87 Music LTD is a multifaceted company founded by Matt Brooks (Session Musician/Musical Director) servicing the needs of the music industry through Musical Direction, Band Fixing, Performance Coaching and Project Management. Although 87 Music is a newly formed company, we have been working in the music industry since 2013 and have gone from one person (Matt) working as a session musician to a company, working with major label artists in the capacity of Musical Director/Band Fixer for Touring/Sessions/TV Performances/Promo and working with new label artists developing their live shows and overseeing the live project from start to finish. As the amount of projects we’re involved in has increased, so has our roster of musicians and singers. Having already acquired an extensive roster of musicians and singers, we now have all kinds of instrumentalists on our books that we can supply for your project and make sure you have both a professional and pleasurable experience. So… if you’re looking for help taking your artist’s live show to the next level by bringing in a band, need help bringing some direction to an already existing band, need musicians for promo/TV work or want your project overseen, you’ve come to the right place… 87 Music – “In the pocket… Off the hook!”Clients Include: Meghan Trainor | Nicole Scherzinger | Matt Wills | Allie X | Tayá | ASHA & more…To find out more about our services and pricing, drop us an email: hello@87music.co.uk.

Role: Consultant / Musical DirectorI got the call to work with Little Grace from their manager, who i also work with offering Musical Direction for Tayá. I was brought in to oversee some rehearsals and offer some long term Musical Direction for their shows as they’re a band that doesn’t have a vast amount of experience performing live. The Little Grace guys wanted their show to be more dynamic and showcase their songs in a way which represents them better so i came on board to help them do just that.About Little Grace:Country: UKLabel: UnsignedGenre: Pop / Soul

Role: Musical Director / Band FixerSarsha Simone was planning to come to the UK for some shows, media opportunities and meetings and so her manager reached out to me to help put together a set. I worked with them creating a budget and also making sure the songs were delivered in the right way and that the right personnel were brought in to offer the right sound and vibe.About Sarsha Simone:Country: AustraliaLabel: UnsignedGenre: R&B / Soul / PopBlessed with a unique vocal tone that has the ability to cut through the cold and embed itself in the listener’s soul, Sarsha Simone is an exciting artist who is putting an avant­-garde twist on music rooted in Soul, Hip Hop & R&B. Smoking hot international collaborations with Frances 20syl on the captivating “Gonna Do Me (20syl Remix)”, Juno Award winning producer Muneshine, MC’s Ty & Rashaan Ahmad as well as rising Australian Hip Hop star Citizen Kay have ignited interest in & put the spotlight firmly on the enigmatic chanteuse in recent times.Equipped with new music & gutsy lyrical content that will shed light on exactly who the striking woman is behind the ballsy voice, Sarsha Simone is now ready to deliver her Vaughan meets West style and sound to the world.

I got the call to work with Tayá after meeting her manager at a show. Her management heard my playing but also how i had put the show together for another artist and knew straight away that Tayá's live shows would benefit from having me involved as a Musical Director.The first job was the get all of the stems and get the songs programmed for imminent live shows and book in rehearsals to get the band sounding tight and making sure Taya's songs were being represented in the right way. With her being a new artist, the brief was to make sure her songs and her voice could be heard and not lost in embelishments/extravagant band arrangements that take the spotlight away from her.About Tayá:Country: UKLabel: Atlantic RecordsGenre: RnB / PopTayá is the 17-year-old Liverpudlian singer/songwriter that's creating a huge buzz within the music industry at the moment. Already signed to a major label (Atlantic), Tayá's vocals and strong writing abilities have placed her in the running for the next big thing after her recent release, 'Sweet Waste Of Time' which see's "Tayá's decadent vocals float through the track with swagger, twisting around crystalline beats and lunging into heady highs - there's a flicker of the pristine R&B-pop of the early '00s in this gorgeous outing," according to The Line Of Best Fit's Laurence Day.Having already teamed up with AlunaGeorge's George Reid for 'Sweet Waste Of Time' and collaborations with multi award winning producer Rodney "Dark Child" Jerkins in process, the UK music industry is keeping a close eye Tayá.

