Ambassador Q&A - Matt Carmichael
What sparked your love of the arts?
Allon Beauvoison taught me saxophone throughout high school, he introduced me to jazz, improvisation and ignited my love for music. He was passionate and really cared, I was lucky to have him as such a positive early influence!
What did you enjoy most about your studies at RCS?
The community of inspiring students, teachers and gigs you are constantly surrounded by and all the collaborations that happened in the building.
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of my band and the two albums we have made so far, Where Will the River Flow and Marram. I think we have a distinct sound and chemistry together, and I love making music with them – Charlie Stewart (fiddle), Ali Watson (bass), Fergus McCreadie (piano) and Tom Potter (drums).
Who was your most inspirational teacher?
Tommy Smith was a big inspiration during my time, he is such an incredible saxophonist and composer with encyclopaedic knowledge and operates at the highest level. Being surrounded by him pushed me to improve and dream big.
Playing with a diverse range of students and teachers in the scene during my time also exposed me to a wide range of playing styles and taught me a lot. The Scottish jazz scene is small, so I got to play with most people across the four years. Musicians like Tom Gibbs, Brian Kellock, Pete Johnstone, Fergus McCreadie, Charlie Stewart, Liam Shortall, Stephen Henderson, Peru Eizagirre, Anoushka Nanguy and so many more helped me grow for different reasons.
What was your first job after graduating?
I released my debut album towards the end of my fourth year. The WDR Big Band in Germany got in touch out of the blue a few weeks later after randomly coming across the album on a streaming site. The manager had already sent the album to the chief conductor Bob Mintzer and proposed that they arranged the whole album, and I would feature as a soloist with them that next year. I had already been gigging a lot throughout RCS and after, but this was my first big international gig and it felt really exciting especially as this was during covid.
What would you say to those thinking about studying at RCS?
I’d highly recommend RCS and I had a great time there. Speaking of the jazz course, I think they do a really good job of providing an environment where musicians can form their own identity whilst honing fundamental skills as an instrumentalist, composer, and arranger.
If you look at some recent graduates, they all have their own unique identity, there isn’t really a generic ‘RCS’ sound which I think is cool – Graham Costello, Pete Johnstone, Brodie Jarvie, corto.alto, Ewan Hastie, Anoushka Nanguy, Fergus McCreadie, James Mackay, Simon Herberholz, Chun Wei-Kang.
