Music
As a musician, Berry composed all the music for Snuff Box as well the music for AD/BC: A Rock Opera, which he co-wrote with Richard Ayoade. AD/BC was a half-hour parody of overblown musicals in general and Jesus Christ Superstar in particular, telling the story of the innkeeper who allowed Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus to sleep in his manger. AD/BC was broadcast in December 2004 and featured Fulcher and Mighty Boosh stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. He also performed a song for an episode of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace entitled "One Track Lover", a spoof of cheesy romantic 80s songs.
Berry also composed music for the BBC 2 Steve Coogan comedy Saxondale and appeared in the first and third episodes of the second series of the show. He composed the theme song for the Channel 4 sketch show Blunder. He is also credited on The Peter Serafinowicz Show.
He has released three albums: Jackpot in 1995, Opium which was a limited edition self-released record in 2008 and Witchazel in 2009 as a download, later released on CD and vinyl by Acid Jazz Records in 2011. He toured with Jonas 3 several times in 2006 and 2007. He stated in the first issue of Bearded Magazine that he was producing and collaborating on new material with 1960s soul singer Geno Washington and was to record a new album. This album turned out to be 'Witchazel', which Berry released online as a free download for one day only in March 2009. The album was later officially released as a CD and paid-for digital download.
His touring band is composed of members of Brighton-based experimental rock group 'Jonas 3'. They are George Baldwin (bass), his brother Charlie (drums) and Andy Vickery (guitar). Fulcher has joined Berry on stage for several appearances. Geno Washington has also joined Berry onstage at London gigs for encores of the Snuff Box theme.
In October 2007, he provided a brand new track "Cream Pie" to Bearded Magazine for readers to download for free, followed by a cover of the Blur song "Sing" in November 2007. 'Cream Pie' is still available to supporters of Beardaid.
Berry voiced his appreciation of the television themes of Ronnie Hazlehurst in an episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and his band played out the Screenwipe Christmas special with a rendition of Hazlehurst's theme tune for 1980s British sitcom Sorry!. Berry has a new touring band called The Maypoles.
Until 2010, Berry presented a show on Absolute Radio, where he still performs various voiceovers and is described as "the voice of Absolute Radio". The now-defunct Matt Berry Podcast regularly featured in the Top Ten of the iTunes podcast chart and its producer Vince Lynch was nominated for Best Online Producer at the Radio Academy Production Awards.
Read more about this topic: Matt Berry
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“I defied the machinery to make me its slave. Its incessant discords could not drown the music of my thoughts if I would let them fly high enough.”
—Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
“And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“A man in all the world’s new fashion planted,
That hath a mint of phrases in his brain.
One who the music of his own vain tongue
Doth ravish like enchanting harmony.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)