Mattias Fridell is a Swedish DJ and producer who has been in the techno scene for the last 12 years, known for his “no nonsense” approach to deep pounding techno. With his latest track released on Gynoid Audio (Mattias Fridell – Hundra), we expect to hear more from this DJ and producer in the time to come. In the meantime check out this recording from his set at Yaki Da in Gothenburg.
Listen:
Where do your musical roots come from, and how did you land on techno?
Definitely from growing up in a musical family where I always was close to guitars, tambourines, pianos and organs. Of Course there were records being played constantly at home as well as in the car. From there I guess it was natural to find my own taste in music, more electronic based music became very interesting to me.
Without realizing it was made by synthesizers and drum machines and samples, although most of it was cheesy and crappy, it really hooked me and many of my friends haha. We kept digging down that path when we were shopping records, which we really loved, and eventually found all kinds of records with cool music connected to the rave world. From there on the path was set I reckon.
What inspires you as a DJ and producer?
Hmmm, always complicated to nail what inspires me…When it comes to both creating music and deejaying it can be pretty much everything, just a good feeling, an excellent vibe or great people. After closing a deejay set I can feel positively inspired to start working on new music, fortunately.
More specifically for deejay sets it’s clearly very inspiring to play for a nice crowd with a solid and personal atmosphere. I love to play unreleased music by others, both well known and unknown artists. Fresh and unreleased music sent to me personally from unknown or lesser known artists or unreleased material from well known colleagues can be very inspiring.
How has the techno scene evolved from when you started up until now? Give us your opinion.
A lot happened. The most apparent must be that the tempo slowed down. It used to have a bit more attitude & soul back in the days…I’m not saying the soul and edge is missing entirely today but since the market is so saturated a lot of music released has no soul, it’s missing from most of the music.
Also there used to be more focus that Techno is future music back then, some people still believe that Technos should be right at the front and keep evolving the ideal future sound. I’m instead of the opinion that Techno matured as a genre now and can deliver both from the past,the present and the future. It’s not that important that Techno takes the lead and show what future music should be about any more.
The best period in Techno was possibly between 1996 to 2004 with a gap from there all the way to 2011 when it started picking up again. Viewing it from a personal standpoint I think the best period is now! It’s presumably very good to reflect on things like that but I always prefer to look at the future. I was mostly nostalgic about the old school Techno when the minimal boom was blooming though. Currently a lot of Techno takes inspiration from the old days, it’s both good and bad really… However I think that today the climate is more open and more genres can fit together. What I miss from the old times is to buy records and explore record shops, hehe.
Where should you go to get a full techno experience in Sweden.
It really depends, we are not too hot on proper Techno over here in the same scale as central Europe. We are a ripped country when it comes to Techno and clubbing ever since the scene was blessed with the constant police razzias and harassing from the rave commission in the 90s. But its a lot better now! I guess Techno will always be seen as a little bit more shady and dangerous in Sweden.
Most clubs exist in the bigger cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö and numerous of them can certainly be worth to visit. I think Stockholm and Malmö have the edge with both official and underground clubs & parties. I rarely play in Sweden though, like so many other DJs and producers from here. With that being said this set was recorded at a Swedish club in Gothenburg, haha.
What is your favorite record at the moment, and why?
That is a classic and very tough question. My favorite record depends on my mood haha! I am a slave under my current mood… There are many tracks being somehow important to me that I can relate to in contrary ways, most people probably feels the same. I think some of my current favorite for the moment are unreleased music actually. Off the top of my head I’m really into: Callum Plant Pseudo, Cleric & Setaoc, Mass Subconscious Life, Delusive Maneuvers DM1.1.
Artwork: drainat