Mattias "IA" Eklundh - Hyper Freak Exercise

[RicardoBatistaPassos]

the way he uses his pick is so strange, since he is left handed, ill try to change my way to hold t he pick since i am too, lefet handed.

[cursedlemon]

God I remember this video. This is from a time on the internet when guitar videos were new and exciting.

[loki8lelouch7]

ahhh 240p we meet again.

[7thLeviathan]

He's no that goooalhvsrt nvhaer tn 2N$(/$#)brbvnel.

My bad, he is that good



[dentesdeouro]

/watch?v=tsFvGe1hZxY

[elektriskazivs]

If he does not use any muting on ex11, how he keeps all free strings from ringing??? I can not

[MuffinWithAnAxe]

squealie at 11:07... holy mother of god

[humblehammys]

IA is one of the most unique players ever. As an AmeriFinn, I enjoy the players of Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

[AnataNile]

Interviewer - "Are there any players at present that you respect highly or feel you can learn from? In what ways?"

Ron Jarzombek - "I just recently discovered a killer guitarist out of Sweden named Mattias IA Eklundh. Just unbelievable imagination. He's a Zappa freak and you can hear it in his playing and writing. Ron Thal is a freaking looney bird too, some absolute wild and crazy stuff. What I've learned from these guys is to go all out, try something different and inventive."

[carlosdiego1]

:s!!! Suena Horrible!!!! Que sonido más malo!!

[MetalliHead89]

this guy is crazy haha, his tone is horrid

[SlipNFall2g1c]

What was that at 2:26?? Ultra whammy vibrato?

[NowaqP]

@SlipNFall2g1c

You press the whammy bar and then let go off it and let it vibrate on it's own. It creates that kind of sound usually referred to as a "cricket sound".

[DarkFottloch]

@SlipNFall2g1c fluttering. you hit the bar backwards shortly, which gives it that "disrupted frequencies" sounding thing Oo

[guitarvirtuoso14762]

0:38-0:45 is the phone noises after the solo in Don Pardo Pimpwagon. Amazing lol

[tuncdogukan]

The guy even talks fast.

[tommorellorules]

Does anyone know the notes he is using on Samba Caramba? (the one where he puts the guitar on his lap and plays it like a piano)

[powerman5000ca]

Check out his cd on Vai's label

Freak Guitar - The Road Less Traveled

This guy is Amazing

[powerman5000ca]

Mattias is Insanely Brilliant

Just when you think you've heard it all

[tabotabojayar]

he's totally freakin awesome, perfect technique especially on the whammy bar, but his sweeping is kind of a li'l muddy,needs a little more solidification in the sweeps....

[sfh113]

If anyone thinks he his not "musical" or "tasteless", fuck you and go watch him warming up for beethoven

[utcbey]

This guy is far more accurate & better than Steve Vai, Satriani ,EVH,....but Guthrie Govan is his match....

[Fluffypopcicle]

@utcbey

i agree about evh, but not vai and satriani. he is more accurate, but i just don't hear that much originality. i feel like i have heard it before. he is original but... not too original. joe satriani is by far more original. he was the first to do what he did and nothing is quite like laying down, listening to joe, and seeing the amazing images being painted in my head from his music. steve vai is a much better composer than this guy so i sat steve is better.

[kornf13]

@utcbey STOP comparing guitarists you sons of bitches ! I am tired of all that : "he is better than..." crap ! SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO THE MUSIC !

[EverythingGuitar1]

@kornf13 But ..it is the people that are making comparisons and praising this Artist that expand his ability to be famous. think about it. if it were not for the (Word of Mouthers) Steve Vai and Satriani a well as Metallica) would not be famous..because none of them started off getting Air time on the Radio..it was all word of mouth.

[kornf13]

@EverythingGuitar1 yes that is true but fame was not the point, what I meant was all the comparisons like "who is better" or "who has the most talent" are useless because it is eventually a matter of taste and musical taste is non debatable !

[EverythingGuitar1]

@kornf13 ok I just misunderstood ..and I agree with you.

[xgorebreath]

@utcbey shut the fuck up none of them are better than each other.

[aceoffspades1]

I were to an event with him at my music shop! :D

[USRANIJUTJUB]

the epicness of this guy is unbearable

[CyValkarion]

This guy is FREAKIN' HILARIOUS. I love everything he does.

[IronGuitarist]

LOL BRUTAL GROWLS

[Mefranctal]

PINCHEEE LOCOO !!!!! HAHAHAHHAA

[megaboy250]

you make taht sound good cuz you have good guitar , i have one that costs 120 dollar :(

[CyValkarion]

@megaboy250 I know right? Is that 27 frets?!

