In this episode my guest is Mat Bancroft, Independent Curator, Archivist and Art Director specialising in 20th Century Pop Culture. 

Mat has many strings to his bow but the first thing that will pop for any music fan is that he has been Johnny Marr’s Art Director since 2012 and has produced a distinct and impressive body of work over that period. 

Mat was born in Nottingham in 1979 but very deliberately went to University in Manchester in 1998 because of his love of the city’s culture, both art and music. That interest and passion continues to this day and in recent years Mat was involved in two celebrated exhibitions examining the impact of Factory Records (Use Hearing Protection) and the work of Joy Division and New Order (True Faith).  

It wasn’t a direct route to the work Mat does today and his is an inspiring story of the need to listen to what your gut is telling you and being brave enough to start again. It’s also a really encouraging story that, in the case of his work with Johnny Marr, serendipity will sometimes come along to help a little. 

Mat’s song choices are below, and you will see that he doesn’t just listen to music from Manchester. However, for me the highlight of this episode is the excitement and joy that comes through when Mat talks about being 15 and discovering Oasis and Britpop.

Enjoy!

70’s       Joy Division                      Shadowplay

80’s       Pet Shop Boys                 West End Girls 

90’s       Oasis                                     Some Might Say 

00’s       Madonna                             Hung Up 

10’s       Ibrahim Maalouf             Defile 1962

20’s       Sault                                        Wildfires