When I think of Mat, I hear his cheery greeting and can see the smile on his face when he said hello - conjuring the feeling that something good was about to happen.

I knew him at university. As well as a fellow science student, he was a musician - an accomplished pianist. He was as enthusiastic about the music he loved playing as he was about other people’s compositions (Wayne’s) and his fellow pianist’s talent (Joe’s). I remember him bringing that enthusiasm (and his minidisc recorder) to help Jo and I record a composition of Wayne’s that I was singing on. Sometimes you need someone in the room with Mat’s positivity to get things done!

This was all classical music. So imagine my surprise when I heard that same cheery greeting years later at Brixton Academy, where Pete and I bumped in to Mat and Helen at the start of a Prodigy gig. A man of many tastes! And what a great night!