An Interview with Mattias IA Eklundh
IC: It sounds like you have quite a few projects in the pipeline! I suppose I’ll have to interrogate you about all of them, so please attach these electric suction cups to your nipples so that we can begin…
IA: Fire away, my good man.
IC: Okay, you have a new Freak Guitar album in the works! Can we expect to hear it sometime this year, or is it still in its infancy?
IA: I am working on so many things at the same time, piece by piece, so it’s hard to say actually. Freak Kitchen stuff usually is quicker to record than my instrumental music. Why, I haven’t got a clue. Slightly more meat-and-potatoes-vibe whereas the Freak Guitar-music is way more easy to loose yourself in. You have to focus real hard to keep the direction. To be experimental is a piece of cake. But if you do it in the wrong way, you will simply alienate people. To be experimental and break new ground and still make it danceable and groovy is another ball game. So… I don’t know which one comes first at this time.
IC: You’ve also mentioned some kind of acoustic album… is it an entirely different project than the new Freak Guitar album? If so, can you give us an idea about what makes it unorthodox?
IA: I feel the acoustic genre needs a kick in the butt, at least in my book. I love the sound of the acoustic guitar, preferably nylon string. There are so many things that can be done with an acoustic guitar. I get bored to death listening to the average middle-age-man who brags about how he recorded the album in a day and half, wearing a typical lonesome rider shirt (I am not really sure what I mean by that) playing his stiff finger-picking tunes with no groove whatsoever. I want to do an album for everyone, with a little of everything. We’ll see, it’s still an embryo yet (although a very interesting one), but I’ll get there. (I hope don’t sound like a complete schmuck, sure don’t want offend anyone).
IC: Your new double download tuition album called “Freak Guitar - Growing Your Own Moustache Vol. 1” is just around the corner. For the readers who aren’t familiar…
“22 Freak Guitar Camp songs! There is one version of every track with guitar, as IA plays it (CD 1), and one without for you to jam to; ‘grow your own moustache’ so to speak (CD 2). Along each song comes a PDF-file to print. The music is written down in both traditional notation and tablature. There will also be a CD-cover available for print and an A4 back and front and back page that you can use for the notation.”
… and it will be available for download from the Freak Kitchen online store. Sounds dreamy! Was it a lot of work putting all of this together, or did you already have all the tabs done from previous FG Camps?
IA: Yeah, it’s pretty much a collection of tracks I’ve put together over the years for Freak Guitar Campers. I’ve been asked plenty of times to make the backing tracks available to everyone else and not only the bunch of beloved die-hard maniacs that dare set their foot in the Swedish wilderness every year. So we made this simple cover and I had my friend Linus Ambrahamson compress my notation and go through it and turn into pdf-files. Hope to have it out there soon from the online store.
IC: You have a new album coming out with bass legend Jonas Hellborg. How did the collaboration come about?
IA: I met Jonas a couple of years back when we played the same place in Stockholm one evening. Walked up to him and told him I was a long-time fan and adored his playing. He answered by telling me what the female sex organ was called in Ethiopian. I harassed him again during hotel breakfast and two months later he called from New York and asked if I wanted to go to India together. I did. Now, we’ve played many places on Planet Earth and I regard him very much like an older brother. I am learning a lot from the man and it is an utmost pleasure to work with him. The Art Metal album we are working on is turning into something neither of us have done before.
IC: I’ve seen a video of the two of you playing “Escape” from the Icon album, as well as a couple other older tracks. Might we hear some new versions of Lane/Hellborg-era songs on the upcoming Art Metal CD?
IA: No, it’ll be only new material. We do, and I love it, however play numerous of the songs Jonas did together with Shawn live. Most of the Good People in Times of Evil album, a couple of songs from Icon and also stuff he did with Buckethead way back.
(IA, Jonas, and Niklas play "Aga of the Ladies")
IC: Are you a fan of Shawn’s solo albums, such as Powers of Ten?
IA: Shawn was unbelievable. One of a kind. There will be no one like him. How can one not adore his playing?
IC: You’ve just announced that next year you’ll be doing a concert with a hand-picked orchestra at the Royal Swedish Castle in Stockholm. Will you be playing some of your solo material adapted for the orchestra?
IA: Might orchestrate some of the Freak Guitar-tunes yes, but mostly it’ll be new music, which I find more fun. I haven’t got a clue how we will manage to pull all these things in the works off, but… again… little by little, piece by piece. I have a fine side-kick by the name by Thomas Rydell helping me out with this project on a score orchestrating level (it takes eons of time to write) and my two long-time friends Mathias Walin and Håkan Granat handling things at the Royal castle.
IC: This is an instrumental guitar website, so which albums or artists are some of your favorites?
IA: Anything with John McLaughlin, anything with Django, Howard Shore and tons of other music.
IC: From what I’ve seen you’re quite the Django Reinhardt fan. How were you first exposed to Gypsy Jazz music?
IA: I blame my brother in law Kevin Fickling for it. He introduced me to Django, as well as to Miles Davis, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and lots of other wonderful music.
(Paparazzi ruin Mattias' few moments of rest and relaxation)
IC: I recently read that Andreas Öberg made a guest appearance at a previous Freak Guitar Camp. I’m a big fan of his “Young Jazz Guitarist” album. How did you first discover his music, and what was it like having him at the camp?
