Matt Eaves didn’t make The Voice UK judges Tom Jones, Rita Ora, will.i.am or Ricky Wilson turn their chairs around to choose him for their teams when he belted out “House of the Rising Sun” during the blind auditions, but he’s happy to have gotten the chance to show off how recent training has helped him improve his singing.
“I managed to get a spot on the blind auditions after beating 50,000 other applicants,” says Eaves. “There are other audition processes and callbacks, interviews and rehearsals that go into it. The televised blind stage is after a lot of preparation!”
Eaves tried out for The Voice “to try and promote my vocal coaching. I’ve recently gotten a diploma through VIDLA (a world-wide vocal training academy) and I thought it would be a good idea. I wasn’t looking for a record deal or anything; just wanted to raise my profile a bit. Never had any delusions of getting anywhere past the blind stage or even making the blind stage.”
Watch Matt Eaves’ audition on The Voice UK:
Early Aptitude for Music
Like with many aspiring musicians, Eaves says his teachers first noticed his talent — about 25 years ago. He says he sang in bands throughout his school years, joined the school jazz/ blues band as a guitarist, was involved in youth theater, wrote music for plays and spent two years studying at Stratford-upon-Avon College for a diploma in popular music.
And, Eaves adds, he’s “been performing live ever since. [I] had a bash at getting signed and taking over the world, made an album then eventually ended up working in the corporate/wedding/function market.
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“I’ve never seen myself becoming a rock star,” he continues. “I got my first guitar on my 13th birthday, but I gave it up after two weeks as it hurt my fingers. My dad advised me to persevere and keep going. I got into blues and classic rock, basically everything that was in my dad’s CD collection. I always saw myself more of a guitar player than a singer, but never really thought I was good enough. It was when I stumbled upon Gary Moore, I thought, ‘yep, this is for me, blues the way I want to hear it.’
“Singing came very much after guitar for me; it still does in a way. I feel lost standing on a stage without a guitar on, my hands suddenly become enormous and I don’t know what to do!” Eaves lists other hobbies as “motorcycles, touring Europe with the Mrs. on the back, cook-ing, teaching vocals, watching films and nights out with friends.”
Busy in Field & on Stage
Eaves is clear that music is a secondary pursuit to his work at Electrosonic.
“I see singing as a part-time job alongside Electrosonic,” he says. “It helps go towards the wedding savings! The singing work is every weekend and some evenings in the week, so it’s sometimes tricky balancing it all out but I have had great support from the service department at Electrosonic and it’s going well so far. My function band, The Beat Brothers, has almost filled up our books already so it’s going to be another busy year!”
With that said, his appearance on the blind auditions has helped him earn some level of fame, both personally and professionally.
“A few weeks afterwards, I was still getting stopped in the street, having random selfies taken with strangers,” he says. “It was a bit weird but flattering nonetheless. I’ve had offers of things and my workload has increased substantially. It’s been a great tool for marketing purposes. I still get comments when I’m out on field jobs, a bit embarrassing when you’re under a table trying to dismantle a piece of kit and someone asks if that was me on the telly.”