Hidden away in a studio on the outskirts of Cowbridge a Welsh musician whose work has appeared on nearly every primetime Saturday night TV show is busy at work taking orders from Simon Cowell. It is the job of Matthew Brind, an international composer, arranger and conductor, to set the music to accompany the acts on the Britain's Got Talent shows. His official title – BGT's arranger and orchestrator – sees him sometimes working well into the night trying to fine-tune sets and tweak things at the whims of the notoriously capricious demands of TV entertainment.
Matthew's CV is impressive and reads like a highlights reel of British weekend TV schedules and the odd blockbuster film and chart single. From the X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, and America's Got Talent to James Arthur and Anne Marie's Rewrite the Stars, plus the movie Paddington 2, Matthew's done them all. And all from the house he built with his wife, Laura, on a small plot of land in the tiny village of Corntown. His arrangements have also been heard on the Royal Variety Show, Last Night of the Proms, National Lottery Awards, Strictly Come Dancing, and Any Dream Will Do.
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But his talents don't stop there and nor are they confined to just Matthew – Laura is former professional actress and now runs her own theatre school in the Vale of Glamorgan. They truly are an all-singing all-dancing household. And it's that household – in the depths of the very first Covid lockdown – that dreamed up the fledgling story of Santa's Wish which this year features in Cardiff Castle's Christmas experience.
For all the glitz and the sparkle that comes with those polished, well-rehearsed talent show performances the reality is far less glamorous. Matthew said: "I sit at home in my studio upstairs and the music producer who's in the studio will say: 'There's an act working with the vocal coach at the moment and this is the song we'd like them to sing. Can you go and make the track for us?' So if it's Nessun Dorma for example they'll say: 'Can you provide us with Nessun Dorma please?'
"I'll have a listen to the singer – perhaps it's a young girl and I'll think perhaps I want it really beautiful and quite simple – and then I'll arrange it for orchestra and then recording orchestra, record it with stuff in my studio as well, and then in essence deliver the track. But what often happens in BGT is it's like 25 tracks. And they need them all in a week. So it's pretty intense."
For all the chopping and changing that comes with the nature of the job Simon Cowell is "great to work for", said Matthew, and the changes are often only to make things as perfect as they can be. Matthew added: "Simon's at the top of his game as well. So you're constantly thinking: 'Everything I deliver has got to be 100%.'" When he's working on the American version of the show it's exactly the same process except he just "delivers stuff back and fore between LA" and frequently jumps on Zoom calls.
His role as arranger and orchestrator is a step up from how Matthew started out as a piano player on not just BGT but the X Factor too back in the days of Leona Lewis and Shayne Ward. Matthew would rehearse with those acts – who would go on to become big names in the music world – and help get them ready for the show the following week. He would be in and out of the studios on London all the time then and be "more hands on" with judges Louis Walsh and Simon. But these days he's able to do much of that work at home in south Wales and watches the shows back on YouTube. He doesn't have that much "juicy gossip" from backstage.
"I definitely try and watch the shows just to see what the judge's reaction is and the audience's reaction," Matthew said. "I mostly watch the YouTube clips of my acts because I want to learn from them. The music producer, Graham Stack, is a great guy and he might say: 'You need to do a bit more of this with this artist next time' or something like that."
As a result of working on Simon Cowell's entertainment shows Matthew has worked as an arranger and conductor for X Factor winners Sam Bailey, Ben Haenow, Matt Terry, and Louisa Johnson as well as The Voice winner Andrea Begley and BGT winners Collabro. It's not perhaps what a young Matthew would have imagined his career panning out as even if he knew from a very early age that he would work in the industry.
"I started writing songs and writing music really young so I always thought I was going to be a composer," said Matthew, who was one of four children growing up. "I always wanted to do music but then I was very torn between doing a more academic career and a music career of some sorts. But then when I started performing in musicals I fell in love with musical theatre. I did In Company by Stephen Sondheim with the school and I just got crazy about Sondheim shows. I really loved Lloyd Webber shows and I kind of just thought: 'This is what I love so much – storytelling and music together in combination.' So I really fell for musical theatre and went to London and got a job on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and then I was pretty much in the West End circle."
Writing for musical theatre gives him great "joy" but he added: "Often the writing career is quite a hard lonely one as well. And I think family comes first for me. So the arranging and conducting side of things are great to do alongside family."
He and Laura seem to have the perfect arrangement: working with the stars while living in Wales with their young boys Alfie and Frankie, aged 12 and 10 respectively. Both boys are into their music too but are nonplussed by their dad rubbing shoulders with the likes of Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger. Matthew and Laura met as teenagers at Rhiwbina Amateur Theatrical Society while they were performing Godspell.
"I was actually on the cross at the end of the show and Laura was the one who was right by me gazing up at me in every show," Matthew laughed. Both of them headed to London to train after finishing school after which Laura initially worked as a professional actress before running her own theatre school for kids in London. They eventually "took the plunge" and moved back to south Wales to bring up their boys. Matthew has been able to carry on working on all the shows as well as with lots of different orchestras including The Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Welsh Pop Orchestra.
