Matt Round

About this episode

Matt sits in two demanding seats: the bass chair and the musical director's, where he is responsible for holding a whole show together and telling the band what happens next. He is straight about the pressure that comes with being the person everyone else relies on.

The ABBA Voyage residency raises its own questions, playing a fixed arena show behind avatars almost every day, and how you stay engaged and sharp when the gig is, in his words, just a gig. This is the working reality behind one of the most talked-about shows in London.

In this episode

Every theme we put to every guest. Jump straight to it in the video.

• 13:39The Road InA mum who put records on instead of the telly, the day John Lennon was shot and nobody went to school, and a borrowed EB2 copy that barely had notes.
• 22:15The MoneyThe bonkers few years after the first proper deal, and the false security that comes with them. Why he still says yes to a 150-quid pub gig.
• 25:20The CraftKnowing your own sound well enough to carry it into any room, from the corner of a pub to a 50,000-seat arena, and why saying yes means doing the homework.
• 29:33The HeadThe part nobody talks about because it is boring. Folders on the desktop, notes on the phone, and the term he handed every student a Musicians' Union diary.
• 36:00The BodyWhy touring is easier than being at home. Catered kitchens, a run along the river in Liverpool, and a routine somebody else has already written for you.
• 44:13The MachineOff the in-ears and back on wedges with no click track, then the other extreme: NDAs, avatars, and Benny still turning up to the rehearsals.
• 57:30The GearA 1968 Precision bought in a Belgian shop in the worst transaction of his life, its six-weeks-newer twin, and the Wals he wishes he had never sold.
• 1:03:43The ReckoningA yacht-rock side project whose motto is that if it feels like too much, do more of it. And knowing exactly which bits of a song you are allowed to move.