Matt Dovas

Matt Dovas was once a hyperactive kid drumming to AC/DC with paintbrushes on the sofa. Raised in rural Somerset, near Bristol, music arrived early, with his first song written as a leaving present for his primary school teacher.

At 18, he left England for the Amalfi Coast, taking nothing but some clothes, a guitar and a notebook with him. During the days he would work picking lemons and the nights writing songs. It was here his songwriting developed, with early demos quietly catching the attention of Eric Pulido (Midlake), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), and Jim Fairchild (Modest Mouse, Grandaddy).

In a world of AI, autotune, and airbrushing, Matt retains a DIY, lo-fi ethos building songs in his bedroom using GarageBand, tape machines, and old dictaphones, before finishing the tracks in a secluded barn studio on a farm in Somerset. Playing every instrument himself, he has crafted a sound which balances folk fingerstyle with lo-fi rock, sewn together by alternative field recordings and experimental soundscapes.

His next live performance will see him support Mercury Prize-winner Badly Drawn Boy at the Cheese and Grain in Frome, hosted by BBC 6 Music's Chris Hawkins, on 25/04/26.

Genre: Indie Folk / Alternative Rock