Matthias von Stumberger | Interview | Vinyl Release of ‘Spielt Rockundroll Musik’
‘Matthias von Stumberger Spielt Rockundroll Musik’ is a short journey into the land of fuzzed out lo-fi punk rock and roll. It’s wild, it’s filled with anxiety and it’s satirical.
Matthias von Stumberger is a project born several years ago in a true DIY fashion. The 2014 debut solo release, ‘Matthias von Stumberger Spielt Rockundroll Musik,’ which was originally released on cassette, gets a limited edition 10” lathe-cut re-release through Austin, Texas based label Herby Records in conjunction with It’s Psychedelic Baby! Magazine. To accompany today’s vinyl release of ‘Matthias von Stumberger Spielt Rockundroll Musik,’ we are sharing a video of ‘Moral Hangover’. Order your copy of ‘Spielt Rockundroll Musik’ via Herby Records here.
“You’re either underground or you’re not”
Are you originally from Slovenia?
Matija Štumberger: Hi, and thanks for having me. Yeah, I was born and raised in a small town called Slovenj Gradec, really a glorified village by global standards, up in northern Slovenia near the Austrian border.
What was it like growing up there?
Late 80s, early 90s when I was going to elementary school, times were tense. Yugoslavia broke up, and although we didn’t have a real war here, things were changing fast. Lots of unemployment, some people didn’t know how to adapt, socialist values disappeared overnight and a new, “western way” of life and thinking forced itself in. Including division on popular kids and outcasts in school. There was no place for a chubby four-eyed nerd. I was tolerated and not beaten by others only because my mom was a teacher/principal of the small village school, but out of fear, not love. I had very few friends (usually poor kids that everyone picked on) and I sucked at sports, so I found my comfort in music and daydreaming.
I come from a musical family, my dad had perfect pitch and was teaching classical guitar. He didn’t get very far with me though, he taught me two chords and then I quit and took up drums because classical guitar took too long before I could use it in “real life” and I thought learning drums would be faster. It wasn’t. Dad had a band that would play everything from classical, jazz, to pop covers. Basically everything except the loud rock that I liked. But there were always instruments laying around the house and I would fool around with them, without really putting any effort into learning.
There was only one record shop in town and records were relatively expensive for a kid. We went shopping to Maribor about once a year and I could buy any record I wanted, sometimes two. So I played it safe and usually bought something from bands I already knew so I wouldn’t be disappointed. That meant I grew up with about 20 or 30 albums, which included complete works of Nirvana, Ramones, Pearl Jam and Hladno pivo from Croatia. The “big 4” for me. My folks didn’t exactly encourage those styles of music, but they did let me do my own thing. Although some eyebrows were raised when they heard songs like ‘Rape Me’ by Nirvana, or ‘Heroin’ by Hladno pivo… I guess I learned more about music from reading than actually listening to a lot of bands. Music magazines, even mainstream ones, were really good back then and musical journalism was top notch. I learned all about punk rock, MC5 and The Stooges, Black Sabbath, mods and The Who et cetera by reading about it way before I actually heard the music for the first time. And when I finally did hear The Stooges at 19 or so, it was EXACTLY the way I imagined it.
Music on the mainstream radio sucked then. It was all about Top 40 and current pop trends. We were trying to be more western than West itself, I guess. Slovenian folk music wasn’t really hip then, it was considered old folk’s music.
So, they played typical 90s MTV music, except anything remotely alternative!!! Even though people were generally not that conservative and would listen to all kinds of modern decadent crap, including rave and techno, they would violently shut you down if you showed them distorted guitars and screaming vocals. They would violently hate that. I mean, I can’t believe almost no one in our school heard of any other Seattle band other than Nirvana, and even those mostly hated it. And that was 1992, 1993… Good thing we got a satellite TV at home fairly soon, I’d sneak out of my room at night to watch MTV and later Viva Zwei, when they still showed some real cool stuff.
Later in high school in Slovenj Gradec, I’d find a few like-minded people, but they were few and far apart. And no one really shared a similar vision of a band that I had in mind. So basically, around age 15 I gave up, accepted that all the cool music ceased to exist sometime in the 70s. I was born too late and sold my first drum kit, bought a moped and tried to fit in with the crowd. Obviously, that didn’t work, despite sincere effort.
Things really started happening for me later in my 20s, when I went to study in Ljubljana, met some like minded people – and got my first proper internet connection…
What is the music scene like in Slovenia? It seems like a lot of big-name bands play in Ljubljana as they tour through Europe, but what about the local music scene?
