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The Phrased and Confused tent at Summer Sundae 09 was all about mixing poetry and music, a combination that Matt Abbott is no stranger to. His band Skint and Demoralised do just that. Taking his lyrics and adding them to musically backing.

The name Skint and demoralised may come from a song by Reverend and the Makers but for Matt it means much more.

"Its obviously a collective term, so me being a solo artist, a lot of people question why I have the听 term.

"But Skint and Demoralised for me sums up the mood in the whole world. I think everyone can relate it.

"Basically I started out as a a performance poet, just doing random venues, pubs and clubs in Wakefield, Leeds and Sheffield.

"Skint and Demoralised is a name I took from a song by Reverend and the Makers,听 but the meaning has sort of grown into its own with the recession. Its become something people can relate to!"

Poetic Fusion

However it was only recently that Matt started to add music to his lyrics:

"Over the past two years I've started adding music, now it's as much a musical act as it is a poetic one. I like to bridge the two.

"The Phrased and Confused tent at Summer Sundae is obviously the perfect place to do it, because it is blending music and poetry - which to me is the best combination.

"It's been great!"

Like most young people, Matt first became aware of poetry at school but didn't share his talent straight away.

"I've always liked writing and then when I was at school I found poetry.

"But obvious, as 16 year old lad I didn't think 'Oh I'm going to start to write poetry'.

"There is a bit of a stigma about it, and that sort of the reason why I'm so passionate about it.

"Then when I was 18, I discovered John Copper Clarke, who was this amazing punk poet who used to support the Sex Pistols and The Fall in the 70s.

"He is kind of like Frank Gallagher from Shameless but in rhyme!

"He showed me how you could bridge the gap between poetry and music... It was just an excuse not to do college work, and it sort of took off from there!"

Not The Usual

Matt sees his poetry as unconventional, but knows exactly why it works.

"My style of poetry is quite uncouth. It's quite chatty. It's quite conversational!

"If I turned up to a poetry reading, where they were expecting me to read poetry I don't think it would go down very well.

"Its designed to be performed in an alien atmosphere and I think it is the surprise that gets people."

Skint and Demoralised look likely to continue rising听with their fast paced blend of poetry and pop. But what is next?

"We've had an album ready for a while, but we're going to be recording some new songs, because when the album comes out we don't want it to be out of date.

"We want to refresh it. Spent some time in the studio and give it a proper launch in the new year!"

I personally cannot wait!

His mixture of serious social comment, strewed modern observations and comical asides had the Summer Sundae audience in awe!

Since this interview the band has changed names to 'Matt Skint'