MATT GOSS: Sound & Style

After taking time out to rest for the past few years, Matt Goss, former lead singer of English ’90s boy band Bros, has returned with more soulful sounds for your ears and a tour around Australia.

He’s been on what could be described as a hiatus for about half a decade, and after a tough few years of change, introspection, life events and awareness, Matt’s taken up the reins again and has finished off his year with a barrage of releases. However, there’s far more to Matt than you might realise: behind the eyes of the soul singer lies a lifetime of experience and an array of creativity that reaches beyond the musical world.

During the past few years Matt experienced a few profound realisations and life-changing events that ultimately led him back to his home — the UK, and the stage.

“[My brother and I] lost our mother and lost our sister,” he said. “Inevitably the catalyst for me was also thinking ‘I want to go see the world again. I want to find that little sushi restaurant that’s so out of the way’.”

Times have undoubtedly been as tough for Matt as they have for anyone, and this drew him away from the things he loved.

“I didn’t even want to play my piano or even think of writing a song,” he said, but in contrast also said: “I’ve got a tattoo that says ‘never waste good agony’, and that’s pretty much how I live my life. “There is beauty in all things, you just have to take your time to look a little bit deeper,” he said, “and through the connection with my fans they made it very, very clear to me that they wanted new music.” On stage and in the studio, Matt proudly flouts the trends, rules and stigma of being a pop star, crafting defiant songs that stem out of the structural and thematic expectations of pop music.

“I love pop music – it’s not a dirty word anymore,” he said. “Everyone says people don’t have the attention span anymore, but who has the right to say that?”

The raw style he puts into his sound waves doesn’t stand alone, however — it’s matched by his personal style and on-stage swagger. Matt performed 120 shows a year for 10 years, and you probably can’t do that without picking up a thing or two.

“I’m fucking proud to be a musician,” he said. “I’m proud that I know how to rock a stadium, and transform and transport an audience. It’s taken me many years to actually say that.” And as far as personal style goes, due to Matt’s fashion passion, it’s not lacking at all. “I think my biggest dream outside music is to do fashion design,” he said. “I do love exploring fashion creatively, it’s right up there with music for me.”

The inspiration behind his eclectic array of looks spans beyond the following of trends. “I’m not into trends — I’m into style,” Matt said. “Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, James Dean? They just got it right.”

It’s the avoidance of trends that’s kept him out of being locked into a loop of following and dropping trends. “Trends come and go; it’s more important to just have your style."

Matt’s upcoming album, The Beautiful Unknown, is releasing February 4, 2022, and his latest singles are currently available on all major streaming platforms. His documentary on him and his brother Luke during the Bros era, After The Screaming Stops, is set to air on SBS on January 17, 2022, and tour dates for Australia will be announced soon. For more information, got to Matt’s website: mattgoss.co.uk

WRITTEN BY LUKA FORMAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEWISHAM RECORDS