I met Matt in grade six. I guess we were both around twelve or thirteen years old, we were in music class and everyone had to choose an instrument, I had no clue what instrument I wanted to play, until I saw this tiny little guy sit down and play a beat on the drums. I was amazed cause I had never seen a set of drums in my life, so right away I owe him for getting me into music.

I saw Matt Barrett playing in a band called Purgatory and noticed right away

what a great guitarist he was, but what stood out to me the most about him was his amazing showman ship, and you couldn’t turn your head away from him because you wanted to see what the crazy bastard was going to do next! I spoke to him a bit and found he felt held back with purgatory, and I immediately thought about what this guy would be capable of if he was to “let loose”, I mean purgatory was like nothing Goose bay had ever seen, this band was everyone’s favorite local act and everyone had their hopes in them to become successful, Matt was the heart and soul of this band with his leadership skills, drive, and passion, but it wasn’t enough freedom for him. Purgatory finally went through a break up and I guess there popularity started to decline as well when another band Albert and the Naked Chef got onto the scene, which I’m proud to say I was in! Anyways, around this time Matt and I were becoming closer friends, I was at his house one day and he had just fired their bass player and we were both sitting there bitching about both our band’s situations, I then though well “why the hell don’t we start something?” I said “we should take the better parts of each of our bands and start a band together, Cause that way we wouldn’t have to deal with people who were not committed. So that was the beginning of Blakk Hand.

Matt is the kind of guy who works really hard at everything he does and he’s stubborn as hell. You have a better chance of convincing a rock to roll over by itself than convincing Matt to change his mind, a good trait to have I guess when it comes to the music business. Matt is also the guy you go to when you need a good laugh because he isn’t afraid to make a complete ass out of himself! Great front man material. He is an amazing musician, he is a great pianist, most people don’t know this but Matts first love is the piano, this defiantly shows through in his “masterpiece” I like to call it, “Rock Bottom”. He’s also a good vocalist because he has a good ear, defiantly a well rounded musician. He’s also learning how to play trombone. Cool eh? Matt is a brilliant writer of songs as well, he has a lot of Blakk Hand’s best songs in his name such as “Rock Bottom”, “You’re Their Monkey” and “Adrenaline”...And there are and will be lots more.

One of the reasons Blakk Hand is still on the go and doing well is because of this guy’s sense of leadership, he keeps us together and going strong with his great skill, amazing songs, and confidence. He has an ambition fueled by a dream and the love of music that will certainly see Blakk Hand to all it can be. When it comes down to it Matt Barrett has such a good energy and drive which is exactly what we need to keep this monster alive. Matt is not only my partner, but he’s my best friend and I know that with this guy we will be all we can be.