[F4TB0Y69]

@CyValkarion yeah man it is, hah fancy seeing you here pretty sure i spoke with you on a Paul Gilbert vid! =]

[fexfreppl]

so ein goiler guitarist & so ein beschissenes equipment , naja , er holt trotzdem alles raus , was geht ! (laney würd ich nich mal als mülleimer benutzen , sorry , lol!)

[MedicTJ]

Please don't put the "other" guitarist from Sweden in the same sentence with IA. IA is FAR better, and doesn't grab a paycheck from playing harmonic minor all day. The "other" guy isn't even in the same league.

[TheMakimakica]

@MedicTJ

Rob Marcello is far beyond all of them including this guy. This "IA" is great musician but when Rob is around-THE BEST JUST GOT BETTER!!! Bye :)

[YoelfromNL]

What does IA stand for?

[mjd1632]

@YoelfromNL IA is the 2nd and third last letters in his name , he says as a kid he couldn't pronoune it.

[cyclone9282]

Why does not noise occur during tapping with both hands (Ex-11)?

[itachi456789]

Sorry, but a lot of this sounds like straight shit

[davtones]

@itachi456789 i think its mostly his tone. he usually sounds way better than in this video!

[DearbornsItalian]

Skwissgar and Toki should get together with this guy and jam. Toki would be like "well i cants plays thats fast" and Skwissgar would be like "yes...that is because yous are a guril, and that is why you caaant do's it. Rock and Roll......french fries

[davtones]

his tone is pretty bad in this video :(

[davtones]

whats the intro song???

[Raulizidorojack]

)=8  <- holy shit, thats the FK cow!

[Guitareben]

Insane guy!

[clauxd93]

Insane @__@

[YearraeY]

lol

[gibsonfan3]

He's got some horrible tone. Throw some mids in there!

[Sunedosa]

@gibsonfan3

Idd,dunno what he's playing through here or how they miced it,sounds like ass tbh.His tone is a lot better than this normally .

[pimphatandcoat]

officially my new favorite guitarist

[GuitarJerk13]

Björn Gellote and Jesper Strömblad from In Flames are pretty good too.

[42littlebit]

crap tone..great player

[thunderman2001]

That's amazing but not really nice to hear... But I'd really like to play like him

[orzEADGBE]

うおおおお

eccentric cool sound !!!!!!!!!!!

great!!!!

[borbaesilvabruno]

è coisa do bingaaaa!!! UASHiuAHSiuHsiaHSiuaHsiua

mto bom!

[TheArchangel07]

Wow... I only wish I could play like him. First I need to get better at alternate picking and to get a better guitar besides my cheapo. lol Ah, to dream...

[specialbru]

hideous tone!

[thelordofthestrings]

not Ia's fault. Young Guitar is notorious for shitty recording quality. They make you plug into a really crappy amp too for the video. Makes no sense to butcher up such great guitarists playing. Still his technique shines right through it.

[Piratcykel]

We swedish have some good guitarist, Yngwie and Ia...

[quilmesredlager]

@Piratcykel

and the guy from opeth.

oh wait, dunno if he is sweedish :S

[ChadUzumaki]

@quilmesredlager he is

[quilmesredlager]

@ChadUzumaki

well there you go,

another sweedish great player

[Piratcykel]

Mikael Åkerfeldt.

[Colubedy]

@Piratcykel Don't forget Fredrik Thordendal!

[matiasespina91]

@Piratcykel Mikael Åkerfeldt is some sick swedish guitarist too

[rafauleciaelcarpio]

@Piratcykel who else?

[mokaey]

@Piratcykel im from norway...

but god damn it fucking hate you dudes because you guys have the best guitar players!!!!

that makes me a sad panda ;(

[GingaGuitar]

@Piratcykel and Janne Schaffer XD

[SteveDogg92]

@Piratcykel

don't forget the Amott brothers!

[metalcidana]

@Piratcykel also Fredrik Thordendhal (Meshuggah) and Peter Lake ! (Theory in Practice)



[Cpbarbro]

@Piratcykel and mikael åkerfeldt

[kotsonaten]

@Piratcykel Not to mention Skwissgaar Skwigelf :P

[xTheWorldNeedsAHerox]

@Piratcykel Don't forget Swedish Shred Meister Robert Marcello, or even Mikael Akerfeldt.

[Remergence]

@Piratcykel FREDRIK THORDENDAL

[punkrock91786]

haha. at the intro the pickups pick up the sound of the play fone. my baby sis has the same play fone. haha

[zepp3lin]

Wow, mattias is the king of tremolo hamornics and tapping. Bet Steve Vai wants to copy him.

[JamesIsMyNamo]

He holds his pick so weird!

