Matcho Cassidy

A conceptual writer and performance poet, Matcho Cassidy explores themes that are heart-wrenching, thought-provoking and conceptual. At times diving into the divide of diaspora, and bringing to light POC related issues that aren’t mainstreamed, as well as expressing ideas in themes we can all relate to such as balancing between the stigma and spectrum of being an artist, introverted, creatively passionate and spiritual explorations.

A leader in the Adelaide krump community, Matcho has not only participated competitively interstate, but has taught krump in schools, community centres and juvenile prisons across South Australia. 

Matcho is heavily involved in a range of art forms; acting in the 2017 Australian film Cargo (starring Martin Freeman), performing and featuring as a spoken word artist at Captain Rehab, Tenx9Adelaide, Ozasia's Lucky Dumpling Market, The Hearth, Poetry & Prose, Al Salam Festival & Dithyrambia, Mixed Bag Poetry as well as Whitewalls Poetry (in Manila, Philippines) and Word! (in Liecester, UK). He has also been a cultural event manager with Finsart Co.

Matcho has been a part of ActNow Theatre’s Theatre of The Global Majority since its inception and has been one of its most consistent attendees. Together they have put together a very deeply personal, cultural collective production which premiered at Sanaa Storytelling in February of 2020. 

Every month, you can find Matcho running Soul Lounge, a monthly poetry event exposing talent of people of colour and giving them a platform to perform. He took over Soul Lounge in 2017, and has been running it ever since. Introduced themes, workshops, online challenges and videography, Matcho has played a key role in expanding the scope of Soul Lounge. Soul Lounge aims at escalating developing artists of diverse backgrounds, whether they are bi-lingual, minorities, uprooted migrant children that exchange their confusion and calamity into cadence and rhythm.

Externally, Matcho has been involved in hosting and creating workshops for the community, whether it is Poetry Therapy, WTM: Writes To Mic, or just endeavours of Soul Lounge to help writers write in their mother’s mother tongue and feel not just comfortable but confident in it.

“Matcho Cassidy is a hurricane force in the arts, if he’s not writing or performing poetry, he’s dancing, if he’s not dancing he’s dance fighting whilst thinking of writing.”
Chris Best — Host of Soul Lounge