Name: Matthew Medlock

Instrument: Bass

Who have been your greatest musical influences? The versatility of bassist, composer and MacArther Grant recipient Edgar Meyer; the creativity of cellist Roel Dieltiens; the energy of guitarist Jack White; the inspiration of the music of Gustav Mahler; and my two summers performing and working closely with the artists at Tanglewood.

Who are your favorite composers? The previously mentioned Gustav Mahler, Carl Nielsen, J.S. Bach, and Jim Stephenson.

What career path would you have taken had you not chosen music? I double majored in mathematics and music performance at Boston University until I hit the wall with my multivariate calculus class and realized I would much rather spend the necessary time to learn this abstract math doing something more practical.

What's currently playing on your iPod or CD player? Herbert Blomstedt conducting the San Francisco Symphony performing all the Mahler symphonies, LCD Soundsystem, the White Stripes, Gotye, Gang Starr, Arcade Fire, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Eels, the Punch Brothers, the Tune-Yards, TV on the Radio, Wilco, and Seiji Ozawa conducting the Berlin Philharmonic performing all the Prokofiev symphonies.

Your hobbies and interests: I enjoy working on and riding my 1979 Yamaha SR500 Café Racer motorcycle and supporting my wife as a member of the Fort Myers roller derby team, the Palm City Punish-hers.

Some little-known, yet interesting facts about you: I like getting my hands dirty.

Funniest concert moment: When I was a student at the Tanglewood Institute one cool night Robert Spano was conducting us in Aaron Copland’s Symphony #3 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. The intensity of the performance and the temperature of the lights on stage combined to create a visible steam rising from his bald head.