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MJM Members
Matthew John Donnachie was born in Dundee on the 16th December 1969.His early years as school began at Redford primary School in Carmyllie ( At 8 years old Matthew also attended guitar lessons at Watt guitar tuition in Dundee) before moving to Fife in 1979 when he was to live in Dunfermline where he attended Townhill primary school. Matthew then attended Queen Anne High school. Although born in Dundee but growing up mostly in Dunfermline, Matthew found his identity very much as a Fifer, he still feels a strong bond with his hometown to this day.“Dunfermline had an extremely vibrant music scene in the late 70s and early 80s and it was an extremely exciting time to grow up, surrounded by musicians. It seemed to me that every other guy was in a band and anything seemed possible. Local stars such as the Skids, Big Country and Nazareth were an inspiration with its stars, Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson, Bruce Watson and Pete Agnew a regular sight around town.
They were always friendly and ready to lend an ear or to give advice to aspiring musicians such as myself. I had started off playing guitar but I was given a bass for a loan from one of my brother friends (none other than Pete Agnew from Nazereths bass, an AB3 Gibson) I really took to the instrument and never looked back trading in my guitar at Sound Control for a Westone bass. 6 months later i then took the jump into fretless upgrading to an Ibanez musician fretless bass.”Matthew path in music was not be an easy one as “I was determined not to play bass like my local contemporaries. Players like Mick Karn from Japan, Jaco Pastorious, Pino Paladino, Tony Levin were the players I aspired to be like.
This did not help when the bands that I found myself in demanded that I use a plectrum and the expectation was that I sound like JJ from the Stranglers or Tony Butler from Big Country. When I was 17 I had bought myself a Wal fretless bass as Mick Karn played one but I soon had to buy a Warwick fretted bass to “Fit in” with the local scene as fretless was deemed unfashionable at the time.” When Matthew was 20 he was asked to join “Shine” who were the latest Dunfermline band to sign a record deal and had already released an album. A personnel reshuffle resulted in Matthew landing the job as bass player.
A baptism of fire followed with a series of recording sessions at the brand-new St Clair Studio recording facility in Glasgow. “The guys in Shine were all older than me and had lots of recording experience so I felt quite out of my depth at first but I dug in. The band split quite soon after but I continued to record for a few years with Will Adamson and Alex Milne.”Another adventure was on the horizon when Matthew began to write and record with local guitar slinger and producer William Logan.
The pair landed a management deal with Mick Rossi of Eurythmics fame released a single under the name of The Blazing Apostles and went on a short tour supporting The Sensational Alex Harvey band, Runrig and Wet Wet Wet. “We were invited to record a song for Braveheart but it sadly never used.
”During this time Matthew purchased a Chapman stick, an instrument played by one of his heroes Tony Levin.
“I immediately took to the instrument as it pushed your boundaries and created sounds I had never heard before, so before long I was using it to great effect in the studio”
Matthew and William went their separate ways and with Matthew retiring from music to establish his Dental career, eventually meeting his future wife and moving to Nairn in the Highlands.
“After finishing my post graduate studies, being an avid historian, I always harboured the ambition to write a book, the seeds of which became the historical fantasy novel The Jacobite Officer. I then developed the idea of creating an audio book which I developed in the studio with local musician Kenneth R MacLennan.
The resulting tracks caught the ear of a few people and I was offered the chance to present them in the way of a show in the Edinburgh Fringe. I somehow managed to fuse these passages together and the subsequent shows were a sell-out. I was fortunate enough to meet a young filmmaker Tom Alner who entertained my idea to create a short film based on what I had created. The resulting short film was used to launch the book and went viral on Facebook. I had more good fortune to meet the Tarland fiddling Wizard Dr Paul Anderson MBE who composed more music for the Jacobite officer and we struck up a great friendship.”Lockdown halted any more Jacobite Officer filming but the embers went on to create where we are now with MJM with both Tom and Paul still actively involved with both productions.” Matthew is also an occasional actor appearing in an episode of the acclaimed TV series “The Crown”.
