Matted

"A Michelin Star banquet of a band as keen to push boundaries as they are to rock hard.
It’s when power hits you from unexpected places that you feel it most.”
STEVE BEEBEE - PLANET ROCK

“Fresh and exciting but with the nostalgia of the great musicians of the past.”
ASBO MAGAZINE


Brace yourselves - Matted are about to launch themselves into the rock scene and you’d better be ready. This brand-new band is the sonic equivalent of a lightning bolt in a bottle — electric, unpredictable, and impossible to ignore.

With impressive credentials, lead guitarist Jake Slack and (then) drummer Jacob Swann literally came of age on stage at the tender age of 12 and 13 in London’s West End production of School of Rock, The Musical. Their sophomore roles in teenage band Chapter 13 saw Jacob switch to bass duties and scored them a golden buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent. Headline tours, and supporting slots at the O2 Arena followed. However, by the time these fledgelings got through the pandemic, they had wised up, grown up and Chapter 13 was over.

Fired up by the freedom to create on their own terms, their mission became clear. Jake and Jacob cranked their amps up to eleven, started tearing up the rulebook and writing the music that they wanted to play.

The duo’s call for a ‘Rockstar’ led them to Max Walker, an enigmatic Vocal Performance student at Waterbear College of Music. Max’s versatile voice and love of Mike Patton and 90s grunge brought something new to the table and sparks began to fly. One of those sparks caught Max’s fellow student and friend, Oscar Paulley, a creative guitarist who added another layer to the band’s sound. Matted completed their line up in early 2024 with the addition of heavy hitting drummer, Tom Walker. Another Waterbear alumni and young prodigy, Tom has been teaching drums since he was 16 and his love for industrial sounds infuse Matted with a unique rhythm.

Matted is the sound of kids brought up on the classics and creating their own version for the 2020s. The raw energy of AC/DC, the industrial tones of Nine Inch Nails and the eclecticism of Mr Bungle, all twisted and turned into something unprecedented. This concoction of eclectic influences, rarely cited by ones so young has resulted in a familiar yet unique sound. A blend of fun and fury, experimentation and authenticity crafted with the strings of passion and beats of determination.

School’s out and Matted are ready to take on the world one riff at a time.