Mattias Hellberg "Wait For The Morning": New single out now with new album "Gurimolla!" to follow in September

Mattias Hellberg has just released "Wait For The Morning" as a taster for his forthcoming album "Gurimolla!" which will be out on Moozy Music on September 11th. If you have already heard the last single "Coffee and Croissant" or seen Mattias live recently with his excellent band, The Fur Heads, featuring Swedish bass legend Nikke Ström from Nationalteatern, then you will know that the new album is promising to be his best yet. Here is the great video to the new single:

You can buy the single now, and check out his back catalogue at iTunes. Don't forget our special edition Retrosonic Podcast where we talk to Mattias Hellberg about his eclectic, genre-defying career as he finishes off the recording for his new album "Gurimolla!". It's a varied and exciting journey - from his early days in Karlstad putting on gigs in the college canteen for bands such as Union Carbide Productions to forming his own bands including the influential Nymphet Noodlers along with future Soundtrack of Our Lives members Martin Hederos and Mattias Bärjed and Free Fall bassist Jan Martens.

Along the way we discover admirers like Wayne Kramer from the MC5, Van Morrison, Ryan Adams and Iggy Pop and his numerous collaborations and side projects. These include The Solution with Scott Morgan from Sonic's Rendezvous band, Kanzeon, The White Moose, Jaqee, Nationalteaterns RockOrkester, The Hellacopters, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and of course Hederos & Hellberg. If that wasn't enough there are also his two excellent solo albums...

The Episode is generously soundtracked with lots of great music from a selection of his many phases. We're also honoured to have some superb exclusive and unreleased songs from his forthcoming album. You can listen to/download for free from our Retrosonic Soundcloud site.

Mattias Hellberg - New Single "Coffee & Croissant" out now!

 

The new single from Mattias Hellberg, "Coffee & Croissant" is a catchy Rock 'n' Roll celebration of love, lust & hope in it's purest form. An irresistible piece of high energy joy that will put a smile on your face and a wiggle in your knees. It's out now on Mattias Hellberg's very own Moozy Music label, and can be ordered via iTunes. "Coffee & Croissant" is the first single to be taken from the up-coming album "Gurimolla!", due to be released later this year, and features his great and groovy new band The Fur Heads. Here is the excellent new video to get you in the mood...

Karlstad's multi-talented Mattias Hellberg burst onto the Swedish music scene as the frontman for The Nymphet Noodlers, a high-energy rock outfit that featured future Soundtrack of Our Lives members Mattias Bärjed and Martin Hederos and Free Fall bassist Jan Martens. After their break-up in 1996 Hellberg did stints as a live member and recording musician for Swedish garage rock champions the Hellacopters, and eventually began working with a plethora of other acts such as TSOOL, The Solution and Thunder Express, either as a part-time member or session musician.


Mattias Hellberg, Gothenburg 2012 - Photo Steve Worrall

He also made plenty of time for the softer side of his muse, working on folk and decidedly non-garage projects such as the dub-informed Kanzeon and Hederos & Hellberg. This long running and critically acclaimed duo, with Martin Hederos from The Soundtrack of Our Lives, so impressed Ryan Adams that he asked them along as support act for a 2001 European tour. When Swedish Prog Rock stalwarts Nationalteatern reunited in 2005, Hellberg was asked to join them as the singer for a summer tour, and he stayed on as a permanent member. The band's legendary bassist, Nikke Ström, has now joined him in The Fur Heads. Hellberg continued to follow his folkier side with Mattias Hellberg & the White Moose, a psychedelic folk outfit who released their rough-hewn "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Woods" album in 2008 and toured extensively in 2009. 2012's solo album "High in the Lowlands" was a collection of Neil Young-flavored backwoods indie-folk. This Summer he will also tour as guitarist in Håkan Hellström's band.

Here's a video of "Wait For The Morning" one of the excellent new songs that will appear on the new album, filmed at the Sodra Teatern in Stockholm in August 2012.