They were always friendly and ready to lend an ear or to give advice to aspiring musicians such as myself. I had started off playing guitar but I was given a bass for a loan from one of my brother friends (none other than Pete Agnew from Nazereths bass, an AB3 Gibson) I really took to the instrument and never looked back trading in my guitar at Sound Control for a Westone bass. 6 months later i then took the jump into fretless upgrading to an Ibanez musician fretless bass.”Matthew path in music was not be an easy one as “I was determined not to play bass like my local contemporaries. Players like Mick Karn from Japan, Jaco Pastorious, Pino Paladino, Tony Levin were the players I aspired to be like.
This did not help when the bands that I found myself in demanded that I use a plectrum and the expectation was that I sound like JJ from the Stranglers or Tony Butler from Big Country. When I was 17 I had bought myself a Wal fretless bass as Mick Karn played one but I soon had to buy a Warwick fretted bass to “Fit in” with the local scene as fretless was deemed unfashionable at the time.” When Matthew was 20 he was asked to join “Shine” who were the latest Dunfermline band to sign a record deal and had already released an album. A personnel reshuffle resulted in Matthew landing the job as bass player.
A baptism of fire followed with a series of recording sessions at the brand-new St Clair Studio recording facility in Glasgow. “The guys in Shine were all older than me and had lots of recording experience so I felt quite out of my depth at first but I dug in. The band split quite soon after but I continued to record for a few years with Will Adamson and Alex Milne.”Another adventure was on the horizon when Matthew began to write and record with local guitar slinger and producer William Logan.
The pair landed a management deal with Mick Rossi of Eurythmics fame released a single under the name of The Blazing Apostles and went on a short tour supporting The Sensational Alex Harvey band, Runrig and Wet Wet Wet. “We were invited to record a song for Braveheart but it sadly never used.
”During this time Matthew purchased a Chapman stick, an instrument played by one of his heroes Tony Levin.
“I immediately took to the instrument as it pushed your boundaries and created sounds I had never heard before, so before long I was using it to great effect in the studio”
Matthew and William went their separate ways and with Matthew retiring from music to establish his Dental career, eventually meeting his future wife and moving to Nairn in the Highlands.
“After finishing my post graduate studies, being an avid historian, I always harboured the ambition to write a book, the seeds of which became the historical fantasy novel The Jacobite Officer. I then developed the idea of creating an audio book which I developed in the studio with local musician Kenneth R MacLennan.
The resulting tracks caught the ear of a few people and I was offered the chance to present them in the way of a show in the Edinburgh Fringe. I somehow managed to fuse these passages together and the subsequent shows were a sell-out. I was fortunate enough to meet a young filmmaker Tom Alner who entertained my idea to create a short film based on what I had created. The resulting short film was used to launch the book and went viral on Facebook. I had more good fortune to meet the Tarland fiddling Wizard Dr Paul Anderson MBE who composed more music for the Jacobite officer and we struck up a great friendship.”Lockdown halted any more Jacobite Officer filming but the embers went on to create where we are now with MJM with both Tom and Paul still actively involved with both productions.” Matthew is also an occasional actor appearing in an episode of the acclaimed TV series “The Crown”.
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John O’Brien has been playing music since the age of 12 where through the influence of his father and along with his brother played in the local brass band. It was here that John has said that “every note I have ever played on any instrument since then is owed to that background and training”With his father’s classical music records and his elder siblings playing The Beatles, Rory Gallagher, T-rex & Steve Harley in the background John grew up with an appreciation in music from Beethoven to Bowie while joining up the dots in between.John started to learn the guitar at the age of 14 and has played in many bands over the years mainly doing popular covers. At the same time he has always had the fascination for recording and producing original material.
The MJM project came along at the right time when he had built his studio and wanted to concentrate on the music ideas he has had in his head but never found the time to put them down. Armed with some recording software, several keyboards & guitars John started putting down tracks that would eventually become the start of the MJM album.
John saw Matthew on Facebook playing basslines on his Wal fretless bass playing lines from many songs and from many artists that he had been a fan of since he was 14.
