User:Mattblackuk

Matt Black (born 16th March 1986, in Barnsley, England), is a British singer, writer and musician. Currently the lead vocalist in UK hard rock band Fahran. Previously of AOR melodic rock band Serpentine and Invisible Idols. In the past Matt has fronted tribute shows such as A Foreigner's Journey and Six Of The Best.

After being brought up in a musical family, Black was exposed to a variety of musical styles but mostly classic rock music. This made him realise his ambition to be a musician. He began playing keyboards at the age of 8 years old, then added guitar and bass at 13, and began to sing at the age of 14. At the age of 16, Black joined his first band The Frame where he began to cover music by his favourite artists and started his journey writing his own material.

In February 2007, Black performed at the 50th Birthday Party of Dez Bailey of MTV DJ's The Bailey Brothers. This is where he met Jamie Mallender (bass) and Danny Needham (drums), who perform as part of the backing band for Tony Martin (ex Black Sabbath vocalist). They asked Black to join a new project which would feature Zal Cleminson (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Nazareth) on guitar. Black built up a good friendship with Cleminson and they spent the summer writing material together but sadly in January 2008 Cleminson announced his retirement from music and the band fell apart.

Keen to perform his material live, Black formed Invisible Idols with local friends Shane Jagger (drums) and Joe Lally (bass). The band released their first self funded album in 2010 named Highway Child. Then went on to support Kajagoogoo Swedish AOR band H.E.A.T, German based rock/metal group Jaded Heart, and Tyketto frontman Danny Vaughn.

In December 2010, Black was invited to audition for UK AOR group Serpentine who are signed to AOR Heaven, Marquee Avalon and were previously fronted by the current TNT vocalist Tony Mills (ex Shy). Black toured the UK with Serpentine in April/May 2011 Houston and Miss Behaviour & Crash Diet. In 2011, Serpentine performed at Firefest Rock City Nottingham and also appeared at HEAT Festival in Germany and Rockfest Madrid. The band shared stages with the likes of Reckless Love, Jimi Jamison (Survivor), Jeff Scott Soto (Journey/Talisman), Steve Augeri (Journey), Terry Brock, Kane Roberts and many more.

Serpentine's second album "Living & Dying In High Definition" was already in the final stages as Matt joined the band so the album is written and recorded by Tony Mills, but features Matt's vocal on the japanese bonus track, which is a new version of the band's song "Lonely Nights" from the first album.

In summer 2012 Matt planned to release his debut solo album Dreamcatcher which included new songs, more material co-written with Zal Cleminson plus three re-recorded Invisible Idols songs. But due to many obstacles the album never materialised.

In September 2013 Matt left Serpentine due to musical differences and joined Fahran. The band started work immediately on their second album, the first with Matt on vocals. The album is titled "Chasing Hours" and it was released 20th May 2014 through Cargo Records.

For further information visit www.mattblackofficial.com