The Retrosonic Podcast special with Mattias Hellberg is available to listen to or download for free at the Soundcloud site. Steve from Retro Man Blog talks to the Swedish singer-songwriter about his eclectic, genre-defying career as he finishes off the recording for his new solo album. It's a varied and exciting journey - from his early days in Karlstad putting on gigs in the college canteen for bands such as Union Carbide Productions to forming his own bands including the influential Nymphet Noodlers. Along the way we discover admirers like Wayne Kramer from the MC5, Van Morrison, Ryan Adams and Iggy Pop and his numerous collaborations and side projects. These include The Solution with Scott Morgan from Sonic's Rendezvous Band, Kanzeon, The White Moose, Jaqee, Nationalteaterns RockOrkester, The Hellacopters, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and of course Hederos & Hellberg. If that wasn't enough there are also his two excellent solo albums...The Episode is generously soundtracked with lots of great music from a selection of his many phases. We're also honoured to have some superb exclusive and unreleased songs from his forthcoming album, including a rough mix of new single "Coffee & Croissant".

With many thanks to Mattias Hellberg.

Retrosonic Podcast with Mattias Bärjed of The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Free Fall

I met up with guitarist Mattias Bärjed as he prepared to rehearse for the second night of  The Soundtrack of Our Lives week-long residency at Stockholm's Södra Teatern. The band were to bow out on a high after sixteen years together, playing each of their six albums - along with selected tracks from their B-sides and rarities compilation "A Present From The Past" - on consecutive nights, building up to their last ever performance on Saturday December 22nd.

However, 2013 will see Mattias hit the ground running, as he has already secured a record deal with his new band, Free Fall. The band have just released a brand new single "Power & Volume" on Nuclear Blast Records, with a full length album to follow soon. Mattias talks about how he got Free Fall together with Jan Martens, his bass playing colleague from the Nymphet Noodlers, ex-International Noise Conspiracy drummer Ludwig Dahlberg and singer Kim Fransson. 


Mattias at Slussens by Steve Worrall

Like Ian Person, his fellow guitarist in TSOOL, Mattias has also branched out into writing scores and soundtrack music for movies and TV series such as "Familjen Babajou". In our interview Mattias talks about his work with the acclaimed Director Mikael Marcimain on "Upp Till Kamp" and most recently the movie "Call Girl". Both of these soundtracks have been released on the excellent Razzia Records and are thoroughly recommended. This very special episode of Retrosonic Podcast is soundtracked itself by lots of great music from throughout Mattias' career so I hope you enjoy listening to it. Many thanks to Mattias Bärjed for his time.

You can also listen to special Podcasts with Mattias's ex-Nymphet Noodlers band-mate Mattias Hellberg and his TSOOL colleague Ian Person too. Put together this trilogy of episodes tell a fascinating tale of the genesis of The Soundtrack of Our Lives, its' various off-shoots, the side projects and the important contributors along the way and of course, the future following the band's split...

Retrosonic Podcast: Mattias Hellberg Special Edition

Mattias Hellberg & Nikke Ström - Photo Steve Worrall

Our final Episode in the Retrosonic Podcast series on Sweden is a special feature on the Gothenburg based singer, songwriter and guitarist, Mattias Hellberg. Mattias has been a pivotal figure in the Swedish music since the late 1980's, and as he finishes off recording his next album with new band The Fur Heads, he kindly took the time to discuss his eclectic and exciting career with us. Mattias talks about his first forays into the music scene back in his hometown of Karlstad, putting on gigs in the college canteen for bands such as Union Carbide Productions. Then he formed his own band Ugly Jake, which later transformed into The Nymphet Noodlers with Martin Hederos, Mattias Bärjed and Jan Martens. Following the Nymphets' split he went on to work with ex-band mate Martin as the duo Hederos & Hellberg, which was an unexpected success and ended at a sold-out show at the Gothenburg Concert House. He has also toured and recorded as a guitarist with Stefan Sundström, and various bands including The Solution, The Hellacopters and The Soundtrack of Our Lives. In between his collaborations with the Dub Reggae band Kanzeon and working with Ugandan/Swedish soul singer Jaqee on her successful album "Nouvelle d'amour", he has also released two solo albums and one with his Psychedelic Funk Rock outfit The White Moose. As if he wasn't busy enough, in 2005 he was asked to sing with legendary Swedish rock outfit NationalTeaterns RockOrkester for a summer tour, but ended up becoming a full member of the band, touring with them every year. Along the way Mattias mentions some admirers such as Iggy Pop, Ryan Adams, Van Morrison and the MC5's Wayne Kramer. Now, surrounded by a great band including NationalTeatern's bassist Nikke Ström, he seems to be putting all his experiences and eclectic influences together with some fantastic genre-defying new material. The next album promises to be something very special...

