Matthew Bannister is a Scottish-born New Zealand musician, journalist and academic.

The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, The Mutton Birds (1992), Salty (1994), Envy of Angels (1996) and Rain, Steam and Speed (1999). They had a number-one hit with "The Heater" (1994), while their two other top 10 singles were a cover of "Nature" by the Fourmyula (1992), and an original, "Anchor Me" (1994). From 1996 to 2000 the group were based in England; they returned to New Zealand and then disbanded in 2002.