BOOK OF REFLECTIONS (Lars Eric Mattsson) INTERVIEW
December 11 2006 BY JOHNNY C OF LOUD METAL RADIO

BOOK OF REFLECTIONS' new album CHAPTER II: UNFOLD THE FUTURE was composed by guitar giant Lars Eric Mattsson, one of the best players of today. Lars has kept on getting better and better for many years and is now up there with Vai, Satriani, Petrucci etc... If in doubt check out his amazing playing on the new Book of Reflections album, his last solo album "Earthbound" or the prog metal rock opera "WAR"!

Please tell me a little bit about your new excellent album "Chapter II: Unfold the Future"

It was a long journey from day one until having mixed the last track of the album, as always when many musicians are involved:-) However I am very happy with the result. I think the songs are a little bit more both melodic and progressive than on the first album. The performances are also better if you ask me. It's not really a concept album, it's just a collection of songs about life and the world we all live in.
On vocals we have:
Björn Jansson (Beyond Twillight / Tears of Anger / Mattsson)
Martin LeMar (Tomorrow's Eve / Lalu)
and myself
On keyboards you can hear both me and Mistheria (Bruce Dickinson)
Anand from Sphere of Souls is guesting on guitar on 3 songs...
 

Your guitar playing seems to be getting better and better by each release!

Thanks! I am trying to expand specially my harmonic sense all the time, but basically I am trying hard to continue to develop my own style which incorporates a lot of scales and arpeggios normally not used within rock.

Please tell me more about this! How do you create that special sound of yours? It's very easy to recognize your playing but also your sound.

It's hard for me to discuss these things since I will have to analyze what I am trying to do:-) However one very important detail would probably be my use of more complex arpeggios such as minth/sus, wholetone, major 6/9, sus 7 etc... This is stuff I picked up from fusion and jazz players. I am also playing a lot of scales where certain notes are left out which gives just as much colour as when you add... when it comes to my sound, this is something I am constantly trying to improve...

Which guys would you consider to be your main influences?

Everyone from Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Bach, Beethoven, Michael Schenker etc up to Dream Theater, Symphony X.. But also stuff like Fusion and things like the Beatles... It's all really a very wide mix.

How did you develop your own style of playing, did you take any lessons?

Just a few piano lessons when I was 16, but I am to 99% self taught. I have actually played with many bands of all kinds, in my teens I gigged with lots of cover bands of various kinds before I started to make my own music.

You have worked with a lot of well known guys such as Derek Sherinian, Mark Boals, Vitalij Kuprij etc..., what was that like?

Well, Mark and Vitalij were both amazing, when you work with pros like these you know that you are gonna get nothing but the best. Derek was also great of course. I have worked with a lot of musicians and singers of which most have been amazing to work with, some have been more easy to deal with than others. I like to worth with new people, it's usually refreshing and inspiring to try our new things. I need to keep my music evolving and I am always hungry for new things to discover.

What is the most important, feeling or technique? can you survive with only one of them?

I think you need both. Without feel, there is no music woth listening to and without technique it will be a pain to listen to and also without enough skill the musician won't be able to properly deliver his message.

What kind of guitars and effects are you using live or in the studio?

I have become a real Fender Strat freak. In the studio I either play my 1961 Stratocaster which is all original or I play my new Strat on which I have Seymour Duncan pick ups, Hot Rails in the froth and back and a vintage something in the mid position. I use very few effects, usually nothing more than a Cry Baby wah wah and when mixing I usually add tape echo. Live (which I don't do very much these days) I would go for one of my Valley Arts guitars, probably the custom pro which is a dream to play and wont go out of tune when you use the wammy...

How was the album recorded?

Drums and rhythm guitars first, to a click track. The bass and some basic keyboards and the vocals. After that everything else in no particular order. I prefer to record all the guitar solos at the same time. When I do solos I am in a different mood than when I record the backing tracks. The vocals were recorded in the studios of the singers,and Misteria recorded his solos by himself while everything else was recorded in my studio, The New Lion's Cage.

What kind of music do you like the least?

I dislike Rap of ny kind, I don't like euro techno, otherwize I am very open minded. there is good and bad pop music...

Do you ever listen to music that is very different from what you do, if so what?

yes sure, I listen to the radio in my car even though there are songs that make me switch to another channel sometimes. Sometimes I listen to classic rock from the 70-ies, blues, fusion etc... I used to listen to a lot of classical music years ago.

What other plans do you have for the near future?

I am about to compose and record another Mattsson album on which I hope to incorporate a few ideas I haven't tried before. I am about to take my music into unknown territory again:-)

How is the musical climate for your kind of music at this moment?

Well, the truth is that file sharing is killing independent music. In a very near future it will become impossible for unknown artists to put out a record. Many labels have already stopped working with new acts and only focus on older artists who already have a following. It is already far too expensive to promote unknown artists, the labels will never recoup their costs and without promotion it is impossible to sell an artist. The music magazines don't like to write about new bands as they won't sell their magazines by doing that so they prefer to write about Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin in each issue. The guitar magazines are the worst, they only write about rock stars who can't play but happen to own a guitar these days, real talented people don't stand a chance to be discovered. In the end this policy will backfire on the magazines. The readers who care will get their news on the net for free rather than pay for a mag. But the file sharing is the worst problem for the music business and it is about to kill independent music very soon.

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