We caught Angie Mattson this week at her Schuba's gig in Chicago and thought we'd give her the chance to introduce herself to Milwaukee before she appears at Shank Hall on Friday, opening for Justin Currie.
Singer / songwriter Mattson is a well-traveled Michigan native who now makes her home in Los Angeles. In 2005, she released an EP, "Monarch," that was followed recently by the full-length "Given to Sudden Panic and Noisy Retreat," released on Radio Nine Records.
OMC: Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to music.
Angie Mattson: My grandma used to take me to singing and acting classes when I was young. She thought I had talent. A friend gave me an old classical guitar and I taught myself to play it. I began writing songs never intending on having a career at it.
I played for friends and just around when I was living on a boat in the Caribbean and everybody just loved it, so I when I moved to Los Angeles I decided to record some songs. I found Rudy Haeusermann online and asked if he would record some stuff for cheap or exchange for studio work or lawn mowing. Fortunately he loved the music and we recorded my first demo/EP "Monarch." From that I got my manager and started meeting with labels and playing shows, and it just kept snowballing.
OMC: Did the move to L.A. kickstart your career the way you might have expected it to?
AM: Things take a little longer than I expected and I am impatient as it is. This business has taught me how to be patient. But my career is moving forward always and I am grateful for that.
OMC: Is it hard to distinguish yourself, when there are so many others out there trying to get heard, too? How do you make your music heard over the din?
AM: There are so many bands and artists out there, and I am a big fan of music and love finding good new artists. I am coming from an honest place inside of me and tell stories the way I see them, and it is impossible for anyone else to do it the way I do. Listeners like myself can pick up on that and relate to it.
OMC: Can you tell us a bit about the recent CD.
AM: "Given to Sudden Panic and Noisy Retreat" was recorded over a year's period in Sweden, New York and Los Angeles. It was produced by Nathan Larson. I chose him because of his work with Angela McClusky and his film scores. The album is a collection of songs about love, lust, pursuing dreams and Japanese fantasies.
OMC: Tell me a little more about recording in Sweden. How did that come about?
AM: Nathan Larson lived between Sweden and New York. His wife is the singer of The Cardigans. We had access to their studio and Nathan's studio, as well. So, I flew out there and recorded a few songs. The Cardigans' drummer Bengt Lagerberg played on a the songs we recorded there. Nathan and I played all the other instruments.
OMC: You're in the middle of a long stretch of dates that included ones with Melissa Ferrick, now with Justin Currie and even more after. Have audiences been open and receptive?
AM: Audiences have been better than expected. It is so great to get out and meet everyone. I think I will have a long love affair with my fans.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