Matt’s style, influences and ethos of what makes music interesting resonated with John. “I invited Matthew over to my studio to put some bass lines down on what was just some rando instrumental stuff that I was recording, it transpired that Matthew could also sing and very quickly we started turning the tracks into songs as well as writing new material”John doesn’t see himself just as ‘a guitar player’ a ‘keyboard player’ but just simply ‘a musician’ and feels his strength is in putting things together and an ear for detail in a producer’s role “just like what I experienced with the conductor honing the 25 parts played by the musicians in the brass band, I do the same really but with guitars, keyboards, echoes, recording software as well as the contributions from all the others involved.”“I am really proud of what I have created here with Matthew and everyone else involved as well as the appreciation from so many people who like what we do for what it is.”
The MJM project came along at the right time when he had built his studio and wanted to concentrate on the music ideas he has had in his head but never found the time to put them down. Armed with some recording software, several keyboards & guitars John started putting down tracks that would eventually become the start of the MJM album.
John saw Matthew on Facebook playing basslines on his Wal fretless bass playing lines from many songs and from many artists that he had been a fan of since he was 14.
Matt’s style, influences and ethos of what makes music interesting resonated with John. “I invited Matthew over to my studio to put some bass lines down on what was just some rando instrumental stuff that I was recording, it transpired that Matthew could also sing and very quickly we started turning the tracks into songs as well as writing new material”John doesn’t see himself just as ‘a guitar player’ a ‘keyboard player’ but just simply ‘a musician’ and feels his strength is in putting things together and an ear for detail in a producer’s role “just like what I experienced with the conductor honing the 25 parts played by the musicians in the brass band, I do the same really but with guitars, keyboards, echoes, recording software as well as the contributions from all the others involved.”“I am really proud of what I have created here with Matthew and everyone else involved as well as the appreciation from so many people who like what we do for what it is.”
Olivia is Matthews daughter
At 18 years old Olivia already has an established pathway in the arts. She joined the world-famous Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marble Arch London when she was just shy of 12 years old moving from Nairn to London.She then went on to secure a place at the Brit school in London and has now progressed even further to study at Emil Dale academy in Hitchin.
Olivia is known as a triple threat in the business as she can sing, dance and act.Her ambition is to become a leading West End theatre star which is a dream she has had since she was a little girl.
Matthew recruited her to sing vocals on some of the MJM tracks as her voice has a magical quality. Among some of her stand out performances Olivia Duets with Matthew on the track “Dream before you came.”
Although as Matthew will tell you,“ Being a teenager, it would probably be easier to book Cher to sing for us than Olivia!”
At 18 years old Olivia already has an established pathway in the arts. She joined the world-famous Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marble Arch London when she was just shy of 12 years old moving from Nairn to London.She then went on to secure a place at the Brit school in London and has now progressed even further to study at Emil Dale academy in Hitchin.
Olivia is known as a triple threat in the business as she can sing, dance and act.Her ambition is to become a leading West End theatre star which is a dream she has had since she was a little girl.
Matthew recruited her to sing vocals on some of the MJM tracks as her voice has a magical quality. Among some of her stand out performances Olivia Duets with Matthew on the track “Dream before you came.”
Although as Matthew will tell you,“ Being a teenager, it would probably be easier to book Cher to sing for us than Olivia!”
Already something of a legend in the time-honoured fiddle tradition of Scotland; Paul Anderson is the finest Scots fiddler of his generation. Although only in his forties, he is already something of an icon in Scotland, a fact duly recognised by two specially commissioned portraits of him, a life size one in Aberdeen Art Gallery and a study which is in the care of the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. In the tradition of many of Scotlands great fiddlers, Paul is a composer of some repute, having composed over 300 pieces in the Scots style. His music provided the theme tune for the film Red Rose about the life of Robert Burns, Paul composed and recorded the theme music for the PBS television show, Tartan TV in the USA and in 2008 he was the musical director for HMT Aberdeens critically acclaimed production of Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
In 2008 Paul performed at a private reception for Prince Charles at Fyvie Castle to celebrate Prince Charles' 60th birthday and in June 2010 he performed at an 80th birthday party in Edinburgh Castle for Sir Sean Connery at the request of the Scottish Government. In 2011 Paul performed at Scotland House in Brussels for members of the EU parliment and at a Burns Supper in the British Embassy.
