Matt Healy from the group The 1975 was taught how to play the guitar by one of our very own My Guitar Lessons tutors, Gerry Malloy. Gerry recently had the opportunity to see Matt at their latest gig at the MEN, Manchester Arena:
Gerry explains how he came to meet Matts Dad, Tim Healy, at the after party at the arena:
‘I had seen his ex wife Denise Welch in our local chippy in Alderley Edge six months earlier and we had a chat, she said how well the band were doing and that it was down to my teaching. She then said that after they had finished the new album they would be touring in the new year and that she would put me on the guest list. So I texted Denise and thanks to her found myself and my wife at the gig in superb seats, with wrist bands to attend the after party!
That’s how I met Tim after the gig. ‘I said “Hi Tim, I am Gerry and I taught Matty to play to play guitar”. He said that Matty never goes to the after party as he works so hard during the gig, seriously rocking 21,000 fans. He was certainly right there! I taught Matty when he was 15 in my teaching studio at my mums house in Bramhall. Denise would pick him up and always said how much Matty wanted to make it in a band, but had only ever seen the success of his acting parents, Tim (star of ‘Auf wiedersehen pet’, ‘still open all hours’ and ‘Benidorm’ amongst many many others) and Denise (Coronation Street, Waterloo Road and Loose Women). Fame wasnt as easy to come by as he had thought and he worked incredibly hard to get to the standard he is at today.
I started by teaching Matty chords and some scales and we progressed to learning to play songs by the likes of “Less Than Jake” and “Flogging Mollie”. He was always a confident student and very keen to learn. More recently he came back for a few lessons, just before the band changed their name to The 1975. The rest, as they say, is history!’
For lessons with Gerry Malloy please check his profile out at www.MyGuitarLessons.co.uk/GerryMalloy
Here are some of Gerry’s photo’s from the evening;
