TAPIO MATTLAR

Tapio Mattlar biography
Tapio Mattlar (b. 1953 in Helsinki) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist playing a wide variety of rock and ethnic instruments. For the last thirty years he has been working against the disappearance of natural species in his farm specialized in environmental protection, which he considers to be his primary work. Meanwhile he has continued his long and winding musical career.

In the early seventies Mattlar was the vocalist, bassist and songwriter in ROCKRESSIO, a Helsinki-based band playing guitar oriented hard rock with progressive elements. Their only release, a four-track EP First (1973) is among the rarest early Finnish rock records. Mattlar studied journalism and ethnomusicology in the Helsinki University and ran his own rock radio show in 1977-1979. In 1981 his family moved to the countryside. His wife Marja Mattlar is a singer-songwriter of whom he has written a biographical book.

Tapio Mattlar was the co-founder of TARUJEN SAARI, a female fronted folk rock band active from 1996 to 2006. His next group ANCIENT BEAR CULT draws inspiration from prehistoric and early medieval soundscapes and uses only instruments with a history of hundreds of years; Mattlar's instruments on the five-piece group are hurdy gurdy, Viking lyre, bass Viking lyre, kantele and shaman drum.

The title of Tapio Mattlar's solo debut album released in 2021 is very revealing: I would have published my own music earlier, but running a farm took so much time. In practice, he can concentrate on making music in his attic only in wintertime. On his self-produced solo albums Mattlar plays over thirty acoustic instruments. The instrumental music is highly original psychedelic folk prog with a thick soundscape that challenges the listener. Venla Kontio appears as a guest vocalist on the second album and Marja Mattlar on the third. Fans of ethnically oriented folk rock bands such as Malicorne may find Mattlar's albums fascinating.


- Matti, March 2023