Mat Skinner

Mat Skinner

Mat Skinner is a musician from Stockport, in England, who develops an interest in music from an early age through a range of influences that include AC/DC, Mozart, Joni Mitchell, the blues, Cream and B.B. King. He receives an acoustic guitar from his father at the age of eight, and writes his first song on it. He also spends time at folk festivals with his mother, which leaves him with early memories of the folk scene.

Early performances and bands

Skinner plays his first gig in a school remembrance day assembly in 1984, performing Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now”. After that, he becomes involved in live performance and plays bass in the punk band Hooker in sweaty club venues, where he is known for high energy on stage. Around the same time, he also joins the dirty blues band Bone Box and tours the country with them playing harmonica.

Musical development

His later musical taste turns towards softer and more reflective songwriting, with Leonard Cohen, Gram Parsons and Neil Young among the artists he revisits or discovers. He is also shaped by the power and scale of Led Zeppelin, and says that hearing the blues for the first time has a strong physical effect on him. Over time, he grows a beard, returns to his acoustic guitar and begins to find his own voice as a performer.