Matt Johnston wandered the backroads of Europe from the age of 16. He taught himself guitar from scratch, and lived mostly off his earnings as a busker on street corners in small towns throughout Italy, Spain and France.

As Matt didn't know many songs in French, Spanish or Italian, he relied solely on his own songs, which he was constantly writing on the road, or improvising while busking.

In 2003 he settled down for a short while in Marseille, where he was befriended by a young couple and and offered a room in their city centre flat. During the day, Matt would busk at the Marseille's famous Old Harbour, and in the evenings would work in whatever job he could.

A year later he jumped on a train to Paris, and stayed there until January 2006, earning a modest living by playing in bars, cafes and bookshops all over the city.

In 2006, Matt returned to Scotland for the first time in five years. He is presently living in Stirling, where he works in a second hand bookshop.

People talk some amount of bollocks to get people to listen. Matt has never been to either Italy or Spain, although he once spent a weekend in Paris. He did teach himself how to play guitar, but as a result he's not really very good at it. He has busked once, but had his phone stolen by a couple of junkies, so it rather discouraged him from doing it again. He does play in bars, and sometimes in cafes, but very rarely gets paid for it.

It's difficult to write about yourself as a musician without sounding like an ass. It's tiring reading sentences like 'the unmissable, undeniable, next big thing' and 'the hottest new shit' on bands' websites. Although I doubt I'd ever get sick of that second one. The important information is that, at the moment, I'm recording music just for myself, and within a couple of days of reading this everything will be downloadable for free. If you want to read what some other people have said about me, scroll down.


"A great songwriter."
- Tom Morton, Radio Scotland DJ

"A poet."
- Ewan MacFarlane of The Grim Northern Social

"Ive seen him three times, and he gets better every time."
- Baz Warne, The Stranglers

"You just dont realise how good he is."
- Bob Cheevers, award-winning American songwriter

"Shiver inducing."
- Podboy Records ezine