Meh, the big names usually show up in Ljubljana after they are all washed up… But that’s okay, it makes sense, it is too small of a country to host all of the hottest acts, and besides, Vienna, Zagreb, Budapest and Italy are close enough. I was always a fan of small club gigs anyway, big festivals really don’t do it for me. Which brings me to the local music scene(s). I lived in Ljubljana for 12 years and I play in bands for about 18 or 19 now. I’ve seen scenes rise from nothing to really cool vibes, and back to dust; there seem to be these predictable waves in most towns and local clubs: something interesting starts and it keeps growing for about two years before reaching a peak, which is followed by about two years of slow decline. Ljubljana is the center and obviously an exception to that rule, so there’s always something happening, although not as much as it used to.
Kids in Slovenj Gradec actually have an interesting thing going on at the moment. There are at least 15 or 20 currently active artists and bands that do their own thing, anything from punk and metal, to hip hop and jazz rock, which is pretty cool for a population of 16.000.
Doom metal band Britof is probably the most successful right now, being picked for Ozzfest this year and whatnot. It’s a tiny “alternative” community, but we got pretty much everything we need. Except maybe a proper place/club to bring more bands into town, but we’re working on it. I was usually more attracted to local punk and garage scenes. Punk always had some sort of intellectual aura attached to it in Slovenia, it’s not just a musical form, it’s a fairly diverse and inclusive art and music scene. At least in my experience it was, so I was mostly part of that. In a country/town that small it’s really not wise to divide yourself too much through genres; it’s all about the approach. You’re either underground or you’re not.
What are some of the bands/projects that you currently (or formerly) play with? Who are the other group members and what can you share about those projects?
I started playing in bands really late, at 23. I’m originally a drummer and it’s still my default position. Before that it was a combination of being too shy to play with other people, but mostly there really wasn’t anybody around that would wanna play similar stuff. I certainly wasn’t interested in starting another classic rock cover band and I was technically too poor of a player for metal. So, through an ad on an internet rock forum, we started with garage rock band The Real Things in Ljubljana; all of us rookies, so we learned to play by just doing it. Next was a 70s flavored hard rock band called Hare Krišna Hippie Groovies. That’s when I started writing songs more actively.
Around the same time, 2007 I think, I was invited into a British trio Nero Burns as a replacement drummer. I was suggested by mutual friends from Zagreb, Welcomin’ Committee in Flames. They were doing a one week tour of the Balkans together, all the way to Istanbul, and the original drummer couldn’t make it. I jumped at the opportunity and stayed with them ever since. It was probably the most exhausting and life changing experience I ever had in my life. It’s kind of like serving the military, I guess. Am I glad that I did it? Hell yes! Would I recommend it to my loved ones? Hell no. Too dangerous… I could write a book about that one, how I got myself into anxiety attacks and borderline alcoholism, for years, but perhaps some other time.
When I got back, we put together a trashy garage band called Orange Jews, which is sort of a prototype of Matthias von Stumberger. We didn’t have any gigs though, as we didn’t have an obvious leader or a singer. We just jammed for fun, but some good songs were there.
It was around 2012 when I finally ran out of money, recession took away all jobs and I couldn’t possibly stretch my student status any longer, so I moved back home to Slovenj Gradec. I started working with younger local kids then because I was tired of working with people who actually had a life and weren’t fully committed to bands and having a good time all the time. First was ZMP where I tried to play guitar for the first time. Fun, but stressful times. Later I joined another punk band, Underpodngrabn, probably my favorite of them all, because we got along so well. Then life and Covid got in the way and we folded. The last band I was involved with is a heavy psych project called Uryan, I played a few gigs and recorded a good chunk of an album that should come out soon, it’s gonna be pretty good!
Currently I’m having a bit of a break from music to do other stuff, like I had to lose some weight and get healthy. I fool around with old cars, travel a lot, and bike a lot. Work saps a lot of time and energy too….What was I saying about middle aged boring folks that actually have a life before, huh? Oh well…
In 2014, you released your debut solo album, ‘Matthias von Stumberger Spielt Rockundroll Musik’, on cassette through Evil Hoodoo Records co-released with It’s Psychedelic Baby! Magazine. You are currently re-releasing the album as a limited edition 10” lathe-cut record through Austin, Texas based label Herby Records in conjunction with It’s Psychedelic Baby! Magazine. What can fans expect from this re-release?
I still have no idea how that happened at all. I just recorded a few songs at home to show them to my friends, ex-band mates from previously mentioned bands. Those were the songs that for one or another reason didn’t get through in the band, so I just wanted to record them to show people what I actually had in mind. It was supposed to be a joke for about 8 or 10 people, but one of my friends showed the tapes to Klemen from It’s Psychedelic Baby! Magazine and he got interested. That’s how we met. The rest was all Psych Baby and Evil Hoodoo, I really just stood there, amazed that this is actually happening…
The cassette did well and the story sort of repeated itself 9 years later with Herby records. Except this time, I’m getting a genuine vinyl. Wow!
