Rich Mattson is a North Country institution, having run Sparta Sound on the Mesabi Iron Range for the past 15 years. In an Instagram interview, Mattson talked about the new album from his band the Northstars; the legacy of his home (formerly church) studio; and his plans for the summer.

Jay Gabler: Well, you know, It's so nice to meet you, Rich. I don't think we've ever met in person, but I've been a fan of your music for a long time. So yeah, I mean, Ol' Yeller, you know, love that band. "Drawing Blanks," I think, is one of my favorite songs ever to come out of Minnesota.

Oh, thanks.

I'm glad it's I'm glad to see it's all on streaming now. So I just, I just starred it on Spotify.

Yeah, I try to put everything I've ever done, you know, make it available. Get it out there. Bandcamp has been great for that. I've just been loading up even my old demos and stuff. Anybody can listen to them anytime.

So to the subject at hand, which is your new music: Rich Mattson and the Northstars have a new album. How did this new music come about?

Well, we started recording it in January 2020. I'm always writing songs. And you know, this was a new batch. You know, I've got the recording studio here. I'm always recording bands that come up for a weekend, and everybody has a great time. And we record, you know, we'll get down like 10-15 songs or something in a week, basic tracks. And I'm like, God, I want my band to do this, you know. I want my band to have the get together and the whole weekend, you know, recording session retreat. And we finally did it in January. We got down a whole bunch of songs for Skylights, and then we did another weekend where we did, you know, like side B, and just had this great time weekend. The vibes were so good, and I'm just so happy with how it turned out. So then, you know, of course, we went into quarantine and I spent the whole summer whittling away at this record and you know, just trying to make it sound the best I could.

Yeah, so that record is out now. It's called Skylights.

I've got one right here.

Oh, look at that. Beautiful. It's very striking artwork.

That's Andy Messerschmidt. He lives up in Ely, he's a very prolific artist, just amazing stuff. Really, really good.

And with the album coming out, in still COVID times, obviously you couldn't have an IRL release show as we might have in earlier times. But you did a virtual release event. And I've seen a bunch of virtual release shows, but I think yours was the first I saw that featured an ice augering.

Yeah, that idea came to me [as] I was just out taking a walk. And you know, that's what I do every day, I walk my dog in the woods. And that's kind of a nice time to, you know, just think and try to come up with some ideas or whatever. And I was just like, God, how can we do something to you know, let people know we've got this new album out and and, you know, instead of the traditional CD release party or album release party, whatever, we could make a, like a variety show and I went with that idea and kept thinking of different ways stuff to add to it. I came home and I said Germaine, I've got this idea. We got to do this. We're gonna do these little segments and put it all together. So it's low-fi, but it's, it's fun. Captures the flavor of the scene and the music.

So glad to be able to have that way to connect with your new music. Sparta Sound has been a going concern now for...is it 15 years, Rich?

Yeah, 15 years. I moved here in 2005. Where did you move from? From Northeast Minneapolis. I moved to Minneapolis in 1987 from the Iron Range and I lived there for 18 years, and for some reason I wound up back here. I think most of it had to do with the building that I found. It was an old Apostolic Lutheran church, and I came and looked at it and I just opened that door, you know, with the Realtor...I went inside and said, oh my God, this place would be a perfect studio and I just became obsessed with the idea and everything fell into place and next thing I know I'm sleeping on an altar in this place that I just go, what the hell just happened? And I'm still here.

You're still there. You're living and operating this recording studio, Sparta Sound, so I'm sure there are far too many artists to list right here, but can you just name a few of the artists who've recorded at Sparta Sound?

Well, the Petty Demons; that's Aaron Seymour and all those guys. Dave Rave and the Governors. Trampled By Turtles did a couple albums here. So many. Just recently, Leslie Rich and the Rocket Soul Choir. The Holy Hootenanners. A lot of local stuff kept coming up, just right here on the Iron Range. There's a lot of musicians up here and a lot of really good ones. They're all making their way over.

Yeah, absolutely. So great to have that resource. So let's actually talk about the Iron Range music scene because you've been an advocate for the time you've been up there, which now is is a good stretch of time. What have things been like up there the past year? I mean, obviously, this pandemic upended everyone's lives, and I've been watching the scene from Minneapolis. What's it been like up north?

The past year has been pretty weird. I mean, nobody's going out, and it's just kind of dead. But when I grew up on the Iron Range, it was all cover bands, for the most part. Every once in a while somebody would put out a single, or you know, there'll be a record that came out of an Iron Range band or solo artist. You know, Paul Metsa is from here, he put out a ton of albums after he left here. Anyway, it was kind of this cover band place. And when I got up here, we started doing these original shows. And all these original bands came out of the woodwork and like, hey, I got a song, I got like a whole set of music. And we put together this thing called IROMA, the Iron Range Original Music Association, and started putting on shows where there's three bands in a night playing original music. We'd ask a bar, you know, can we do this showcase at your bar and they, say anything that brings people in. It went over really well. And then we kind of started the scene, and it's a lot of fun and a lot of support. A lot of people come out and just have a great time.

Yeah. What's your relationship like with the Duluth music scene? I imagine there's a lot of connections there.

Yeah. Well, it's it's an hour away from where we live. So we we get down there quite a bit and there's there's always been somewhere to play. It always changes...there's, you know, different venues popping up and closing down. It's always it's always something new. So, you know, it's it's a great scene down there and they've got their Homegrown Music Festival. It's always amazing to see how many bands play at that. I mean, I think it was like 200 bands last time. It just keeps growing. Now it's gonna be virtual again this this year.

So what what's in store for you this summer? Who do you have any plans? I'm sure the studio will be busy.

Yeah, well, I finally got the studio going again. I shut down for the whole winter. And I had my first session last night with a band called HorseFace from around here, and I've got a bunch of stuff lined up. I have a lot yet to book. For the studio, a lot of people are kind of waiting to hear back from me, so I need to get on that. We've got some gigs coming up this summer. We're playing at Earth Rider down in Superior. They've got a great outdoor stage. We're going to be playing the Hook & Ladder in June, so we'll be down in Minneapolis. Can't wait to get back there and play. Tired Eyes, my Neil Young tribute band, we're playing at Earth Rider. We've also got a show at the Mill City Market. And, I've got a couple of fishing trips planned. It's great.

That sounds like a good full summer. It's it seems like it sounds like we'll all be spending a lot of time outside which...you know, it's not a bad thing.

Yeah, it's it's like any other summer it's just starting to get all mapped out where where it's just gonna be you know, just going by the calendar.

Well, this is Minnesota. I've got to ask about the weather. It's nice and sunny down here in Minneapolis, this morning warming up a little bit. What's it like up there?

It's beautiful. I gotta get out from my walk yet. I kind of just woke up, Jay.

Yeah, that's the life of a rock star. Right. To have that that prerogative.

I tell you. My schedule has been I mean, this whole winter. It's like, what day is it? I can sleep as late as I want today. I don't have anything I have to you know, get up and get after. So I'm on my own schedule. And I don't know, in a way that's nice, but I can't wait to get back to work.

What's your favorite track on the new album, Rich?

Oh, boy.

I know it might be like trying to pick a favorite child or favorite pet.

I love the opener "Death Valley." And I really loved Germaine's songs on the album. "How Can It Be?" When it comes time to play my guitar solo on that song, it's just like, yeah, I love Germaine's songs, you know that. There's a song by Keith Secola that that closes the album that is called "King By Now." I just love that one, too. And Keith played a part on that, and he sent me a backing vocal and native flute to lay into it. And it's great.