Hederos & Hellberg (and friend...) - Photo by Anders Magnusson

The Episode is generously soundtracked with lots of great music from a selection of Mattias Hellberg's many phases. We're also honoured to have some superb exclusive and unreleased songs from his forthcoming album. I'd like to sincerely thank Mattias for his generosity and time. You can download the Episode free of charge from the Retrosonic Podcast Soundcloud site. Many thanks also to Anders Magnusson for contributing the excellent Hederos & Hellberg photograph.

Mattias Hellberg to release new album...

Photo by Josefine Larsson

Mattias Hellberg is currently recording in Silence Studios with his new line-up, The Fur Heads, which includes bassist Nikke Ström from Nationalteatern, working on tracks for a quick follow up to his excellent "High In The Lowlands" album. The demo songs I have listened to are some of the strongest material I have heard from Hellberg so far. They seem to be back to ensemble pieces rather than the more introverted solo-orientated "Lowlands" album. "Minor Me" is a loose and funky number which is split by a squall of guitar feedback. "Heart" would make a great single with it's fuzzed up organ sound and stabbing rhythm. There's a similar sound to the raw psychedelic groove that he captured so perfectly on the White Moose album "Out Of The Frying Pan". "Wait For The Morning" is another perfect single in-the-making with it's bongo led percussion and gospel backing vocals, a wonderful chorus and soulful guitar riff. This is shaping up to be Mattias Hellberg's defining album and I can't wait for the finished product to be released.

Cover Art - Alan Forbes

If you are waiting impatiently for the new album, and haven't yet done so, don't forget to get hold of a copy of the excellent current record, High In The Lowlands (Kning Disk Records). Described as "Sad Souled Songs of Scandinavian Despair", it's the beautiful result of a week stuck in a cabin in the woodlands following a boost from friend, co-songwriter and producer Mattias Areskog to get back into the soundscapes of sadness he handles so well. This fusion of nostalgic Swedish woodland folk songs and a somewhat rootsy approach to the ancient troubadour tradition -  whose lineage Hellberg's music clearly represents - be it with Hederos & Hellberg, Healing Hand or Mattias Hellberg & The White Moose. The songs are tainted in the darker shades of blue, bringing to mind psychedelic junkies like David Crosby, Skip Spence and British acid casualty Syd Barrett.

Mattias Hellberg & Nikke Ström - Photo by Josefine Larsson

Mattias Hellberg will play the Peace & Love Festival in Borlänge, Sweden on June 29th and Liseberg, Gothenburg on August 01st. Check the Tour Dates page on the web-site for further news.

Photo by Josefine Larsson

Mattias DJ nights at Moozy Moozy at Pusterviksbaren in Gothenburg every third Tuesday.

Photo by Jonas Kernell

Here is the video for the current single "Oh No" taken from "High In The Lowlands" album.

With sincere thanks to Mattias Hellberg for the Jonas Kernell Photo and to Josefine Larsson for contributing the excellent live photos. You can check out more of Josefine's great photography by visiting her own Blog HERE.

Free Fall + Peter von Poehl + Marie Modiano with Martin Hederos at ÅÄÖ! Swedish Music Festival La Gaîté Lyrique Paris May 12th & 13th

Mattias Bärjed - by Steve Worrall

This weekend special, curated by singer-songwriter Peter von Poehl, was part of the ÅÄÖ! Swedish Music Festival being held at La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris by "l’Institut Suédois". Although von Poehl was the main star of the show, he was almost over-shadowed by the astounding musical talents of Martin Hederos. Martin, not only carried out his main role as keyboard player with The Soundtrack of Our Lives, but also played with, and arranged the orchestration for both Marie Modiano and Peter von Poehl. In fact, the only break Martin had over the two days, was to watch from the sidelines as his Soundtrack of our Lives colleague, and ex-Nymphet Noodlers bandmate, Mattias Bärjed, took to the stage with his new side-project Free Fall. As Free Fall also include Nymphet Noodlers' bassist Jan Martens, I was half expecting Martin to join them on stage for a run through of "Beautiful Day", but he manages to catch a well deserved break.

There's a song on the new Soundtrack of Our Lives Album called "Where's The Rock", well I think Mattias might have taken it with him to Free Fall. With recent TSOOL albums concentrating more on lush orchestration, maybe Bärjed is using Free Fall to express his undoubted love for Classic and Heavy Rock. As Free Fall take the stage for their first appearance outside Sweden, it is clear that heavy riffs are the order of the day. They take the Bluesy Rock of Led Zeppelin to another level and Vocalist Kim Fransson, certainly has an impressive Robert Plant style of singing. Underpinning the relentless riffing is Jan Martens' wonderfully fluid bass playing, a style I've always admired. He was, after all responsible for one of the best bass riffs ever on "Pole Position" from the Jan Martens Frustration days.

