Every so often, you hear music that stops you in your tracks. It’s the kind that demands your full attention, painting vivid pictures in your mind and stirring emotions you didn’t expect. That was our experience when we first stumbled upon the SoundCloud profile of Mathias. From the haunting melancholy of Lucid Seafoam Green to the raw energy of Finger plucking madness, his music is a journey. He uses his guitar not just as an instrument, but as a voice to tell compelling stories without a single word. What is the story behind these powerful compositions? We at GuitarDoor were determined to find out. We had the privilege of chatting with Mathias to explore the mind behind the music.
What Kind of Guitar/Guitars do you Play?
I’ve played a bunch of guitars, can’t remember them all). But I play my Recent aquire, that is a Martin GPC -11E
What Got You Into Guitar? And how long have you been Playing
What got me into guitar has to be my overindulgence in weed, and there’s the fact that my cousin and dad always played growing up. It’s been about 6 years since o started playing.
While going through some of your music I discovered a very dark sounding tune called “Raspberry Hotel” Tell us the story behind making the tunes dark sounds a lyrics?
Raspberry hotel was written after going through a tough breakup. There’s quite a few versions of the song on my SoundCloud. You figure which one is my least favorite( trick question it’s all of them)
Do you often start with a title or a concept in mind, or does the music come first and the story reveal itself later?
No man, I dont start out with an idea, music is my way of expressing myself. It’s like talking, I just do it. There’s a reason I don’t do second takes of songs, either I make it a whole entirely new tune or I throw it in the garbage. Lately my girlfriend Matilda who is a great singer/songwriter btw, and o have been making some tunes together and that has entirely changed my process. We’re in the early stages of getting a studio spot which it looks like we’re going to be staying at for a while.
As a solo composer, how do you overcome creative blocks? Is there a particular technique or change of scenery that helps you find your way back to the music?
Yes as a matter of fact I do, there’s one way to get out of a roadblock and that’s actually doing regular stuff. Regular is relative, but whatever gives ya some joy( or sadness, whatever floats ya boat). Don’t make the mistake of reading that Hendrix sat around in his room playing and playing for his entire career. Man lived as well, practice will only get you so far. Believe me, being coped up in the ward was not a joy for my songs, which is why I’ve been getting into writing again the past year. That shit needs to breath man. Live as well as practice.
Favorite Norwegian Guitarist and Why?
Hard to pinpoint one artist. I’ll just answer a recent fella I’ve been listening to that is GREAT. Odd Børretzen, he is such a killer player. “Det sitter en død mann på kaffistova” is a beautiful composition where the title directly translates to ” There sits a dead man in the Coffeeshop”, take a listen and you’ll get to see for yourself why it’s a beauty. I’ll mention another favorite as you’re a fan of blues Chris, and that’s Reidar Larsen. One of the greats in the Norwegian blues scene
Tell Me About The Track My Own Garden of Roses
My own garden of roses was written on a Martin GPC -11E and the style is hard to pinpoint. Just my own I suppose, I religiously devour all the stuff I listen to and it’s been getting harder and harder to decipher where I’ve gotten my inspiration from.
“Mojo don’t feel so wrong” can you tell us more about the tunes dark sound
Mojo don’t feel so wrong is a bit weird of a nut. It’s me doing all kinds of weird stuff with my fingers while fretting in a MORE weird way. There’s not a lot to say, well I mean there is I just suppose it’s grueling explaining on the written word as it’s quite weird playing it.
Are you currently working on a larger project, like an EP or an album?
I’m working on a thousand things, there’s been probably 5 album/EPs that have been thrown in the disposal. But yeah once we get our band going it’s going to be more proper sounding and better crunch to my music as well as ours.
How has your relationship with gear evolved? Have you moved from being a “pedal minimalist” to a “sound sculptor,” or vice versa?
Gear is pretty much non existent. I use an amp and a guitar. Probably going to get into it once I get my own spot where I can go a bit more wild( neighbour botheres me when I breath too loud)
Finally, what is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring guitarist or composer who is just starting to put their own music out into the world?
I would give the advice, fuck everybodies opinions. That doesn’t mean ya shouldn’t respect it, but don’t even think about asking your friends about what they think when ya getting your confidence. It’ll probably crush ya quite a bit. A guy I know told me something that stuck, I dont know where he heard it but anyhow. «prophets aren’t made in their own hometown», or something like that. Probably y’all get the gist of the saying. In the end I’ve got a small listener sphere and I just dig throwing my stuff out there. Even if it’s cracked phone audio recordings.
Great where can people find more of your Music and Social Links.
For Photos and some videos I can be found on Facebook page as Mathias Sykes Karlsen Hammerbekk and also you can follow me on Instragram. Then I have my soundcloud profile for most of my audio work and I have recently launched my first track on Deezer so you can stay tuned on there for more of my Music in the future.
Since your native language is Norwegian do you find it hard to sing and remember the words of songs that are in English or do you have a way to remember the words easily?
Actually no, I mostly think in English and talk with a lot of English in my vocabulary. I think it’s just a natural consequence of me writing thousands of hours of English music and hundreds of thousands of hours of American and British music.
I seen you did a cover of a Nick Drake song “River Man” How does Nick Drake stand out from most musicians and songwriters in your opinion?
Yes of course Nick Drake. He was the first musician I was compared with, it was my cousin who is a folk singer and it was during this summer I was really made aware of him. Nick drake really gives me the chills and I instantly fell in love with his haunting yet comforting tunes, a couple of songs that really stuck out to me were “Thoughts of Mary Jane“, “Things behind the Sun” and “River Man“. Especially river man is one of those tunes that I just knew I had to give my all to try and make a rendition of my own( though it’s not a proper cover I still did the parts of the song that I managed after one month of religiously devouring his music with much love and solid respect. The great part about his stuff is that it snowballed like hell and made me cruise through into the landscape of British folk with John Martyn’s solid air and Bert Jansch’s “”Angie”.
Them folks really knew how to pack a punch, and it shows man it shows. I can’t hold a candle to none of them but I love their stuff and in my addled mind it is PURE unfiltered genius waiting to be tapped into with as much adoration and love as a somewhat cocky, and newly public musician can muster. Maybe one day I can stand with my own works that I can be properly proud of and think back on as an old man sitting in a rocking chair.
A big thanks to Mathias for this great interview and we wish him every success with the launch of his current single “My Own Garden of Roses” to help support the music please consider sharing this interview on social networks and following Mathias through the links above. Finally a special thanks to Matilda Aurora Cadieux as the photographer:) she takes pride in her pictures as you can see.
