Matthew started his musical career at the tender age of five, when his dad, Clyde bought him a drum kit as a Christmas present.

In 1984, at age eleven he started playing the tenor pan with Mangrove Steel Orchestra and has fond memories of winning the 1986 Notting Hill Panorama with practice sessions starting as early as 9a.m. He played with Mangrove at the finals of the Steelband Music Festival in January 1987 and Caribbean Times, their sponsor for the 1986 Panorama jetted off thirty of Mangrove’s players to Trinidad to play with Casablanca and three of them played with the South East P.O.S Secondary school at the National and Schools Panoramas respectively. This trip opened his eyes to the commitment to the instrument which enhanced his development in music.

He started playing for Renegades Steel Orchestra in 1989 and since then has played with them whenever he is there for Carnival. Matthew can play all the pan instruments in the orchestra including drums and percussion. When the drummer left Mangrove, his drumming career took off. He has played for the London Calypso Monarch competition and also for artistes from Trinidad including Sparrow, Rose, Baron, and Chalkdust. He has also played with the likes of reggae artiste Judy Boucher and Findlay Quaye. He stated, ‘I have learnt a lot about rhythms and music in general from people like Bubbles, Trampus and Bobby Stignat.’ The renowned drummer, Richard Bailey is his drumming teacher.

A lot of his teaching has been in Calypso and steelband but he has utilised his acquired skills in other musical forums. Matthew has been manager of the Mangrove Steel orchestra for the past ten years and during that time they have won two Panorama competitions and visited places many places like France, Belgium, Poland, Tanzania, Malawi, Sri Lanka and Thailand. They are also responsible for spreading the pan gospel by helping in the formation of steelbands in Reading and Mauritius as well as the first Scottish Steelband, Glasgow 1990 Steelband, which later split into three.

Mangrove has proved on their tours that the steelpan instrument can hold its own in a conventional orchestra by including these instruments in their performances. His performances and attendance at the China White Club in London has helped his music owing to the high level of musicianship there. Matthew sees Mangrove as a family and stated, ‘I have been able to continue the growth and development pattern of the orchestra because of the strength of its existing foundation. My personal aim for the future is to play drums in as many musical forums and events as possible. My vision for the future of Mangrove is recording and touring to a much higher than has ever been done before.

Matthew has been the driving force behind the creation of the Engine Room. The  recording studio provides the opportunity to all musicians especially pannists the opportunity to record and promote their work. Engine Room has also provided a forum for young established pan musicians to play in public by organising concerts where they are accompanied by the Engine Room's musicians. Matthew's dream for Pan in general is to see the Arts Council of England with its £500 million per year budget start to support the steelbands that every year undergo financial hardship to attend the Notting Hill Carnival. He asked, 'Is Steelband at Carnival not one of the Arts of England?’