This is posted for the #AlternativeWeekend theme started by Hive account@slobberchops to feature music from outside the mainstream that most people won't hear on the radio. Here's his latest. Just feature three song you like and encourage people to

Pump up the volume, PLAY IT LOUD!

I've decided I'm going to feature a different musician/band each week for a while. There are a fair few I've discovered over recent years. The internet has been a major part of this. I don't listen to much music radio and I rarely hear anything there to get me excited.

This week it's guitarist Matt Stevens. I'm not sure how I discovered Matt. It may have been in connection with bassist Steve Lawson who I may feature another time. I think he just had one album at the time on Bandcamp that I bought. He also did some live-streamed gigs that I tuned in for. He grew up not too far from me, but I think he's been based in London. Apparently he was in a band, but as they didn't turn up for gigs he started playing solo using a loop pedal to build layers of sound. It's all instrumental as I don't think he sings.

Here I am with Matt and my friend John before a recent gig. Note the Steem badge :)

Burning Bandstands

Here's a live performance of an early song. All you hear is played right there. He really knows how to control those loops for maximum effect. This is ten years ago and he's looking a lot younger.

I've met Matt numerous times. The first one was when he did a support slot at a club in Hitchin. When I walked in he recognised me from whatever profile pics he'd seen and he even bought me a beer. We've met up at various gigs I've been to.

Night Bus

This is from a couple of years later. His albums involve other instruments and a lot more production, but I think he could still perform most of them live on his own.

Let's Start a Cult

Some of his solo recordings developed into more of a band thing and so he started one with his producer Kev on bass and a couple of friends. This became The Fierce and the Dead who I have seen live many times. It's still all instruments (apart from 2 words!), but they really rock.

I'd love to get Matt and his band onto Steemit, but we're not close enough that we chat often. I appreciate that bands like this have to use their time optimally as they generally need a full time job to pay the bills. When it comes to social media they have to go where the audience is and Steemit may not have enough of one just yet. What we need is for bands to sign up and bring their fans with them. I can at least make them aware of it.

I'm Steve, the geeky guitarist.

• I'll buy guitar picks for Steem Dollars
• Get a Wirex Debit Card to spend your crypto.
• Steemians can get Byteball airdrop
• Get some passive income with Mannabase
• If this post is over seven days old you can vote up one of my newer posts to reward me.

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