Lars Eric Mattsson could undoubtedly be described as a veteran on the rock scene. Initially discovered by guitar guru Mike Varney he has been releasing albums, under various guises, since 1987. His most recent outing released under the Mattsson monicker is Dream Child which sees the guitarist paired for the first time with Hungarian born vocalist Adrienn Antal. In his review of the album Simon Bray described the album as "one of the classiest releases thus far in 2008" and with such a ringing endorsement it was only two obvious that Simon would catch up with both Lars and Adrienn to find out more...

  

             Lars Eric Mattsson                                                             Adrienn Antal                        

Hi guys, to kick things off would you care to introduce yourselves to our readers.  

Greetings Folks, my name is Adrienn, lead vocalist for latest line-up of Mattsson. And I am Lars – the other half :-) 

How did you the two of you actually meet up and get together and is it difficult being from different countries?  

Adrienn: Actually Lars found my website and listened to the song samples I had put on there. He then contacted me saying he wanted to hear more so I sent him a demo CD. After listening to it, he wrote back and said he would like to work with me. I felt really honoured about that so I gladly agreed.

In my opinion physical distance, language or other kinds of differences don't matter if a mutual sound can be created. In our case it was very easy. I simply loved the songs Lars sent me over and at the same time I felt he trusted me enough to let me work on them on my own. He has already worked with several musicians from different countries. However, there are artists that are incapable of working without having their music mates around which I can completely understand. We all are different. :-) 

 Lars: I have not had any problems with us being from different countries, on the contrary I believe Adrienn’s  Hungarian roots have brought a lot of good things to the project. 

What do you enjoy most about working together?  

Adrienn: It was a very-very special experience. Actually I have never sung in a band like this before, what I have been doing as a solo artist is a lot different than Mattsson's music. So being the lead vocalist on ''Dream Child'' has been a real challenge. Lars is not only a musical genius but an extremely reliable and patient person as well. He really knows how to let an artist find his/her own individual voice and blend into the music completely. I really appreciate that he gave me the freedom I needed, both in creating and time. I guess this CD is a really special one because all members' individuality is well reflected. Despite having not directly communicated with each other during the recordings, each member added something to the result to date, therefore building it on, until it has become a complete work. 

Lars: It has been a great pleasure to work with Adrienn, she is very talented and really nice to work with. She brings a lot of passion to her parts and helps the music come alive in a very unique way. 

What would you say that each of you has learnt from the other?  

Adrienn: It is absolutely possible to create a whole album without having ever played or rehearsed with the other members. It is the music and the common spirit that keeps the production together.  

Dream Child actually took fifteen months to complete – were you together in the studio for most of this period and if so, does the other one have any annoying habits you’d like to share with our readers?

Lars: No we have used studios in different locations and played ideas to each other mostly by sending files over the internet. 

Do you see yourselves working together for the foreseeable future or was this a one-off project? 

Lars: Yes – this is hopefully the beginning of a long lasting relationship. 

Lars, you are definitely a prolific artist. How do your ideas come to you and how do you plan which of your many guises will be next on your agenda?

Lars: Things just seem to happen :-) Every time I start writing and planning for an album I try to do something different from last time in order to keep things fresh and I also usually analyze what I have done previously in order to change what I don’t like and develop the things I like. I am always looking out for new ideas to incorporate in my music.  

You have also said that this album is, “complete as possible.” -  In what way?

Lars: I think I have left nothing in here that I am not 100% happy with both in terms of performance and recording. I have experimented a lot and used lots of different instruments in order to bring different flavours to the music. There really is a lot going on at certain places on this album. 

  

Again you're also quoted as saying that you've used better recording techniques time round. It certainly is a fine sounding record – how did you make it sound better than say, the last Book of Reflections album?

Lars: I was trying a new ways of both recording and mixing on the Book of Reflections album and later I found out that I could have done some things in a different way, I guess I have been learning from my mistakes… But a big difference between the two is the incorporation of strings and woodwinds on the new album, plus of course the vocals… 

How does working with Adrienn differ to other vocalists that you have worked with?

Lars: She is incredibly musical and seems to see the music in the same way as I do and she is always bringing something fresh and spiritual to the songs. I think we are on the same wavelength musically, and most of all she is a great person.  

Once again, you have worked with drummer Eddie Sledgehammer. I’m intrigued by the name....

