Artist Spotlight: Mattias Petersson

I am composer and performer based in Stockholm, Sweden. My work usually stays within the realm of electronic music both when performing as a solo artist and in different constellations, but I have also written for chamber ensembles, dance companies and some opera.

Starting out with a basic Doepfer system in 1999, there have been modulars in my home studio ever since. Ten years ago I acquired my first small Buchla system. I started out with a 6-panel powered boat with a 206e, a 259e, a266e, a 281e and a 292e. Just before this was delivered, the Skylab cabinet was released. I tried to change my order into that instead and Don replied with a “yes”. But of course I got the 6-boat anyway in the first shipment. Eventually, the Skylab arrived and I also added a 258v from Mark Verbos. The system has grown over the years and right now my system populates two Skylab cabinets, where one is my live system and the other have a more fixed position in the studio. I also still have the original 6-boat and an Easel Command.

As an associate professor in electroacoustic composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, I also maintain and teach on our fairly large system which is a hybrid of 200e stuff and vintage modules from 1974. The school are also in possession of an original Easel which was very close to be thrown away in a move of store rooms some years ago.

So, there’s quite a lot of Buchla in my life and it is surely one of the cornerstones of my artistic work. My research is also all about different kinds of modularity, virtual and physical, human and non-human, and I usually strive for the perfect integration of my Buchla with self-made software instruments written mainly in the SuperCollider programming environment.

For my performance at CCTV Stockholm in March this year, I started out with the intention to work with my Easel Command and a little live-coding system I’ve made. I practiced and made some recordings with this setup for some weeks, but also tried other solutions in parallel. I ended up using my my live Skylab, comprised of the following modules: 266e, Studio.h CSR, 225e, 281e, 292e, 285e, 261e, 259e, Studio.h DPO (258e) and 291e. For control, sequencing and mixing I used another home made SuperCollider instrument based on the Snyderphonics Manta controller (http://snyderphonics.com/manta.htm). It is a touch sensitive device with 48 pads, 4 buttons and 2 sliders. Basically, the SuperCollider instrument is a modular system where each pad can be assigned one or several functions, like volume control of hardware inputs from the Buchla, sending midi or cv, apply effects, sequencing or sampling. For the live set I used a combination of live input from the Buchla and loops and samples made during the recording sessions with the Easel.

I have some music released on various labels using my real name, under the moniker Codespira1 and as part of different collaborations (mainly There are no more four seasons and RTTRSPRT). For further listening and info check these links:

Social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codespira1/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codespira1/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCspNTJ1xczCgKW0NUAMhSpQ

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/emp/

Releases as Codespira1:

Artefact (Moving Furniture Records, 2016) https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/artefact

Rasterfeld Archives #1 (CO-DEPENDENT, 2019) https://co-dependent.bandcamp.com/album/code009

Releases as Mattias Petersson:

Remaining oddities, resultant additives (Jahr Null Aufnahmen, 2010) https://open.spotify.com/album/5IcAo9aprlVwNddnrXucLe?si=qXJ-Hd7tShqFXSmfhuDhbw

Floodlight (Ideal Recordings, 2008) https://open.spotify.com/album/7nGL4dtqmfUnOKiXtvUzKD?si=uM7Yb9tUSsuGDovLMvzFEw

Mimer (Fylkingen Records, 2003) https://open.spotify.com/album/41pgXkm2uw4iEbXSinyrSP?si=6aUh2fwfSS2kzuk5NMwICw