IA: He stunning! Absolutely stunning and I am happy to say he will be at the camp this year as well. Great guy and a fabulous musician! He floored us all at the camp. For those of you who haven’t heard of him, you need to! Pronto!
IC: Have you ever tried to learn the rest-stroke picking technique used by so many of those guitarists? Andreas' instructional book, “Gypsy Fire” covers some of that I think.
IA: No, I suck when it comes to gypsy picking style but am very glad I have no intention of getting into it since so many players do it way better. I just love the music and if jamming old Django stuff I fake my way around, like always.
IC: Not long ago you mentioned a new tuition DVD is being planned. What do you hope to cover with it?
IA: I want to show everything I know! It’s the only way for me to move on, to invent new things. It’s been talk about doing a new tuition DVD for years and years, but I think it finally happen in the not so far away future.
IC: You have a very interesting harmonic-driven style. How did that approach of smacking harmonics come about, and when did you really start to integrate it into your style and sound? … Oh, and where exactly are you hiding the whammy pedal?
IA: Ah… that whammy pedal thing… It keeps haunting me each and every day… and I still smile when receiving yet another “What kind of whammy pedal do you use?”-mail. I started to get into natural harmonics in my mid-teens when I got really frantic on the playing front. As most of the stuff I come up with, it happened by mistake. I only had to refine and practice not to make as noisy as it can be if you don’t know exactly where you need to smack the string with the joint of the left hand’s middle finger. It has become a huge part of my sound, the harmonics.
IC: What interview could be complete without a boring discussion about gear? I know you endorse Laney tube amplifiers, but you’ve also been known to use chopsticks, string-less guitars, a vibrator, toy cell phones, your teeth and tongue, and even a printer! Have you secured an endorsement from Epson yet?
IA: Still waiting for them to make me an offer… Right now I am looking for someone who can provide me with organic, all natural wooden dildos with my name on it, since I don’t want support the ugly porn industry too much with all those vibrators I use. Have yet to find someone dedicated enough to carve it out for me.
(IA is strapped on and ready to rock)
IC: Do you plan to use any other crazy devices on the next Freak Guitar record?
IA: Absolutely, but it always has to have a musical point. Can’t do stuff like the chopsticks, e t c, just for the sake of it.
IC: You have your own “Apple Horn” signature model by Caparison Guitars. I think there may be something new on that front… the Apple Horn Sand Stone II?
IA: The Apple Horn Sand Stone II is available. Some minor modifications have been done from the first one. It’s a tiptop instrument, to say the least.
IC: Your guitars have 27-frets! Do you often use the 25-27th? That must confuse some people who are trying to tab your stuff.
IA: Sure, I use it all the time. Combining it with harmonics can confuse transcribers, for sure, which I do enjoy.
IC: Do you still use AMT Electronics’ “Fatal Tube” pedals?
IA: You bet. And there 4000 copies of a Freak Guitar – Mattias IA Eklundh distortion/overdrive pedal being made as we speak. The signature pedal kicks so much ass and I am truly happy and honored to have one (and get paid for it).
IC: What do you think of the Laney VC15? Can you get a metal tone out of it without using any pedals?
IA: I am using the AMT platinum tube along with the VC15 and it sounds sweet to the bone. Real nice. It’s really a metal amp, it just sounds awesome.
IC: Now a non-guitar question! What’s your favorite Cronenberg film? I’m partial to Brundlefly myself.
IA: Ah… I am going to Paris to check out The Fly next summer, the opera Shore and Cronenberg are making out of it. I have to say my favorite one is Videodrome. All the other ones rule as well, needless to say.
IC: I recently heard you on Martin Motnik’s “Bass Invader” album. Has there been any talk of another collaboration between the two of you?
IA: Not really, no. I was asked to do a couple of tracks together with Martin and Gregg Bisonette and it turned out well, I think.
IC: Who else would you really like to work with?
IA: I am lucky to have Chris, Bjorn and Jonas to work with and quite happy with that. Should there be interesting and stimulating persons knocking on the door… who knows? I am liberal minded guy and anything is possible.
(Freak Kitchen ft. Bumblefoot - Speak When Spoken To)
IC: The next Freak Guitar Camp is coming up in not too long. How many campers do you typically get each week, and how much planning is involved to pull these events together?
IA: There are 90 players in total, 30 every week. There are tons and tons of planning and work behind the camp. I start working on backing-tracks and notation around the new year, so…
IC: Will there be any special guests you can talk about for this year?
IA: Mats Oberg and Morgan Agren will make a guest appearance along with Andreas. There will be some other fine musicians as well.
IC: Any future projects planned with Johan Randén? I know you produced his first album and supervised his second.
IA: Johan is very creative of his own nowadays and don’t really need my help, which was part of the initial plan. He is such a fabulous player, he really is, and I am excited to hear what he is coming up with for future releases.
IC: Alright IA, I think that is all I will torture you with for now. Thanks again for doing the interview! Best of luck with your future freaky endeavors.
IA: Thank you, Dave!
Essential Mattias IA Eklundh links:
www.freakguitar.com
www.freakkitchen.com
www.myspace.com/freakguitar
... and don't forget to buy Freak Guitar: The Road Less Travelled!
-- Dave B.