Darrin: Mattias, thank you from taking some time out to do an interview with me.  I see you are very busy with clinics right now in Sweden.  How do you run your clinics?  Are they like a mini gig, or more of a Q&A session?

Mattias: They’re a gigantic mess, really. I never plan ahead what I am going to do, but merely let my oral opening say what I feel has to be said and let the fingers play what have to be played, ergh. I bring tons of backing tracks and try to put things into context. Living on a somewhat harsh planet, I try to bring a positive vibe to the kids, a fraction of hope for the future. Gee… I sound really pretentious, don’t I? Oh, never mind…

Darrin: I want to get right into tone with you first.  You play Caparison guitars, Laney Amps, and virtually no effects.  Yet, you have the most amazing sounds come out of those speakers.  What led you to the technique you use to pull those kinds of sounds from the guitar naturally? When did you find Caparison guitars?

Mattias: Thank you very much for your kind words, Darrin. Well, I truly believe the sound is in the fingers and not in the gear, even it sounds like a old cliché. I am a loyal, slightly boring guy, and when it comes to me bumping into useful equipment that I dig, I stick with it. I’ve been playing Caparison Guitars and Laney amps since 1996. I love it and need nothing else. The fine people of Caparison were waiting for me in a hotel lobby when I was in Japan for the first time, eons of time ago.

Darrin: Do you add delay, reverb or any other broad effects during the mixing of your albums? There is no lack of great tone in your music.

Mattias: I sure do, I sure do, to give the music a chance to breathe a bit. (I’m not a purist in any way). But only if the song really demand it and feels claustrophobic. A fraction of delay, a tiny, tiny plate perhaps, but that’s it. 

Darrin: What brought you to use Laney amps?  There are people like Paul Gilbert that swear by them, and use nothing else.  Do you ever use any different heads in the studio or live?

Mattias: Nope, it’s all Laney; VH100R, GH100L, VC50 and TT100H + straight cabs to get more low-end. I love those amps. They’re super-easy to work with and are always right in your face. Pretty loud too, which is good if you’re a Swedish pagan like myself…  

Darrin: You had some very eclectic and opposite influences when you began to play.  Zappa and KISS. Is this what crafted you into a person that has the ability to play within so many genres?   

Mattias: I’d say I suck within most genres actually. I fake my way through things. For example I love gypsy jazz, Django Reinhardt style, but can’t play a single note in the way real gypsy players do. But I can always work around it to get the sound I hear in my head. I am the least all-round kind of player I know, but I’m darn happy doing what I am doing, building my own musical universe and making a fine living out of it.

Darrin: Let’s talk a bit about “growing your moustache”…The Road Less Traveled. This was your Favored Nations release. You took a long time to write the album, and I think what stands out, is that is it made of good, original, songs.  It is fascinating and fun to listen to. What was the thought and writing process when it came time to record this album?

Mattias: Time is really the keyword when it comes to breaking new, personal ground. At least in my book. You got to give yourself the time to do it and that’s the splendid thing about Favored Nations. There’s never any talk about hype, deadlines, e t c. Steve and the guys are only interested in releasing good music and when you’re done, you play your stuff and hope they like it. With my band Freak Kitchen, it’s kind of the opposite; the faster I work, the better it gets. But that’s more the band-thing going on and I don’t want to get too experimental.

Darrin: Are there other solo albums lurking there inside of you, waiting to be written?

Mattias: Lots of them! I am always writing new music. I am currently working on another Freak Guitar album, an unorthodox acoustic album, a new Freak Kitchen disc, an album called Art Metal together with Jonas Hellborg, Anders and Jens Johansson and the amazing Selvaganesh, a tuition DVD and a live DVD with Freak Kitchen, among other things.

Darrin: I just had a thought.  There is G3, always famous with Vai, Satch and Johnson.  How about a G3 for guitar geeks?  Let’s say, Mattias Eklundh, Bumblefoot, and Buckethead.  I can see a new yearly festival!! Call it Freak3!!!

Mattias: Or “Gee… Three”, ergh, ergh. That would be great! Bumblefoot is a very good friend of mine and a stunning player + tiptop human being, to say the least. I am all up for it!

Darrin: Tell me a bit about the Festival season over in Europe.  How many do you usually play in a year?  Festivals, aside from Ozzfest, do not happen that often over here.

Mattias: Well, it depends. This year we are going to take it quite easy and work on the various projects above. We’ve been traveling like crazy for almost two years and we need to recharge the batteries and come up with groovy material. A hectic summer there might be a whole bunch of festivals but in 2007 we are only going to do a handful

Darrin: How did you come to have your Road Less Traveled album released on Favored Nations? Who contacted who in the beginning?

Mattias: I was actually contacted by Steve Vai himself and the most stupid thing is I didn’t really believe it was him. (I am such a moron). When I first heard of Favored Nations I instantly thought this would be far beyond the perfect label for my home-grown music, but as the humble Swede I am, argh, I didn’t do anything to make it happen. I believe that if you grow your own moustache and stay true to yourself, great things will happen to you, sooner or later, Favored Nations being one of them, needless to say.

Darrin: You have a mad schedule. How does that affect your ability to write and arrange new music?

Mattias: Right now it’s actually only semi-mad, but it has been lots and lots of traveling around both in 2005 and 2006. I don’t do super-much composing on the road, it’s just too fragmented. On the other hand when I come home, my head is about to burst of creativity and that’s what I do: sit in my beloved basement with a mad-scientist hair-do, equipped with a tasty cup of caffeine and write outrageous compositions.

Darrin:  Can you pick a city or country where you love to play the most? Why?

Mattias: Without sounding like an arrogant schmuck I have to say I’ve been around Earth a number of times by now, playing my freaky music, and it is kind of the same everywhere you go, in a good sense. Sure, people do talk and look different but still, the music creates the same reaction pretty much. I’d say India is one of my all-time favorite countries and Iceland is stunning too. On the other hand, I’d love to play Borneo or Madagascar but I am not sure the wildlife would love my natural harmonics. I have a hard time preserving the Swedish moose as it is, where I live in the middle of nowhere.

Darrin: What do you like to do in non work/down time. Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?

Mattias: I read a lot, watch movies, work on my house, spend cozy weekends with friends.

Darrin: Are you a hockey fan? We have the best Swedish players on my home team of the Vancouver Canucks.  We have Mattias Ohlund, Markus Naslund, Henrik and Daniel Sedin….just to name a few.  Ever heard of these guys?