Bio
Ensconced in the fertile environs of New South Wales' Northern Rivers region, Matt Hill writes rolling and evocative music drawing on a wide range of musical adventures. He has completed a PhD in music composition and performed at festivals and major venues throughout Australia and the UK with instrumental trio amphibian. Matt has performed in New York with the indie band Cow in Plaid, and spent time field recording in Japan.
Matt's new album, Box & Whisper Plot, was hatched from the timbers of a well crafted Cole Clark acoustic guitar that inspired the seeds for most of the tracks. Teaming up once more with Scott Hills (drums - The Flood, Graeme Conners) and Brett Canning (bass - Missy Higgins, The Audreys), this album was a slow build over 12 months as the pieces fell into place in a careful and organic fashion. Gabriella Hill (Spectra Jazz Orchestra, the Splinter Orchestra and the Mosaic Jazz Collective) adds a sinuous saxophone solo on ‘Trouble’ and Matt found some serpentine sounds out of an old Waldorf synth to add some ethereal fragrance to the earthy guitar, piano and Wurlitzer tones. The lyrics paint impressionistic images, grappling with the overflow of information, traipsing through interior worlds of memory and ending with an optimistic plea for a landslide to take with it all that we don’t need in the world. As one fan commented philosophically - “I hope it dies well” (although that may have been a typo).
Matt's earlier album, Stars and the Moon and Satellites was nominated for the NCEIA Album of the Year award and Warm Keep Warm, won several NCEIA Dolphin Awards, including Best Album, Best Jazz Track and Best New Age Track. With amphibian Matt has made 4 albums, received Australia Council for the Arts support, toured to the UK and played major festivals. He was the composer and sound designer for the NORPA production Engine, and has produced soundscapes for internationally renowned media artist Grayson Cooke.
Checkout the home page for upcoming shows, the music page to hear tracks or have a look at some of the videos.