Matt Hodson ignites Red Soda’s synthwave track

Guitarist extrodinare, Matt Hodson, recently was the guest shredder on the track Big Child by Red Soda.  Do you have a helmet on? You better, because he’s gonna blow your freaking mind.  Hodson ignites the synthwave single like a pyromaniac guzzling jet fuel.  Stylistically drawing from the best of the 80’s guitar gods, the guitar solo is a gem that takes the track to yet another higher level.  We had to know more about this talented and upcoming young guitar slinger, so we called him up at his studio and asked him a few questions.

Slickster: Hey Matt.  First off the bat, is there anything you want to say or clarify before we start asking questions?

Matt Hodson: Not much, but thanks for having me, and glad you liked the EP.

Slickster: How did the collaboration with Red Soda come about?  Did they approach you or have you been working with other synthwave artists on separate projects?

MH: I met Fred (Colombo) while we were both recording for Lance King – a pretty well-known metal singer. After that project wrapped up, we found that we had a lot of common ground musically, and he invited me to guest on one of his songs.

Slickster: As far as the guitar solo itself, you seem to nail a lot of the tropes of the 80’s guitar shredder spot on.  Can you give us a run down of the rig you used to record the solo and you get these
genuinely authentic timbres?

MH: Sure, but it’s gonna sound kind of silly… So first of all, the guitar I use for recording leads is a Kramer Baretta, one of the 2000s MusicYo remakes, with a DiMarzio X2N. That’s strike one for the 80s authenticity… I run that guitar into a DI box, then my interface, and monitor it using free ampsims. I offered to put the DI signal through a real amp afterwards, but they told me to just keep the ampsim! So what you’re hearing is a digital plugin going into a cabinet impulse that some guy posted on a forum once. Just like the greats used to do…

Slickster: Who are a few of your favorite guiltar shredders?

MH: Ones that come to mind at the moment are Marcel Coenen from Sun Caged, Michael Romeo (Symphony X), Per Nilsson… Jørn Viggo Lofstad from Pagan’s Mind… Yngwie was an early influence of course. There’s so many shredders now that are roughly as good as each other, it mostly comes down to who can also write.

Slickster: Transcribing music, aka ‘learning music by ear’, is one method to learn music.  Many people say this is much more valuable than a formal musician education.  This is because it indoctrinates the musician on instrumental micro nuances and musical phrases.  Have you been more self-taught or a combination of both?  What are your thoughts on transcribing?

MH: They’re both fine really… Personally, I can barely read music. I learn everything by ear. But there’s more to it mentally than just matching tones. The process is something like, identify what key it’s in, what scale degree is the current root note, what chord fits, does it have any extra voices in it besides 1/3/5?… This stuff dictates the rest of the music. Even on a recording where you can’t make out all the notes, you can usually figure out what they have to be, because nothing else fits. It’s like doing detective work. So I’m doing it the “informal” way, but it works because there’s formal theory underneath.

Slickster: Guitar tabs; Self defeating or good tool to learn?

MH: They don’t hurt, I used them early on. Developing a good ear will help more in the long run though, in a lot of ways. Plus tabs tend to be wrong a lot…

Slickster: What advice can you offer to young musicians who want to improve their skills on their instrument?

MH: Don’t ignore theory. The single most important thing I ever learned was the seven modes – major, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, minor, locrian, and how they connect on the fretboard. I made a chart when I was a teenager, probably lost now, but everything comes from there. Knowing these relations makes every aspect of music a hundred times easier. When you see someone playing fast all over the fretboard, it’s not because their hands are faster than normal, but because of how well they know these seven shapes subconsciously. That also comes from practice, of course.

Slickster: Moving away from guitar for a moment, do you check out synthwave, vaporwave, Outrun, etc…  if so, who are some of the other artists that you like to listen to?

MH: To be honest, I really don’t know anything from this scene! I guess you could say I like some vaguely related stuff like trance and house, but somehow never gave synthwave a shot. Although you know what, if Ninja Sex Party counts, I like them. Hopefully I haven’t insulted everyone.

Slickster: Matt, thanks for talking to Slickster Magazine and best of luck in your career.  Anything you’d like to promote, shoutouts, etc?

MH: Thanks, I’d just say keep an eye out for Lance King‘s next solo album, as well as my own band Chaos Frame sometime this year. If you want to.