Free Fall - Photo by Steve Worrall

Drummer Ludwig Dahlberg, who has previously played with The (International) Noise Conspiracy, actually runs Martin Hederos close for most appearances over the weekend. He proves his versatility by pounding out the beat with Free Fall, but then also showing a defter touch with the more laid back sounds of Marie Modiano and Peter von Poehl. The band storm through a selection of so far unreleased tracks, such as "Power & Volume" and "World Domination" and they leave to a rousing send-off from the crowd.

Following Free Fall is Peter von Poehl with Martin joining on piano and keyboards. I was not aware of von Poehl before this weekend but he is obviously very popular in France as he gathered a large and very respectful audience. Maybe the use of his song "The Story of The Impossible" in the 2010 Vanessa Paradis movie "L'arnacoeur" has helped. Dividing his time between Malmö, Berlin and Paris his music seems to reflect this nomadic lifestyle and Martin Hederos' lush arrangement of the assembled string and woodwind ensemble is perfect. Martin also appears on his new album "Big Issues Printed Small" and that should be well worth checking out. The Saturday night draws to a close with Peter being joined on stage by Kim from Free Fall, Marie Modiano and Ebbot from The Soundtrack of Our Lives for a chaotic but fun run through of Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'". Click the title and you can see a video of this on the Retro Man Blog YouTube page.

Peter von Poehl - Photo by Steve Worrall

It was Martin's work with another ex-Nymphet Noodler, vocalist Mattias Hellberg, that for me first highlighted his talents outside of Rock music. Their Hederos & Hellberg side-project consisted of stunningly effective, minimalist cover versions, stripped down totally to piano and voice with the occasional acoustic guitar and harmonica. The Stooges played in the style of Erik Satie if you like. And on the Sunday afternoon his beautiful piano playing is to the fore as he joins Peter for an acoustic set in the beautiful surroundings of the traditional main room. Peter is a very engaging performer and the audience pack the room, filling every possible space. At the end of the performance, still strumming his guitar Peter suddenly leaves the room and Pied Piper style, leads the audience through to the main venue where both him and Martin take the stage with Marie Modiano.

Peter, Marie, Kim & Ebbot - Photo by Steve Worrall

Whilst Marie Modiano is a French singer-songwriter she qualifies to appear at this Swedish festival due to her collaboration with von Poehl and also it ties in with the fact that her excellent second album "Outland" was recorded at The Soundtrack of Our Lives Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg. The ubiquitous Martin Hederos also plays on the album along with Soundtrack of Our Lives bassist Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm. Again, Martin's superb orchestration and arrangements bring the songs to life especially on the numbers from "Outland". Marie's Jazz tinged folk music also has an almost Scandinavian melancholy that mixes well with the French chanson style of some of the songs. There's also a Bossa Nova feel that reminds me of Nouvelle Vague, another band who like Hederos & Hellberg, perform cover versions in a totally unexpected style. The Single "The Islands & The Skerries" is a beautifully swaying number and "Twilight Rhapsody" brings to mind the simple piano and voice arrangement of Hederos & Hellberg. However, the highlights of Marie's set for me are the run of three songs from "Outland". Starting with "Last Early Spring", (click title for video), leading into the wonderful "The Hunter" and followed by the stand-out track, the sublime "Searching For Pearl". It's a superb, enchanting performance, and I am hooked.

Marie Modiano & Martin - by Steve Worrall

Then it's over, and you realize that Martin now has to gear up for The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Amazing, three sets with three different Artists in one afternoon! A quite staggering feat and I was thinking he must be exhausted, surely he needs a rest. But it doesn't seem there will be any time. The lights dim and Ebbot takes the stage alone with an acoustic guitar and starts to strum the beginning of the title track of the new album "Throw It To The Universe". Then one by one the band take the stage and the song bursts into life. But hang on, something is missing, the keyboard riff...Ebbot looks around bemused, as do the rest of the band, they play on, looking at the empty seat by the keyboards, Martin is not to be seen...! (To be continued...)

You can see lots more photos of all the bands and artists over the Weekend by "Liking" the Retro Man Blog Facebook page.