I was put in touch with Nicole Scherzinger’s UK live agent and management team to put the band together for a show in London. I was given a brief of what they needed to make it work in terms of band line up and personnel and was trusted to create a budget that would satisfy both the band and also Nicole’s team and deliver a great show.We really wanted to have a HUGE sounding set, so i sourced stems from management and added what i didn’t have, (big shout out to my brother Adam Brooks who laid some organ down for me for one of the songs). This helped us make a big sound with depth and colour and ensured all of the signature parts of the song were present.With Nicole’s busy schedule, dates for rehearsal changed a lot, and in the end, she was unable to make rehearsals so i prepped rehearsal recordings (so she could hear all of the arrangements and song structures) and listen to them so she could know what to expect.As the Musical Director, there were a lot of organisational aspects to take into consideration. We didn’t have long to rehearse so i prepped the band before rehearsals, sending out stems of their parts, song structure/arrangements and any additional lines/parts that i wanted them to have locked down so rehearsals could be about rehearsing and tweaking, rather than creating and learning. It was also essential that i brought the right people in to be in the band and do BV’s. People that could deliver under pressure and offer creativity.The set was high energy and contained Pussy Cat Dolls songs as well as some of Nicole’s own music. Nicole loves to go “Balls Out” as she calls it, which basically means go hard or go home so i created i band intro which was based off the Pussy Cat Dolls song “Beep” which was high energy and allowed her time to walk on stage to a cheer before starting the first song to the set.

I got the call to work with Julian Perretta to dep on a few European shows during his Karma Tour. There was no time for a rehearsal so a lot of time went into learning the songs in detail to help me slot in and not interrupt the show, staying true to the parts that Samuel Edwards (Julian’s drummer) had established.Learning a headline show with no rehearsal was difficult but i managed to hold down the drum parts and give the shows the right energy too.

Date: July 2015 – PresentRole: Musical Director/DrummerI was brought in by ASHA’s management to be the Musical Director (MD) for ASHA as she was about to begin her journey, performing live with a band. For the first phase of ASHA’s live show, management wanted to go for drums (electronic/pads) and keys to start with. I set up an audition of various musicians with different backgrounds and management and ASHA decided who the felt would work best.ASHA’s music is quite Urban and also, “produced” and management want to keep the the footprint of the band small and keep the sound of the songs very true to the record as we’d be doing a few showcases where it would be important for the songs to sound like the records.I also worked with the keys player to recreate the sounds on the record and decided which parts for him to play live and which parts to leave on track.As there is only 2 of us in the band, it was necessary to have backing tracks. I spent a lot of time going through parts and mixing it for live, getting a consistent and uniform sound for the whole set.About ASHA:Country: UKLabel: FeraltoneGenre: Urban/Electro/RnBBrit School graduate ASHA has the soulful voice, the catwalk look, the depth in her songwriting and the lyrics that speak to her generation. and when she doesn’t sing she teaches urban dance to the kids or professes in her own contemporary dance pieces.Signed to Universal Publishing, she has spent all of 2014 locked away writing with a diverse range of producers and writers and is on her ascent to become one of the new BIG voices to look out for in 2015. Mark our words!

I got called to work with Scarlet Baxter to be a part of her live band. After making the transition from doing acoustic sets, it was time for her to get a band around her for upcoming live shows/showcases. I liaised with Scarlet’s manager and producers to get stems for her songs and began arranging and programming the songs, working out the band’s parts and working on the structures of the songs.To recreate the drums sounds of Scarlet’s music i needed to use a combination of electronics and acoustics so i went to my trusty Yamaha DTX which helped me integrate the electronic sounds into the songs giving the songs a live edge while still sounding authentic/”true to the record”.About Scarlet Baxter:Country: UKLabel: UnsignedGenre: Pop / RnB / Soul

I got the call from Vanquish’s management to put a band together for some introductory shows that they had coming up. I sourced the band (drums, bass, guitar, keys) using the brief given by management and agreed the budget for the project. I arranged the songs given for a stripped back performance using minimal electronic instruments to create a sound that was true to the recorded versions of the songs but not overpowering, allowing the girls vocals and the melodies of the songs to take centre stage and showcase the quality of their music.About Vanquish:Country: UKLabel: Non Stop RecordsGenre: Pop

I was brought in by Matt’s management, Sam Bush to add a new element and dynamic to Matt’s live shows. Matt has been performing with just him and his acoustic guitar but the management wanted to incorporate the drum patterns and samples from Matt’s songs to give a fuller sound and reproduce the produced sounds live. To achieve this i got samples used on Matt’s songs created drum patterns to suit the live performance of his songs while staying true to the feel and dynamic of the record. I also triggered off live music parts to create a fuller sound that was more authentic and true to the record.About Matt Wills:Country: UKLabel: Virgin EMIGenre: Acoustic / Electro / Pop

