It’s been 10 years since actor-comedian and prog polymath Matt Berry signed with Acid Jazz, bringing his lauded acid-folk record Witchazel to an eager audience. So, with the release of box set Gather Up, it’s time to reflect on a decade of soulful progression, surreal experimentation and TV theme celebration – as Berry marvels that it all even happened at all.

Words: Jo Kendall

Matt Berry is unsentimental and determinedly forwardlooking. “When it comes to my own work I’m not a fan of going backwards. I’m only interested in what’s coming next,” he says. “I’m not that bothered about looking at old photos and demos. Once it’s done it’s done and I want to get on to the next thing…”

And yet, here we are, chatting on WhatsApp while Berry’s filming series four of supernatural comedy What We Do In The Shadows in Toronto (Prog: “Any spoilers?”

Berry: “No. Not if Disney have anything to do with it!”) about his decade signed to Acid Jazz Records, and his new 55-track box set Gather Up, which includes unreleased and rare tracks, sleevenotes, art prints and unseen photos.

Berry is happy to look back briefly at where it all started for him as a (possibly bearded) strapping young lad in the Bedfordshire village of Bromham, as it connects neatly with his future, though.

“I got into music when my parents put an old second-hand organ in my bedroom and let me get on with it,” he says. “From that, it went to me writing songs and being obsessed with organs.

“That ties back to Acid Jazz,” Berry explains, “because one of the things I always loved about Acid Jazz was that they were putting out Hammond organ compilations and back in the late 90s, unless you lived in a town where you could get access to rare vintage vinyl, you couldn’t get Hammond organ groove-type music – unless it was Deep Purple, which I love. The only way to hear this music was Acid Jazz finding all of these gems. I was a huge fan of the label as a student.”