Lars: The name is a joke that I came up with long ago! He has done soundtracks and other recordings (very different music) under a different name…

Having worked in the past with a number of great vocalists – how do you choose who fits on what project? Who would you like to work with in a perfect world?

Lars: Yes I have had the fortune to work with some very cool singers like Mark Boals, Irene Janssen, Bjorn Jansson, Andy Engberg, Lance King etc… I never really planned long in advance who I would try to work with. Sometimes guys like these are busy with other projects so you will have to postpone working with them and sometimes our schedules just seem to work out. I would like to do something with Ronnie James Dio! But except for him there are a lot of great singers out there, both know and unknown. 

I guess you could be considered somewhat of a veteran of the scene now, what would you like to achieve in the future?

Lars: Yes I have been doing music forever more or less and most of the time I have followed my heart and done what I like rather than trying to develop after a business plan :-) I am not sure this has been very smart, but here I am still hungry to make more music! I want to continue working in the same vein as on “Dream Child” but I will also release an acoustic album in the near future, but my main priority will be to follow up “Dream Child” – perhaps in the future I will also do some kind of audiovisual project. At some point in my life I would also want to compose for a symphony orchestra and electric guitar. 

Adrienn being from Hungary could you fill us in on more of your background please...

Adrienn: Shall I say "goulash"??? This is just a joke, but seriously, this is the first word occurring to people when talking about Hungary. Anyway, I was born in Budapest and have been living there since then. My parents would listen to rock music all the time and they "infected" me with that at a very young age LOL. I was told to have an extremely clean voice along with excellent musical hearing already in the kindergarten, so there were no doubts about taking the direction towards music in the future. Later I learnt to play the piano along with solfeggio for 6 years. In my spare time I often wrote smaller classical piano compositions. While in high school I started to write songs, mostly in the style of melodic rock. Around the age of 19 I founded my first band which was followed by several others but recurring musical and personal oppositions made me walk my own path. So I started to write, score and record songs on my own which I have been doing since then. It is a very exciting process to see ideas turn into a complete song.   

What can you tell us about the music scene in Hungary?

Adrienn: The capital, Budapest, is the center of the country in every meaning, therefore musically too. Budapest is full of clubs that provide opportunity for either local or touring bands to play at. I think Budapest is the only city and the most populous area in the whole country. Life in other towns is very different, should I say on a lower-key.

However when summer comes we have open-air festivals all over the country which are pretty crowded every year. The most famous of all is Sziget Festival (Island Festival if I want to translate it into English) that takes place on an island surrounded by 2 branches of Hungary's most famous river called Duna. It is the biggest fest in Middle Europe, lasts for a week and is visited by hundred thousands of people from all around the world. 

  

Lars says that you are, "the best singer I have ever worked with." How does that make you feel?

Adrienn: Astonished and honoured of course and I was more than happy to know he was satisfied with the job I did. He is also the greatest, most reliable person I had the luck to work with, a rare gem in the music business. Not to mention his talent highly above the average. 

Who are your greatest vocal influences?

Adrienn: Do you want me to write a book LOL? Seriously, too many excellent singers to recite... But I try to mention just a few of them. As a kid I was crazy for the band Europe and I consider Joey Tempest one of the greatest vocalists on Earth. I'm also amazed by Glenn Hughes, he is an ancient talent. As far as female singers, I would vote for Ann Wilson from Heart on the first place, that voice is just incredible. I listen to really various kinds of music, so let's change the direction a little bit. An other big fave of mine is Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode, such a unique tonality he has. 

You've been working with Jim Santos of Norway fame, what can you tell us about that?

Adrienn: I have always been a fan of Norway and have been listening to a lot of AOR stuff anyway. I came across Jim through the internet. He really liked the song samples on my website and offered his help if I needed guitars for my songs in the future. I was also thinking of involving a new guitarist in my solo project  and I decided to choose Jim. I'm honoured to work with him plus his sound suits my songs perfectly. He has an excellent sense to write catchy solos.

Finally to wrap things up Is there anything else that either you would like to add?

Lars: Hope you (will) like the new Mattsson CD! :-) Thanks for reading this interview, take care and keep rocking!

Mattsson's new album Dream Child is out now via Lion Music. You can check out the HRH review of the CD via this link and to find out more about Mattsson you can visit Lars Eric's official website at www.larsericmattsson.com or the Lion Music site @ www.lionmusic.com

Simon Bray