A JERSEY musician who has been raising money to continue his studies at one of the world’s leading music colleges has landed the opportunity of a lifetime – after being selected for mentoring by Beyoncé’s former drummer.
Matt Jackson (18), who started his musical journey playing in churches from the age of seven, will spend the next year receiving one-to-one coaching from Diamond Johnson, a touring drummer who has performed with the global superstar and husband Jay-Z, as well as featuring on the Moana 2 and Sing 2 soundtracks.
The mentorship came after Matt joined an online musicians’ community while weighing up whether he could afford to continue studying at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, with around £140,000 required to be raised to complete his next year.
Once he was part of the community, he shared his situation and received a direct message from Mr Johnson.
“I was thinking, should I fundraise to get to America or should I just go and study somewhere in London? What might be the best move?… I thought getting some advice from a pro would be a really good idea,” Matt explained.
After reviewing the teenager’s playing and musical portfolio, Mr Johnson invited him onto an exclusive year-long programme.
“We had a two-and-a-half hour call, and basically one night I decided: ‘Yeah let’s work together for the next year.’ So it’s quite a big turnaround all of a sudden, and I’m not the only person he mentors, but most people he mentors he only does for a few months, so the fact I’m doing it for a year is quite special,” Matt added.
Matt, who won Jersey’s first Contemporary Young Musician of the Year award and has performed with local band Jim’s House and at the Sunset Concert, said he initially planned to stay in Jersey while being mentored by Mr Johnson through online sessions.
However, he hopes to travel to Texas in the near future for some face-to-face sessions with Mr Johnson.
He hopes the experience will bring him closer to realising his ambition of becoming a live session drummer – a skill which he says “doesn’t really exist on the Island”.
“A lot of the big league stuff that happens requires a skill set that isn’t taught on the Island,” he said, “…So I have to study with different people to gain those skill sets.”
