Hi! My name is Matt and I am an 18 year old student from Nottingham who is obsessed with music. At about the age of 11 I became interested in music through my parents, and since then, my love and obsession with it has grown massively. I have never had an interest in playing music, but since I became interested in music, I have loved reading and learning about the history of music, the people that make it and the people behind it.
My Dad grew up in the Black Country in the 70s and 80s loving Rock and Metal music, and is my key musical influence. his favourite bands were, and still are, Black Sabbath, Rush and Diamond Head. In my early teens I would religiously study my Dad’s music collection, with bands such as KISS, Faith No More, Megadeth and Sepultura becoming favourites of mine.
A key moment in my musical journey was when I saw Carcass perform live at Download Festival in 2015. This was my first real taste of extreme music, which spawned a deep love of Death Metal, Black Metal and Grindcore.
As you can probably tell, my favourite genre of music is also Metal, but since I was about 16, I began to explore other types of music out of pure curiosity. I soon became obsessed with trying to listen to as much weird and wonderful different kinds of music as possible, growing a love for Jazz Fusion, Golden Era Hip-Hop, and Funk pretty quickly (quite a change from Death Metal).
My passion for music journalism has grown in the last few years through my continual desire to research and explore music. The experiences I’ve had and research I have done, both as part of my A-level studies and experiences outside of school, have given me a valuable insight into the world of music journalism, developing my understanding of the business.
Studying A-Level Media, History and Art has developed my skills in music journalism, as it has helped me realise my passion for music’s role in the media and the importance of journalism in the media. They have taught me how to research different types of sources and given me practical and analytical skills in critiquing and examining different texts, and using this to create my own product and writing.
My work experience was a major leap forward for me and my journey into the subject of music journalism, as a worked at local arts magazine “Leftlion” for a week. This allowed me to put my skills and passion to the test, in which I was successful as I wrote album reviews and a weekly article which were then published online or in their magazine. I really enjoyed testing my knowledge and abilities, whilst also learning new skills such as being precise and relevant in my writing as I had word limits to my articles. They later offered me a voluntary job where I occasionally write for them with articles such as concert reviews and interviews, all of which will be featured on this blog with links to the original articles.
This blog is really just a platform for me to practise writing about my passion and just get more experience in doing what I love. I’m dipping my toes into a big world just hoping to have fun, learn, become more cultured and try and find some form of success and path for my life.
Matt Williams 