This was unlike any other episode we’ve ever recorded and occurred totally unexpectedly on the last day of this year’s Isle of Wight Festival. The writer, broadcaster and musician Matt Everitt had already graced Beyond The Title twice before: one for the Britpop series in 2023 and just a year later for the Oasis special. Despite regular contact, myself and Matt had never met in person and as a result of our different lines of work, we never had a reason to. However, by sheer coincidence, we both attended the Sunday lineup at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, met backstage and decided to record an impromptu anniversary episode. With no preparation and limited inspiration, we simply pressed record and went wherever the wind took us.
No stranger to the podcast format himself, since 2010 until 2019, Matt presented the 6Music series The First Time where he invited some of the world’s greatest musicians to re-live either first gigs, early singles they bought or favourite songs from their childhood. This resulted in moments which he could only dream of when he met some of his musical heroes. To witness the legendary David Gilmour play the very guitar which he used to write Dark Side Of The Moon was a surreal experience for the music enthusiast. Indeed this is possibly the secret of Everitt’s charm: he’s a fellow musician and an accomplished broadcaster but most importantly he’s a great music fan. As a listener, there’s something quite satisfying about listening to an interview between two people who are extremely passionate about what they do and Matt oozes this each and every time he’s broadcasting.
As an interviewer, Matt can always be found backstage at a music festival gauging the behind the scenes action for a variety of different outlets. In doing this, he often finds himself on the sharp end of live broadcasting where he frequently flies by the seat of his pants. In 2015 the legendary American singer songwriter Lionel Ritchie headlined Glastonbury and was very excited to be at Worthy Farm which made the prospect of interviewing him both worthwhile but challenging. With a passion for the UK and the buzz from storming the Glastonbury stage, Lionel was eager to share his experiences. This is part of Matt’s passion for communicating and it’s obvious that other people acknowledge his talent for asking questions and bridging the gap between him and them. He believes that understanding pop culture is extremely valuable to enriching the world around us and this has given him a purpose far beyond his music career.
From attending the latest Oasis reunion to doing an intimate interview with Sir Paul McCartney, Matt remains passionate about the ever evolving narratives in music. They say that if you love your job, you never work a day in your life and Matt Everitt is the very personification of this belief. Essentially he is a huge fan of a whole range of different music and by listening to his passion, it’s impossible not to get swept up by his soaring enthusiasm. No Beyond The Title celebration would ever be complete without an appearance from Mr Everitt and the fact that we were able to do it face to face made it all the more special.
Beyond The Title