By Grace Frost
Assumption College Kilmore music coordinator Matthew Jennings made his second appearance on Triple J’s Like A Version last month, performing with Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter Alex Lahey.
Every Friday, Triple J welcomes a musician or band to play an original song and a cover in its segment Like A Version for distribution on the radio station’s platforms, including its YouTube Channel with more than 1.6 million subscribers.
Being played on Triple J and featuring on Like A Version is considered to be one of the most effective ways to gain recognition in the Australian music industry.
As a member of Ms Lahey’s touring band, Mr Jennings was invited to jam on guitar to Cass Elliot’s ‘Make Your Own Kind Of Music’ and Ms Lahey’s track ‘They Wouldn’t Let Me In’ for Like A Version’s August 25 segment.
“The energy was awesome in the room. The crew at Triple J are amazing and always have been, so its just good to do again,” Mr Jennings said.
“Obviously you wear a little bit of the pressure because you’re not just being heard, you’re being seen and it’s going to be there forever, so you want to make sure that you’re doing your part.”
At their last visit to Triple J studios in Sydney three years ago, the band covered My Chemical Romance’s ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’, which saw huge success on Spotify, raking in 2.5 million streams.
“I feel like there was a little bit of pressure on Alex to deliver again,” Mr Jennings said.
“We had a pretty great response from the first Like A Version that we did. Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance got in touch with us and said he loved it and shared it on his story.
“That was like a pinch-yourself moment for us.”

This time around, the band were also in the midst of their Australian tour, jumping ‘straight off the plane to hit the studio’.
Mr Jennings has toured with Alex Lahey as part of her band for nearly six years, this year visiting the United States and currently gearing up to tour the United Kingdom and Europe in October.
Also a former student at Assumption College, Mr Jennings now coordinates the music department at the school.
“Everything that I can do professionally, I can bring into the classroom for the students and try and give them authentic learning experiences naturally to show them what it’s like on the other side of the curtain after school,” he said.
“It’s super busy obviously … to be honest, every bubble that I’m in at the moment I completely love so much.”
Matt’s New Scream
As well as performing with Ms Lahey and working at the college, Mr Jennings has been busy creating his own solo project.
Hitting the music scene as New Scream, his debut self-titled EP is set to release on September 14, with multiple tracks painting a ‘straight up and down indie-rock’ experience.

‘The Getaway’ is the second release of the forthcoming recording, the music video also starring ACK alumni Beau Farrell.
“The project is really just like a personal self-fulfilment sort of thing,” Mr Jennings said.
“I sort of did the whole classic run away, lock yourself in a cabin and write a record.
“I’ve played in bands my entire life and I feel like I’ve always relied on somebody else to bring one piece of the puzzle.
“From the project, I’ve already gained everything that I wanted to gain quite naturally. One of them was just to hold my music in my hand … I’ve been wanting to do that for so many years.”