In Conversation with

Angie Mattson

A little background:

One of the beauties in running a page on myspace.com

For keeping in touch with friends and stuff is

Sometimes you can get approached by acts to listen to

Their music. Most of them sadly nowadays more and

More are un-interesting shall we say, too much

Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and their like for them

To be anyway interesting for me.

However, for every one I find interesting there are

Ten others that are frankly shall we say nicely

un-listenable.

One such expectation is Angie Mattson from

Muskegon which is part off Michigan in the

United States which reminded me of if anything

A industrial Suzanne Vega with certainly something

Beautiful and haunting songs sometimes in the

Same breathe.

She describes herself quoting her bio from her

Page on myspace.com as “A self taught guitar and

piano player. She began writing her songs while living

on a small sailboat in the Caribbean and east coast.

Angie currently resides in downtown Los Angeles

where she jumps trains and dodges wild dogs. She

recently finished her first full length record with

producer Nathan Larson. It will be released sometime

in 2007.”

After listening to the songs available on her

myspace.com page, I was really, really impressed

and of course approached Angie for a interview.

The interview followed through in due course shortly.

Thanks to Angie for the enclosed interview here and

Good look to you for the album.

For more information please contact her through

But also make sure you check out her page on

Myspace.com

And also her website

Cheers

Andy N

Setting Sun:

How are things and what’s

happening at the moment?

Angie Mattson:

Things are splendid. I have just

finished my first full album and

am looking forward to releasing

it on August 28th!

Setting Sun:

Next, can you tell us a little bit

about the history of your music

or as I like to say sometimes –

who fired the starting pistol?

Angie Mattson:

I started as a stage performer,

acting and singing. About 6

years ago I picked up a guitar

and started writing my own material.

I never intended on making a

career of it. But once I noticed

the response I got, I thought,

maybe I could try this.

Setting Sun:

What are your influences

music wise and who are you

listening to at the moment?

Angie Mattson:

I love folk and americana like

Patty Griffin and Bob Dylan and

soul like Donny Hathaway and

Aretha Franklin.

When I  discovered artists like

Sinead O'Connor and The The, thats

when my real music obsessions

unfolded.

Elton John and Tom Petty are both

songwriting influences as well.

Right now I am enjoying Joan as

Police Woman, Jen Gloekner,

Cold War Kids and Emmylou Harris.

I am a music freak.

I love it. I listen to everything.

Setting Sun:

Do you play concerts out of

interest? If so, how do they

compare to your music or if you

don’t – do you have any idea how

you would approach it?

Angie Mattson:

I play concerts often. I typically

play electric guitar and have a bass

player and drummer. Occasionally

I will go it alone with an acoustic

guitar as well. The shows are very

similar to my recorded material

with some newer songs thrown in

as well.

Setting Sun:

I have being enjoying all of your songs on

myspace.com, but the one that I think that

I enjoy the most is ‘In Violet’? Can you

tell you us a little bit more about this

song etc?

Angie Mattson:

This song is about meeting someone and

having a powerful connection to them,

and knowing that this will be the

first and last time you ever see them.

It takes strength to let someone in and

accept that they will be gone soon. It

was sparked by someone I met in Japan.

Setting Sun:

What plans do you have next, music wise?

I seem to vaguely recall you have a album

on the way, do you have anything planned

beside that?

Angie Mattson:

The album comes out next month, then

I will consider touring options. I

am also writing the next record and

making sure my life is full of

inspiration.

Setting Sun:

Where are you from out of interest?

What’s the music scene like were you

are from? Have you being to any good

concerts recently?

Angie Mattson:

I am from Muskegon, Michigan. The

music scene is minimal, but we have

a handful of good blues and rock

bands. I wasn't performing as a

guitarist/songwriter when I lived

there, but I have been back to play

a couple times.

The best concerts I have seen recently

are SigOr Ros, M. Ward, Bjork, and

Patty Griffin.

Setting Sun:

What do you do when you are not

being a rock and roll star?

Angie Mattson:

I am always being a rock and roll

star.

Setting Sun:

Anyway, a few light hearted

questions to finish off with,

firstly what would you like to be

doing when you are 60?

Angie Mattson:

Hanging out with my

grandkids

Setting Sun:

Lastly, what do you think

you will be doing when you

are 60?

Angie Mattson:

Singing in Vegas