MATT HILL

Has it really been 5 years since the pandemic? 

This post is a look back at the creative process behind Necklace of Stars, a lullaby project I was involved in during the lockdown. What follows is an essay myself and…

Photo : Ben Pearson

We don’t all get the same start in life.  Yet in school we’re all expected to tick the same boxes. The state sets the standards we all must attain.  But not everyone is standard. 

This extraordinary…

Time flies. It's 5 years today since I released Savage Pilgrims. It's my favourite of all my albums - my attempt at americana but setting it firmly within my own experiences and roots.

The album got a great reception, Americana…

‘Making’ has become something of a buzz word within the arts recently. I rather like it. Creativity is about making things. Imagination is about making things up.  Activism is about making things change. 

Last month I was commissioned by ‘…

People sometimes ask me "how's your ear thing?". Well the quick answer is "good thanks" but the reality is a little more complicated.

I have a super rare ear disorder called Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS). I wrote about it…

One of the things I love about being a freelance artist is the variety of the work. You never know what is round the corner. New things bring new experiences. Here are 9 things that surprised me in 2024

1.…

Last night I did something I've been really scared of doing. And I mean proper scared. I'm pleased to say it went well. Not all perfect but I proved to myself I can do it. 

I performed 9 songs co-written…

Spectrology, my 2010 album is now back on sale on CD. It's been sold out for ages but I found a box in the loft.

I recorded it in rural Leicestershire with producer Mat Martin. I was honoured to work…

Later this year I'll beginning working on a new project. This is all thanks to a grant from Arts Council England. The grant is called Developing Your Creative Practice and the purpose is to help artists try something different and…

I'm currently finishing up a 17 track song cycle called The Book of Ours. It's all based on medieval illuminated manuscripts. Years ago the wealthy used to commission these posh books and songs about themselves and how holy they were…

WHISPER TO ME ALONE

Last year I worked on a project with arts organisation arthur + martha. We worked in partnership with two Manchester homelessness support charities -  The Booth Centre and Back on Track - and created artwork with…

Print magazines are sadly falling away and whilst I use online sources myself - and there are many excellent online music magazines - there is a special place in my heart for the printed word.

So I was delighted to…

On June 28th 2020 I did my first livestream concert to launch my Savage Pilgrims album. Since lockdown began I've seen a lot of people do live-streaming with a really mixed bag of results. I think if it's done right…

"So you had better do as you are told 
You better listen to the radio"
Radio Radio ELVIS COSTELLO 

In a world where we are constantly assaulted by visual stimulus through adverts, social media and TV I've been pleasantly surprised…

For many years now I've been singing a song I wrote based on Arthur Conan Doyle's poem 'Bendy's Sermon'. Last year I appeared on BBC TV's Flog it! to sing the song during a segment they did about Bendigo's life…

We Shall Overcome is a movement of musicians and community organisers who are angry about the human costs of austerity policies but who want to do something practical to help those affected. I was one of the people who helped…

To mark my 50th birthday in March I have decided, after almost twenty years, to drop the Quiet Loner name and revert to releasing music and performing under my own name Matt Hill. 

It feels like the right time…

Looking back on 2019 I’ve done fewer gigs than I normally play, but there have been some real highlights. I’ve picked ten things of note that happened this year. Nine were really great, the tenth is not so good, but…

A musician reflects on living with Semi-circular/Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS)
(updated Feb 2022)

A few years ago I started to notice a change in my hearing. Weird stuff started happening. One day I realised the strange scratching noise I…

Glasgow Songwriting festival is an annual event celebrating the art of songwriting. Around 40 songwriters of all abilities gather for twelve hours of songwriting workshops led by four experienced tutors who for 2019 were Boo Hewerdine, Carol Laula, Emma Pollock…

About two years ago I filmed an episode of BBC TV’s ‘Flog it!’, to be honest I was beginning to think it would never see the light of day, but it finally aired on BBC One recently.

I was asked…

THE PEOPLE’S VOTE – From Peterloo to Brexit
A song cycle with Quiet Loner and Tracey Browne

Singer-songwriters Matt Hill (Quiet Loner) and Tracey Browne present an evening of live music about the fight for people’s votes.

Beginning with Peterloo…

A Quiet Loner song from ‘Battle for the Ballot’ featured this week on a BBC Radio 4 documentary.

Encounters with Victoria presented by Lucy Worsley explores Victoria’s reign and this weeks episode featured the Chartist rising and an incident when…

Last year I did some songwriting sessions at various prisons across the North West. Part of that work was for a project called ‘Changing Stories’ run by a Manchester based charity called TiPP (Theatre in Prison & Probabation).

I’m fascinated…