Nowadays they work side by side in the same office. Both seem to passionately enjoy bringing theatre and music back to Wales. It's how the idea for Santa's Wish came about. They'd booked a trip to Lapland UK for their two boys but it was cancelled because of lockdown in the first year of the Covid pandemic. Laura came up with the idea of performing a show on peoples' doorsteps instead.
"Our youngest was six or seven and I was gutted for them that they wouldn't be seeing Santa this year," said Laura. "I run a theatre school and that had all stopped and Matthew's a musician so I had this idea: 'Why don't we do a mini show with Santa and an elf and they'll go round on peoples' doorsteps?'" Unbeknown to the children they visited their parents had secretly hidden a wish jar in the house. At first the mini 30-minute "doorstep theatre" performances would start with an elf and the children would be encouraged to go and find the wish jar. When they returned Santa was standing on their doorstep.
"It was magical – especially the feedback that was coming back," Laura said. "Children were sleeping with their wish jars. But we didn't really think about doing it again." But the following year they were approached by a local business which asked if they'd perform the show alongside a festive breakfast and afternoon tea with Santa. Someone from the Cardiff Castle event team happened to see it and loved the story and asked if the couple would turn it into a musical and put it on at Cardiff Castle the following year.
"It's come to life," said Laura proudly. The result is a heartwarming family musical adventure enriched with original songs, immersive storytelling, and a sprinkling of circus magic. Matthew added: "We went to see the show last night which was lush because every time we've gone to see the show we've felt under pressure but last night we just enjoyed seeing it. We sat and watched it without making notes or thinking: 'Oh gosh – is that going to work?' We said to each other: 'This is actually really good.'"
He continued: "I tend to work in London mostly but we've never actually written together. I'll get commissioned by a producer or by a TV show and do my thing and Laura does her thing with the children at theatre school. When Laura came to me with the idea I said: 'Oh that's magic actually – that's really, really good."
Living and working together meant they could bounce ideas around at ease and "with no filter". Matthew said: "I'm the softie, the emotional one, and Laura's a bit better at sensing this is a family show for children. I'm like: 'I want to get to the centre of the drama.'" Laura agreed with her husband and said: "He's all about the drama and I'm more like: 'The children are going to want the visual experience.'" Both have enjoyed seeing their ideas come to life on a stage in their home city.
"It's been a cool career and I've been very lucky," said Matthew. "I've worked with some amazing people. And there's some cool stuff in the pipeline too." He can't say much about what he's working on next – he's signed numerous non-disclosure agreements, he said apologetically. But one thing he waxes lyrical about is his work as musical director on the BBC Two programme Luke Evans: Showtime! The Welsh actor hosted a Christmas special filled with music with special guests LeAnn Rimes, Olly Murs, Nicole Scherzinger, and Beverley Knight on Thursday night.
"There were some amazing guest artists on," said Matthew, almost starstruck. "Olly Murs was a real dude and so fun to work with. And Beverly Knight was on it and is just one of the greatest vocalists. Nicole Scherzinger and LeAnn Rimes were there and Luke is a movie star but what a wonderful singer he is too. He would have a career as a singer if he wasn't a movie star. He's just a very normal down-to-earth guy." Luke shared a clip of him performing an incredible cover of It's Not Unusual and it seems most people agree with Matthew.
"It was quite fun working with Nicole because although I've done lots of tracks for her we've never actually met each other properly," Matthew added. "I'd seen her from the other side of the studio but I'd never said hello. So on the Luke Evans show I said: 'Hello, I'm Matthew Brind. I did the track for And I'm Telling You by Sam Bailey [which featured Nicole].'"
Much of Matthew's work is behind the scenes unless he's conducting orchestras at some of the biggest venues in the world. He can remember walking out the first time he conducted on Broadway with the New York City Ballet Orchestra in the Lincoln Centre in the David H Koch Theater. "That was a really special one," he said. "I think, normally, because the job is so intense and you're so focused on what you've got to do the majority of the time you're just calling in each instrument thinking: 'Okay. Where am I going next? Singer. Okay – bit louder.'" He's making big theatrical gestures as he talks, re-enacting his role as a conductor. "The moment before it started, and after, I remember in the David Koch looking up at the roof thinking it was just amazing. I don't usually feel nervous, I just do the best that I can do, but I remember looking up thinking it was a real biggie and really exciting."
Matthew is excited about working on a massive gala concert to celebrate 75 years of the NHS next year and also appearing on Broadway for a month in June for Notre-Dame de Paris. But for now the couple are looking forward to some downtime over Christmas.
"I feel really lucky to have this job I love," said Matthew. "I feel really blessed to have that and great to work with such great people and great ensembles. When you've got amazing people working around you they really do so much of the work to make things brilliant."
Santa's Wish is being performed twice a day every day (apart from December 25 and 26) until December 31. Find out more and book tickets here.