I’m ashamed to admit, but I’m horribly ignorant when it comes to labels and records et cetera. I mean, I love cassettes and vinyl records and the old heart-felt way of putting out albums. It’s just that I never really collected them myself or paid attention to certain labels or formats. Probably because I never had much money, so I just always took the easiest and cheapest way out. Which used to be taping cassettes, and later downloading files. I don’t even own a working record player, for crying out loud. But I am very grateful that some people actually think my stuff deserves a vinyl release, it certainly is appreciated. I’ll just have to call up a friend with a really good stereo and a record player to enjoy my own album, haha.
That reminds me, a friend of mine once introduced me to Pete Slovenly when he was traveling through Ljubljana. Supposedly he was interested in releasing my music, maybe even getting a band together for a USA tour under Slovenly Records. As I said, I don’t know labels and back then I had no idea what Slovenly Records were about and I was also decently drunk that night. Of course I made a complete ass out of myself in person, and if that didn’t kill the deal, a drunken email later that night certainly finished it off. I never heard from Slovenly again…. Oh well.
There was another cassette after that, ‘Kaiserlich und Koeniglich,’ but you were not alone on it. What was that about?
Oh yes, the original ‘Spieltr’n’rmusik’ tape travelled through a strange East European route: through mutual friends in Zagreb to Belgrade, and eventually landed in Budapest in the home of a lo-fi garage legend, Zsofia a.k.a. Piresian Beach. I don’t remember who contacted whom, but I heard her music and was super-impressed. Raw, dark, honest, lo-fi music. Just the way I like it. We connected through Facebook Messenger and really hit it off musically and personally. We joked that we should do an album together. Which we did. Same setup, one mic in the living room and we’d send the tracks back and forth through Facebook Messenger. We split the writing credits 50:50, she did most of the vocals and the mixing, I did most of the rhythm and we split everything else. It took a week altogether, including writing the songs. And that was all through Messenger, we never saw each other in person! Shook Down Underzine from Spain released a few cassettes, and Zsofia also made a cover, reflecting the common Austro-Hungarian history, hehe.
Your first album ‘Matthias von Stumberger Spielt Rockundroll Musik’ is described as “a fuzzed out, lo-fi punk rock and roll filled 17 minutes of beautifully crafted one-man band style tracks.” What was your creative process like? Was it recorded in a home studio?
As I said, it really wasn’t intended for the general public, not even garage punks with a good sense of humor. It got distributed by accident. With that said, I have to say it sounds almost EXACTLY like I had in mind at the time.
I still can’t believe I did it, because it should have never worked at all! At the time, I was living at my mom’s, and when she went on holiday for a week, I set up the instruments in the living room and just recorded everything on a single microphone, plugged directly into a shitty old Acer laptop. No sound card, no nothing. Just a Shure SM57, straight into the small input jack of the laptop, recording on Cool Edit 2. One instrument at a time obviously, but it was all one mic. Drums too.
I didn’t even know you could set a gain level, so I had to play relatively quietly. Still, it clipped like crazy, so what you hear on the album is really all digital distortion of that cheap old Acer, no added effects. I was really sorry when the motherboard on the computer got fried about a year later. I have tried to replicate the sound and the process with other computers since, but it doesn’t work… I never mixed or mastered or tampered with anything. Not because of deep beliefs in “authentic sound,” but because I have no idea how to do that. I only adjust track volume levels and that’s it.
It was all recorded through an 80s Fender “red knob” Twin, including bass and vocals, as I didn’t have dedicated amps at the time. And Behringer Tube screamer and Super Fuzz. Still use those regularly, don’t believe the negative hype. Those plastic beasts are tough, I’ve been abusing them for over 15 years and they still work.
I’m gonna take this opportunity to live out my fantasy. I absolutely love reading interviews with cool old bands when they talk about gear. Yeah, my music is so lo-fi it really doesn’t matter what kind of gear you use, but I still love to yap about it, so there.
I’m not a good player, but I love fooling around with instruments. I just love how guitars and drums look and work and feel. I love changing pickups, pickguards, tuners, trying different wiring schemes, or different drumheads and tunings on drums, repainting or rewrapping them… I’m a big SG guitar fanatic, but on a budget, so I have a whole battalion of Epiphone SGs: standards, P90 specials… It’s my favorite guitar for sure and it’s mostly what you hear on the album. Mustang is a close second, because: Kurt [Cobain]. I also made myself a few Mosrite / Univox copies at home, ‘cause finding them over here is impossible, even if I was rich, which I’m not. There’s also the presence of a Les Paul and a Strat on the album – because every household should have one of each. Bass is a really cool 70s Japanese EB3 copy, and drums were East German made Tacton drums with various Paiste cymbals. Ok, I’m done.
