Mattias Eklundh
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Mattias "IA" Eklundh (born 1969 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a guitarist and vocalist, known for his work with the bands Freak Kitchen, Frozen Eyes, Fate and the Jonas Hellborg Trio; he has also released several noted solo albums.[1] He was also prominently featured playing his trademark-style solos on 3 Soilwork albums.
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[edit] Biography
Mattias began drumming at the age of six; when he was thirteen, he began playing guitar. He has named Frank Zappa and Kiss as his two major musical influences, but his record collection also included gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, and Slayer among many others.[2]
In the mid-80's, Mattias formed the band Frozen Eyes. Frozen Eyes split up soon after their self-titled album was released in 1988 and Mattias subsequently joined Danish metal band Fate as lead guitarist. Mattias appears on their 1990 album Scratch 'n Sniff. He later returned to Sweden, forming his own band Freak Kitchen in 1992 with former Frozen Eyes drummer Joakim Sjöberg and bassplayer Christian Grönlund.[3] The band played together for 8 years, until Sjöberg and Grönlund left in 2000, only to be replaced by Christer Örtefors and Björn Fryklund.
Outside of Freak Kitchen, Eklundh has recorded several solo albums, and made appearances as a guest musician for Swedish heavy metal bands like Evergrey and Soilwork. His two Freak Guitar solo albums are released on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, and include drawings and other artwork by friend Anders Nyberg. In 2005, he grouped with Swedish bass guitarist and composer Jonas Hellborg in the Jonas Hellborg Trio along with drummer Niclas Campagnol and played their first gig in Mumbai, India and followed with a tour of India. His album "Freak Guitar - The Road Less Traveled" features a rock/metal-like remix of not title theme, but the background theme from the 1985 film Fletch.
He also annually hosts and teaches at the Freak Guitar Camp. Mattias Eklundh endorses Caparison guitars, who make his signature Apple Horn guitar, and Yamaha Guitars for the company's unique Silent Guitar electroacoustic. He is also a long time user of Laney amplifiers, currently using a VH100R.
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] Discography
Solo:
- Mr. Libido - Sensually Primitive (1995)
- Freak Guitar (1999)
- Freak Guitar: The Road Less Traveled (2005)
With Freak Kitchen:
- Appetizer (1994)
- Raw (1994)
- Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal 1970-1996 (1996)
- Spanking Hour (1996)
- Junk Tooth (EP) (1997)
- Freak Kitchen (1998)
- Dead Soul Men (2000)
- Move (2002)
- Lost in Bordeaux - promotional single (2002)
- Swedish Hard Rock & Heavy Metal - bonus CD (2002)
- Nobody's Laughing DVD single (2002)
- Organic (2005)
Other:
- Frozen Eyes - The Metal Collection III (1987)
- Frozen Eyes - Frozen Eyes (1988)
- Chroming Rose - Garden of Eden (1991)
- Road Ratt - Road Ratt (1992)
- Is this tough or what? - Compilation (1992)
- Pagan - The Weight (1993)
- Triple & Touch - T & T (1993)
- Tornado Soup - Tornado Soup (1994)
- Hans Lindell - En del av bilden (1996)
- Sven Olander - Air Blue (1997)
- Locomotive Breath (1997)
- Hans Sahlin - Hans Sahlin (1997) (Unreleased)
- Evergrey - The Dark Discovery (1998)
- Torben Schmidt (1998) (Unreleased)
- Soilwork - The Chainheart Machine (1998) song - Machine Gun Majesty
- Janne Lucas (1998) (Unreleased)
- Guitar Oddysey - A tribute to Yngwie Malmsteen (1999)
- Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait (2001) song - Needlefeast
- Warmth in the Wilderness - A tribute to Jason Becker (2001)
- Bumblefoot - 9.11 (2001)
- Plug In (2001) (Unreleased)
- Mister Kite - All In Time (2001)
- Locomotive Breath - Heavy Machinery (2002)
- Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos (2002) song - No More Angels
- Johan Randen - Lead Guitar (2002)
- Audiovision - The Calling (2005)
- United - DVD (2005)
- Petrus - Come What Might (2005)
- Martin Motnik with Gregg Bissonette - Bass Invader (2005) song - YYZ
- Jonas Hellborg - Art Metal (2007)
Instruction Videos:
- Freak Guitar Vol 1 (1995) (VHS)
- Hyper Freak Exercise (1999) (Audio CD)
- Hyper Freak Exercise DVD (2001) (DVD)
- Super Virtuosity DVD (2004) (DVD)