[immortalx50]

he holds a pick with  middle finger, rare right hand technique

[vibhutesagar]

Yeah that is rare. I've heard even EVH holds it in his thumb+middle finger which leaves his index finger free for tapping passages when playing. Maybe Mattias does if for a similar reason :)

[Thisorthis]

What guitar does he use?

[hbc84]

Caparison Applehorn - Sig model

[Andy13deanguitars]

@BigblOOk2000

mhmm man you know nothing at all :D

[diabeticmonkey]

young guitar. killing tone since before you can remember.

[TheBloodyMushrooms]

It sounds like he's playing through a different amp than usual, or maybe a distortion pedal... at least to me his tone sounds different than usual.

[bratblaster]

probably more the camera than him i doubht he fools around with his tone

sept for a effects but i dont consider that tone so

[andr4681]

he plays laney

[jclp777]

he plays poorly

[chinaski000]

kinda strange way to hold the pick..isn't it? this demonstrates that in heavy rock there's not a RIGHT way to hold the pick.. personally I use to hold the pick in a similar way cause i feel it more comfortable and very natural to me... anyway nobody ever told van halen that his right hand impostation was weak or wrong..what do you think about this?

[DamnedArtm3mis]

Just look at Marty Friedman's way to hold the pick. I think everyone has to play the way is easier and smoothest to him, not as anybody teaches him to play

[eugenbiscuitulhipiot]

He's left handed and plays reversed, kinda like Mark Knoplfer, but with a pick. Maybe thats why he holds it like that? Never tried holding the pick with my left hand to see how it feels :)

[Proghead88]

anybody judging his "musicality" by an instructional video is retarded.

[Detoxx23]

@Proghead88 agreed.....

[Rockbignole]

Amazing original player

[NoobCake99]

Why isnt this guy really famous?

[mad00002]

Because he's a very technically oriented player. Most people who "listen" and pay attention to this sort of stuff are guitarists themselves. Not a whole lot of music here.

[srvgravesdime]

I'd agree. He's a really good guitarist, although he seems like a pretty shitty musician. He seems too horny to fucking whammy some natural harmonics at the end of every lick, or whatever you call them...

[askorbiinihappo]

What the fuck? Have you even heard his band Freak Kitchen?

Also, you know he takes this whole thing with humour?

[srvgravesdime]

I don't find freak kitchen to be overly musical either. His backing band might as well be Nirvana, they don't impress me.

Also, maybe he should take the whole thing with a little bit of seriousness.

[plec14]

lol most of the songs they do r for humor

[askorbiinihappo]

I can´t quite understand you. First you say he shouldn´t be so technical, then, If I understood right, you said he should be more technical?

Anyway, you should still try out some more Freak Kitchen. Try some more uncommon songs like New Haircut or Vaseline Bizniz.

[srvgravesdime]

I said he should be more musical, there's a difference between technical prowess and musicianship.

[askorbiinihappo]

Yeah, but I still cant quite understand what´s wrong with his musicianship? He´s done brilliant pop, metal, rock, even samba songs, I can´t see how he´s not musical?

[Proghead88]

listen to his albums with Freak Kitchen. You'll turn your opinion 180º around.

[fumancha]

i disagree... i have listened his 2 albums and his particular band and he got a lot of music to show.

[ThePadde69]

I just love him :) I've met him a couple of times, my father has played with him and so on and he's just as he seems. takes everything so easy and don't forget. STAY FREAKY!

[oiabolo]

he's my friends cousins cousin :D

[peroslowned]

ex-10 is really beautiful

[jacklow01]

pretty unusual picking style, reminds me a bit of marty friedman

[gingerleyham]

mattias makes something that doesnt sound musical musical, he's a legend!

[ytrs]

hesn ot a legend yet but soon will be

[GoldenRatio]

11:28 is the best part. I'm definitely learning that.

[alexfheind]

i love his taping crazy stuff

[popmarriott]

28 frets

[454james454]

I thought it was 27

[leekwesi]

it is unless you count that little sliver of a fret. i guess someone could play it...

[Rojne]

It's 27 frets ;)

[TheVergile]

caparison applehorn = 27 frets

[Xmalibur]

The ancient style of Angry Monkey!

[Shulai1]

is he supposed to be better than malmsteen??..the guy fucking sucks...every note he hits dont even fit in a melody...its like hitting blacks and whites on a piano..

[inhalingsounds]

you don't have a clue about what you're saying, in my opinion. but that's just my opinion

[Brunget]

i share your opinion...

[wesselbindt]

They're excercizes man.

[wesselbindt]

These excercizes aren't to sound cool, it's to train ur hands do fast stuff. Ofcourse he could make good sounding excercizes, but they wouldn't be as difficult.

[TheVergile]

well.

1. Matthias is a frak - its called freak exercises. ^^

(besides he is a really funny person.)

