Bio

Matt Roche is a freelance guitarist, composer and music teacher living and working in Naarm (Melbourne). Deeply grounded in the African-American traditions of jazz and improvisational music-making, his musical output is centered around finding connections with unlikely musical traditions. A passionate performer and supporter of original music, he is strongly embedded within the local scene as a player, teacher and volunteer.

Matt Roche is the bandleader, guitarist and composer of post-rock jazz band Soft Power who have released three full-length albums and toured Australia twice. Their latest album Bucolica was released independently in September 2019 at the Jazzlab in Melbourne, their second album Easy Listening was distributed via Naarm record label Newmarket Music in 2018 and was launched in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart with a performance at MONA. He is also key player of Naarm collective Hydra Fashion Week led by Charlie Teitelbaum featuring Jasper Evans and Emily Chen who are quickly developing a reputation for their energetic “Hyper-Punk-Jazz” sound. They have independently released two singles and their debut album “Serpent Season One”.

Over the years he has shared the stage with Vince Jones, Reuben Rogers & Eric Harland, Julie O’Hara and has performed at Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Stonnington Jazz Festival, Paradise Music Festival, Adelaide Festival, MONA – Museum of Old and New Art, Golden Age Cinema & Bar, The Jazzlab, Uptown Jazz Cafe, Grace Darling Hotel, The Curtin, The Toff in Town, The Brunswick Green, The Wesley Anne and countless other music venues around Australia.

In 2016 he attended the Australian Art Orchestra’s Creative Music Intensive and studied with Bae Il Dong, Daniel & David Wilfred from Arnhem land and faculty from the AAO. In 2014 he travelled to New York and attended the NYU Summer Jazz Improv Workshop which featured masterclasses with Joe Lovano, Adam Rogers and Kenny Werner.

In 2014 Matt completed his Honours in Jazz Performance at Monash University, was awarded a study assistance scholarship and won best paper at the International Conference of Undergraduate Research for “Musical space in Alban Berg’s Lulu” – an excerpt of his Honours thesis on temporality and timelessness in Alban Berg’s 12 tone opera “Lulu”. He completed his Bachelor of Music at Melbourne Polytechnic in 2013 with his guitar teachers including Stephen Magnusson, Tom Fryer and Doug De Vries.

Besides performing, Matt is a passionate music teacher and advocate for music education. He completed his Master of Teaching (Secondary) at the University of Melbourne in 2021 and currently teaches classroom music at an inner city high school. He is the deputy chair of ASME Victoria and as a council member he advocates for inclusive education and embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in music education. Previously he was director of non-for-profit musical collective Lebowski’s which he co-ran from 2019 – 2023.