Matheus Cunha was born in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, on 27 May 1999, a day after United sealed The Treble and 10 years after The Stone Roses’ debut album was released.
The Roses created anthemic, groundbreaking music that shaped a scene and soundtracked the lives of generations, but the band is about more than that. Their attitude, confidence and fearlessness made them working-class heroes to millions.
Cunha came from humble beginnings and has worked his life to play for a club like United, where his ability, character and flamboyance is embraced by supporters.
“Music, for me, is everything. It changes my energy when I need it. It gives me peace. It gives me everything. I use it to push me, to help me maintain my focus.”
“Diogo is an unbelievable DJ,”he tells us, at the official photoshoot for the latest Stone Roses range. “He plays a little part of the world for everyone.
“What kind of things do I like? Wow, I like a lot of Brazilian music, like pagode and ferro. I think they are the two rhythms that I like best. But when I moved to England I started to listen to some English music too.
“Music, for me, is everything. It changes my energy when I need it. It gives me peace. It gives me everything. I use it to push me, to help me maintain my focus.
“Music is really part of my life. I also play pandeiro, which is a percussion instrument. It’s amazing. It’s nice to touch and then to listen to.
“Music is part of my life. I play when me and my friends are together.”
United magazine’s Joe Ganley was at the official photoshoot to write the behind-the-scenes story that’s only available to read fully within issue one. Read an exclusive extract, here, focusing on Cunha's infectious vibe…
“When Matheus bounces into the room, dancing through the gathered throng on his toes, like a middleweight boxer about to defend his title, something feels in tune. He’s got the kind of confidence and swagger you hear in the Roses’ music.
“He’s humble and down-to-earth when we speak, but you can tell he believes in himself. He’s the embodiment of a kind of infectious conviction that screams ‘United’.
“Music is really part of my life. I also play pandeiro, which is a percussion instrument. It’s amazing. It’s nice to touch and then to listen to.”
“It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at,”as Ian Brown once said, paraphrasing hip-hoppers supreme Eric B and Rakim. And when you see the way Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko – United’s newest signings – interact with the other members of the squad here, you sense another quality the Roses nailed: a feeling of brotherhood and equality. Of a self-contained culture where everyone seemed to be a leader in their own way; where everyone was granted the space to express themselves. Has any other band had such an equal spread of talent and importance?
“It brought to mind something football director Jason Wilcox spoke about recently. About how United’s new regime is focused on signing players that bring ‘something different’ to the changing room. Players who “understand what it means to be part of a successful team”. “It’s not about putting the Harlem Globetrotters together,” he told the official club podcast. The implication being that teams need the right blend of attitudes and talent; the right mix of characters.
“The Stone Roses had that equilibrium in a musical sense, and the sounds and the ideas they put out into the world spread that feeling of unity and inter-personal solidarity. They did it their own way, under their own steam, and stuck to what they believed in, while expressing a unique vision. And that’s what many fans envision from a United team. It’s what we have seen at some of the most blissful points in United history. Maybe that’s why the Roses chime with us so much.”
FURTHER READING
Explore our club's connection to music in issue one of United magazine - order one online and have it delivered to your door.