Paul Matters

Paul Matters was a bassist with the Australian rock band AC/DC in 1975, joining the group after the recording of their debut album High Voltage. He was sacked by AC/DC singer Bon Scott several weeks after joining the group and replaced by Mark Evans.[1]

Paul Matters
OriginAustralia
GenresRock
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsBass guitar
Years active1968–1975
Associated actsAC/DC, Armaggedon

Career

Matters was recruited as AC/DC bass player from Newcastle band Armaggedon after parting ways with the group in 1974 over what drummer Les Gully described to AC/DC biographer Jesse Fink as "musical differences". He was then fired from AC/DC, according to Gully, "because he didn't fit the values of the Young [Brothers] oligarchy. Too pretty, for a start. He didn't really fit, had strong opinions and sensitivity, and played just what he liked."[2]

A recluse, Matters has only ever given one press interview since his sacking from AC/DC in 1975, to Fink for the book Bon: The Last Highway, in which he claims he was "a bit lazy" and "a bit cranky" but did not have enough money to eat: "I didn’t have any food in my stomach. They [management] didn't give us any money to buy food or anything."

In Bon: The Last Highway Fink calls Matters "an uncommonly handsome sight in AC/DC, a kind of hard-rock Chris Hemsworth who could play". Matters performed live with AC/DC on a national tour in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney promoting their debut album but did not record in the studio, where bass duties were performed by George Young.

Matters quit music after his departure from AC/DC in 1975 and sold his bass guitar. He lives on a disability pension.

References

  1. Fink, Jesse, Bon: The Last Highway: The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC's Back In Black, pgs 104–105.
  2. Fink, Jesse, "Bon Scott and the Mystery of Paul Matters", bonthelasthighway.com, 1 September 2017

Further reading

  • Fink, Jesse, Bon: The Last Highway: The Untold Story of Bon Scott and AC/DC's Back In Black, Penguin Random House Australia, 2017
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