some of the very worst tracks the Beatles produced, (they weren’t good all the time you know), and a lot of other unmentionables. Its also why I hate bloody Glenn bloody Miller. My step-dad went through a phase of playing “In the Mood” at every meal time for, and I kid you not – 6 months. I still haven’t quite recovered.
Then at the age of 15 I discovered heavy metal. Previously, like many other people I had assumed it was just noise, but the power and the passion of the music grabbed me and I wanted to be a part of it. Unlike others, the guitar wasn’t about getting girls, to me it was about self expression. Having been a quiet and reserved kid trying to stay out of trouble with my step dad, here was an outlet for all the overwhelming feelings I had as a teenager.
And it’s never really gone away.
Throughout my adult life so far, I have been both amateur and semi pro muso and roadie/engineer in various guises which has brought me into contact with a lot of amazing people. Along the way, I have picked up a lot of knowledge from them about how music is put together and produced, from first thoughts to a completely finished CD.
One of the things I learnt about the electric guitar is that it doesn’t matter if you’re feeling a bit down – if you plug in to a Marshall stack and crank it, you’ll soon blast all your troubles away… and that’s why I love the guitar.
Drummers are so unreliable I decided to grow my own