2. its not just exercises...he uses a lot of this kind of stuff in his songs - and it just fits.

3. you are right....they ARE difficult ^^

[Invisiblestain]

A lot of the stuff he plays in this video I've seen sitting 1 meter from the man himself ^^ don't mean to brag haha but still.. cool guy, funny like hell :P

[erolik]

did mattias do the pokemon music XD

[brylner]

When you're playing that both-hand tapping with the guitar on your lap and wah wah sounds like a monkey or something ha ha ha "The Monkey Dance"

Apans Dans.

Ha de gött

[brylner]

Mattias....you're crazy. Hälsa mamma Inga.

[williamindragunawan]

o mr mathias, when are u gonna release a new album? we here in indonesia awaited that for a long time.

[streetwarrior31]

sic exercises.....ad very good teaching indeed.

Hugs from portugal

[godblessgnr]

the funnist guitarist in the world!! i laugh every time i see this video!! :D

[The3irik92]

stay freaky

[Smartskaft2]

xD I saw them with a old fasion Jazz-band yesterday :p That was so cool :p

[Eczila]

Me too, was awesome. Linköping Jazz festival ftw eh?

[Smartskaft2]

yep ^^

[AdeProduc]

This totally is a hyper freaky excercise. 8)

Sorry, but I have to say this THAT WAS AWFUL!!

IA is huge talented guitarist and one of my idols, but especially that EX-3 ¨stingskippin' sweeppicking'¨it was horrible.

I admire IA and most of his songs are the greatest

but this went little over.SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH:))

[leekwesi]

its not meant to be musical. they're exercises to help with technique

[ZeruDen64]

I love this Freak Guitar Player.... And I love the Good Old NES Days too, and this part (10:20), sounds like the NES game Star Force.. xD

[SoundsOfBluePE]

horrible

[metalicsnake]

URSHIT

[ACadaptern]

His sweeping is so tight! för övrigt.. IA fetrockar

[FreakKitchen94]

SVERIGE!!!, IA rocks!!

[crazefrenz]

1 of the best guitarists of our time...He is Steve Vai of Next Generation...

[psychomonkey62]

Cool, he picks with his middle finger instead of his index! Now I don't feel bad about doing it too.

[6u1t4r3]

Mattias in the next G3 :D Can somebody do a petition ? :D

[Diomenesx]

YES! XD

[Custodian405]

Wow, this guy is amazing. Super unorthodox picking technique, especially on the sweeps.

[Phrygian12]

how is that unorthodox?

[xklawenx]

LOL hes funny

[ICreamsodAI]

Did he just gurgle? xD

[solidshred]

Isn't having "soul" playing music that you enjoy and have fun with?

[ChrippeDarima]

There is a reason it's called Freak Guitar. It's not meant to be mainstream. Ia has a very unique and innovative style. I can agree that his tone is not like cotton in your ears but it seems to go well with his music. Listen to some Freak Kitchen if you want to hear his playing in context.

[Ritsch0815]

Yeah... he can play but he has an awful tone and for me he is just another guitarshredder...

[idshanks]

The problem here is that a lot of the kiddies crying out that he has no soul just have a very limited view of what makes "soul". Just because it isn't what you think should display soul doesn't mean it's devoid of soul. You just need to learn there is other stuff that other people can appreciate that you simply can't. Doesn't make your music any better or theirs any lesser.

[ICreamsodAI]

amen :D

[jan1080]

Flat fives, minor penatonics, bends and slow note progressions are pretty much what people think of as soul, hahah.

[idshanks]

Yeah... the way I see it, people take the words "soul" and "feeling", and apply them to their slowpaced, melodic music - fair enough, nothing wrong with that. But then those people use those terms as a way of being condescending towards fans of other genres or players of other styles. Some people just like to try to put themselves above the rest in everything, even something as harmless as other peoples taste in music :S

[jan1080]

Yep. This is a huge problem imo, as the vast majority of musical bashing usually consists of "you have no soul lol, go slower!!!" etc.

What if you're trying to show the feeling of insane happiness, or anxiety? Maybe even confusion? You can't play 2 notes per second and bend every second note for half a minute to get that emotion.

People just totally misunderstand, I guess. And what is Eklundh all about?

Being quirky and fun!

So why should he play the blues every single time he's performing?

[BoogXCOBHCX]

Speed is also if you want to display your sckitzophrenia :)

[icyfire011]

thats the worst shit ive ever heard

[bladzerok]

is it me or his tone is really thin, and not very pleasant to hear.

his playing is amazing though

[nameformyskreen]

yo, is this a joke?

[damillionmalania]

So wierd and so wonderful! muhahaha. I'm freaky forever!

[akokkinakes]

He's a guitar god