When I got the call to work with Meghan Trainor on her BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge broadcast I was excited to say the least. Meghan’s hit song ‘All About That Bass’ is a song that I’ve heard so many times due to its popularity… #1 in 58 countries. During a rehearsal with Meghan and Jon Sosin (guitarist – USA), Meghan loved the vibe of the cajon and what I brought to her songs rhythmically that she personally asked me to join her on her remaining UK promo dates at Spotify and Radio 2.Meghan was a pleasure to work with and so was Jon and the Spotify sessions being used as an exclusive Meghan Trainor acoustic EP available exclusively on Spotify.On this occasion, working with Meghan only required me to use a Cajon along with additional percussion to help give bring out the rhythms in her songs as when she does acoustic performances, they’re done with just her playing the ukulele and a guitarist. Yes, that’s right. I am Megan Trainor’s first cajon player.After building a relationship with Meghan’s team I was called on to put the band together former performance of “NO” on The Graham Norton Show (April 2016). I worked with Meghan’s Tour Manager and UK Production Manager to find the right musicians based on their requirements: Drums, Bass, Guitar, Keys, Trumpet and Trombone. About Meghan Trainor:Country: USALabel: Epic RecordsGenre: Pop, Hip/Hop, Reggae, Soca, R&B

I recently got the call to dep (stand in) for a good friend and drummer that I know, Jonny Brister and join Ariana & The Rose on the support slot of Foxes UK tour.I did one date with Ariana & The Rose and had to prepare, as there was no rehearsal; just straight into the show. I learned the 6 song set and all of the arrangements and was able to slot in with Ariana and the rest of the band and deliver a great show with no hiccups.I had to really get into the music for this one as there was a lot of triggering and samples that Jonny triggers and I would have to slot in and do the same. Nailing the arrangements knowing which songs were played on triggers and pads and which ones were played on the acoustic drums was imperative so that sonically, there was no major differences.About Ariana & The Rose:Country: USALabel: UnsignedGenre: Alternative / Synth-Pop

I came on board with Marcus Collins towards the end of Summer 2014 for what was initially one show but I ended up touring with him on his Motown themed theatre tour.My approach for working with Marcus Collins on these shows was to emulate the Motown sound and play the song authentically with the right feel, swing and articulation to provide a genuine Motown foundation for the rest of the music to build on.About Marcus Collins:Country: UKLabel: Unsigned (Previously RCA)Genre: Pop / Soul

When I first started working with Paije Richardson his live set was put together it was an acoustic set. I was playing the Cajon and we stripped back some of his songs and some covers for a chilled out, soulful vibe.Later, the project grew and for Paije’s headline show, it developed into a full live band set up. My approach was to keep things lively and organic driving the music and being expressive so it really felt like a live show.About Paije Richardson:Country: UKLabel: UnsignedGenre: R&B / Soul

I started working with Chlöe Howl in January 2014 (to present) under the direction of one of the UK’s best Musical Directors (MD), Donavan Hepburn (drummer for Take That, Jeff Lynne, BBC, Adele and MD for Sam Smith, Raleigh Ritchie, Joseph Salvat, Alesha Dixon).Chlöe’s music is very energetic so live shows are always a blast. Because Chlöe’s music is very Electro influenced, I developed a hybrid drum set up using triggers and external trigger pads to allow me to replicate the sound of her songs with the patterns I play but also sonically for a “true to the record” sound.With Chlöe we did a support slot of Ellie Goulding’s “Halycon Days” Arena Tour in the UK and Europe climaxing at the prestigious O2 Arena.With Chlöe I’ve also had the opportunity to do a Radio 1 Live Lounge Session (not filmed), headline shows at Camden’s Dingwalls venue and Kings Cross’ Scala and The Box (New York). Festival season was very busy and we played a few different venues at SXSW (Austin, Texas) as well as the UK, and Europe’s top music festivals including, Glastonbury, V Festival, T In The Park, Isle Of White, Blue Balls, Slottsfjell, Benicassim, Summerwell and may more.Scroll down to watch a video of me playing ‘Disappointed’ live with Chlöe Howl.About Chlöe Howl:Country: UKLabel: ColumbiaGenre: Electro-Pop / “Steak & Kidney Pop”

I’m the Dep (stand in) drummer for Julian Chambers who is Raleigh Ritchie’s drummer. However with that said, I’ve done quite a bit of work with Raleigh from a headline London show at Birthdays to the popular Wired live show and some festivals; Dot To Dot (Bristol and Nottingham) and Evolution Festival.Raleigh Ritchie’s music is great to play live and a lot of his music is based around beats and rhythms so being solid, dynamic and expressive are the name of the game during a live set using a hybrid drum set up to trigger Electronic sounds to create a big, full and edgy sound.About Raleigh Ritchie:Country: UKLabel: Sony/ColumbiaGenre: R&B / Hip-Soul / Pop