“(Early) Black Lips and Billy Childish were my role models for ‘…Spielt Rockundroll Musik'”
I really like the different styles of music all blended together that we hear in these seven tracks – from garage and punk to surf rock and even some parts reminiscent of Middle Eastern music. What were your major influences on this album?
Hard to say… Music I make really isn’t the music I listen to regularly. Ok, it’s no secret that (early) Black Lips and Billy Childish were my role models for this one. In a perfect world, I’d do every style that I ever liked in my life, but that’s where musical (and to an extent, financial) limitations set in… So, garage punk it is!
One thing I promised myself a long time ago is: I will never write a happy, positive song. I always liked aggressive and/or melancholic songs. With that said, I always pricked my ears when I heard the eastern-influenced songs and scales, anything from Balkan traditional songs and rhythms, Spanish guitar, Jewish traditional songs, Klezmer scale, Dick Dale, System of a Down… I don’t know what it is about those scales, but it just gets me. It speaks to my inner self, it expresses my frustrations and my passions. The oompa loompa, happy-go-lucky songs can not do that. It’s probably some subconscious rebellion against the bland and boring central European mainstream music of the past and present, I suppose….
On the other hand, there’s also pure and simple, straight to the point punk rock mixed in. Nothing to elaborate here, if you want honesty, this is the way to go.
Tracks 1-4 were written before, to be played in then-bands. Tracks 5, 6 and the cover were written on the spot. I could elaborate on what was going on with each one, but I really get a huge kick of listening to other people and what they make of them, so I don’t wanna stop the fun. Inaudible lyrics turned out bliss. I am absolutely amazed at what people hear and sing at gigs or backstage, it’s really inspiring…
Do you have a favorite track on this album? Any tracks or tracks that you would like to share a back story about?
Hmmm…. I guess the ‘Moral Hangover’ track was the most spontaneous. With others, I might have consciously or subconsciously tried to do some sort of a “tribute” to a certain song or certain band I like… But ‘Moral Hangover’ is true blues. It was many years ago, I was invited to a party and everything was fine, I met some nice folks, and we talked and had fun… And I drank wine. Lots of it, and my tolerance was fairly low then… Anyway, I said and did some really embarrassing things that night. Compared to what followed in later years, it was really nothing, but when I woke up, I was so ashamed, and this fuzzy riff just kept ringing in my ears…
‘All Dead’ also has a special meaning for me… but then again, so do nearly all others.
What’s next for Mathias von Stumberger? Do you have any upcoming performances or releases that you would like to share with us?
Well, the live band is usually on “standby.” It’s a project band, we don’t rehearse unless we have an upcoming gig. And even then, we usually rehearse for 40 minutes a day before the gig. Members all have their own primary things going on. I wish I was leader material and a good enough guitarist so we could have regular jams and rehearsals… but no. I’m lucky to have Davor, David and Gašper around me, they are real musicians and keep the songs together, while I do whatever on stage…. We must be the best band in the world, if you’d consider the really minimal effort we put in compared to the output. I’d really be so much more comfortable with playing drums, but of course, it’s impossible to find a frontman who would be willing to do my stuff, so I have to do it myself. At least it gives me an excuse to buy more guitars…
I still do write and record stuff when I feel like it. Now I have more gear, more experience and wisdom, so I like to think I write better stuff now. But people seem to really like the first album best, and there’s really not THAT much difference between the first album and new stuff, it’s all garage punk more or less, with some pop and some heavy stuff mixed in, and an occasional diversion. I’ll probably put out an online album again when I have a good set. Or maybe start another band, just because I wanna use a new name: Red Matthias and his Khmere…Or maybe not.
Any final words for readers of It’s Psychedelic Baby! Magazine?
I’m glad I kept my promise and still haven’t written a happy, positive song. I really should though, I mean I really can’t complain lately. I have a vinyl album out. I have great friends and family who are always there when I need them. Get plenty of love. I have a cool 70s car, a cool bike, a great job, a nice house, a bunch of musical gear and lots of song ideas. I’m 40 and the healthiest and fittest I’ve ever been in my life. So, should we drop the negative fuzz punk and start singing about how great life is? Fuck no! Because it ain’t great for a lot of others. Maybe there’s someone, somewhere out there who needs to hear that she/he’s not alone, that we know how it feels, but if you keep ticking, things will get better. I promise. That’s all there is. If my stuff just made at least one person’s day better, it was all worth it. I’m grateful for everything so far. Also, very flattered to be featured here, on this page, that brought so much joy and knowledge into my life. Keep on rocking!
D. Howland
Headline photo: Nika Hölcl Praper
Matthias von Stumberger Facebook / Bandcamp
Herby Records Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Psychedelic Baby Records present: ‘Matthias von Stumberger Spielt Rockundroll Musik’ (2014)