During his competitive career Paul won most of the traditional fiddle championships in Scotland and in 1995 won Scotland's premier fiddling event, the Glenfiddich Scottish fiddle championship which is held each year at Blair Castle.A regular on Scottish T.V and radio, and in 2011 he presented a series of features on traditional Scottish music and song for the BBC Scotland programme "Landward." Paul has toured extensively and recorded eight solo albums and over forty albums with artists like Pallas, Rock Salt and Nails, The Cutting Edge and the Banchory Strathspey and Reel Society.
Paul regularly recites the poetry of Robert Burns and in 1993 he played the part of the young James Scott Skinner in the play "The Strathspey King".Paul was brought up on the family dairy farm at Tarland near the Cairngorm National Park in the heart of rural Aberdeenshire, where at the age of five he discovered an old fiddle under his grandparents spare bed, an old French violin which he plays to this day.He began classical tuition at Tarland primary school with Andy Linklater but before long joined the acclaimed Scots fiddle group, The Banchory Strathspey and Reel Society.
I was brought up in a house where I can remember my dad reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson to me and where the music of The Corries, Hector MacAndrew, Robbie Shepherd's radio programmes and Johnny Cashwas often to be heard. When I stared fiddle lessons it was with the intention that I'd eventually be learning Scottish music.For a short time Paul then received private tutoring from Angus Shaw of Banchory before going on to study for several years with Douglas Lawrence of Buckie.
Douglas was a Golden Fiddle Champion in 1979 and was the most acclaimed pupil of Hector MacAndrew, the finest Scots fiddler of the 20th century and a player who could trace his fiddling lineage directly back to Niel Gow and the Golden Age of Scottish Fiddle music. Gow is regarded as the father of Scottish fiddle music and was a legend in his own lifetime, having played for Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 and being visited by Robert Burns during his highland tour; Hector's grandfather was taught by James Mackintosh of Dunkeld who was the last pupil of Niel Gow. Therefore Paul is part of a teaching lineage which stretches right back to before 1745 and the time of Gow.
In 2008 Paul performed at a private reception for Prince Charles at Fyvie Castle to celebrate Prince Charles' 60th birthday and in June 2010 he performed at an 80th birthday party in Edinburgh Castle for Sir Sean Connery at the request of the Scottish Government. In 2011 Paul performed at Scotland House in Brussels for members of the EU parliment and at a Burns Supper in the British Embassy.
During his competitive career Paul won most of the traditional fiddle championships in Scotland and in 1995 won Scotland's premier fiddling event, the Glenfiddich Scottish fiddle championship which is held each year at Blair Castle.A regular on Scottish T.V and radio, and in 2011 he presented a series of features on traditional Scottish music and song for the BBC Scotland programme "Landward." Paul has toured extensively and recorded eight solo albums and over forty albums with artists like Pallas, Rock Salt and Nails, The Cutting Edge and the Banchory Strathspey and Reel Society.
Paul regularly recites the poetry of Robert Burns and in 1993 he played the part of the young James Scott Skinner in the play "The Strathspey King".Paul was brought up on the family dairy farm at Tarland near the Cairngorm National Park in the heart of rural Aberdeenshire, where at the age of five he discovered an old fiddle under his grandparents spare bed, an old French violin which he plays to this day.He began classical tuition at Tarland primary school with Andy Linklater but before long joined the acclaimed Scots fiddle group, The Banchory Strathspey and Reel Society.
I was brought up in a house where I can remember my dad reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson to me and where the music of The Corries, Hector MacAndrew, Robbie Shepherd's radio programmes and Johnny Cashwas often to be heard. When I stared fiddle lessons it was with the intention that I'd eventually be learning Scottish music.For a short time Paul then received private tutoring from Angus Shaw of Banchory before going on to study for several years with Douglas Lawrence of Buckie.
Douglas was a Golden Fiddle Champion in 1979 and was the most acclaimed pupil of Hector MacAndrew, the finest Scots fiddler of the 20th century and a player who could trace his fiddling lineage directly back to Niel Gow and the Golden Age of Scottish Fiddle music. Gow is regarded as the father of Scottish fiddle music and was a legend in his own lifetime, having played for Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 and being visited by Robert Burns during his highland tour; Hector's grandfather was taught by James Mackintosh of Dunkeld who was the last pupil of Niel Gow. Therefore Paul is part of a teaching lineage which stretches right back to before 1745 and the time of Gow.