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I met Mattias at a dinner in Stockholm last year. The dinner was before we played at the club Underbron, which he is a resident at. We sat near each other at this dinner and I was instantly intrigued by his story. Mattias is one of the few people I’ve met in dance music that was a Jehovah’s Witness. My only understanding of Jehovah’s Witness was their door to door evangelism, which I experienced growing up in Canada, but only once or twice. Until this interview my knowledge was limited.
Mattias left this life to pursue something for himself in Stockholm. You will read more about this in the interview so I don’t want to share too much of his story, but I have so much respect for his choice to leave. He left his community, what he knew, and his support systems all in order to pursue what he needed and wanted out of life. Much of this was defined by his realisations around his sexuality, which feels incredibly powerful.
You can hear this in the music he plays & creates. There is something ballad-esque about his choices and the rhythms he produces conjure feelings of mysticism. This mix is an emotional one and I loved listening to it one evening in my flat during sunset. Mattias is one of those DJs & producers I will continue to watch for a long while and I hope you take some time to take in his perspective which is ultimately refreshing.
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Peach: Hi Mattias :) Thank you for being part of the Sixth Sense mix series. How are you?
Mattias: Thank YOU for asking me to be part of it <3. I’ve been good.
P: Where are you living now?
M: I recently moved into my own apartment in the northern part of Stockholm after separating from my ex, who I lived with in the southern part of Stockholm. I’m still trying to turn it into a home and not just an apartment, but it’s getting there!
P: Have you always lived there?
M: I moved to Stockholm in the summer of 2020 after spending my childhood in the countryside of southwestern Sweden. The move marked a new chapter in my life. I had recently left the Jehovah’s Witnesses, been accepted into a bachelor’s program at Stockholm University, and met my ex. With little tying me to my hometown anymore, I decided to start over in Stockholm. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made, and likely the most important one. There’s a unique kind of freedom in creating a life for yourself, guided by your own choices and values. Moving to Stockholm gave me that freedom, and I’ll always be grateful for it.
P: So I remember you telling me about your past when we first met, I didn’t realize that was in the 6 years though. Wow. What does life look like these days?
M: Well, I’m single, unemployed, and living on my own for the first time, with my cat Pepsi. It’s taken some time to adjust. Not just to living alone, but also to the financial situation .I had a full-time day job for a few months, but got let go during the same week I was supposed to move into my apartment, which wasn’t exactly ideal timing. Since then, I’ve had to cut back on my expenses and play more gigs to make ends meet. Other than that, life is pretty simple. I try to make it to the gym at least a couple of times a week, and I try to spend a lot of time hanging out with friends, usually over a few beers, dinner, or on a dancefloor somewhere.
P: Okay so I have to ask - what was it like growing up as a Jehovah's Witness?
M: Brace yourself. This answer is the textual equivalent of Villalobos track.
For the most part, it was okay. I had a good childhood, and my early teens were fine too. When people hear that I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, they sometimes assume it was nothing but misery, but that wasn't really my experience.
That said, it was a very controlled environment. For instance, anything related to magic, the occult, or spirituality outside the religion was considered dangerous. Thus, reading/watching Harry Potter or LOTR was off-limits because it was supposedly a tool of Satan, while Disney movies somehow got a pass. Dancing, clubbing, and partying were generally frowned upon because they were seen as morally questionable.
I remember when Lost first started airing on TV. Some people in the congregation began watching it but eventually stopped because they felt it was too occult or mysterious. What struck me wasn't that they stopped watching it, but how guilty they felt for having enjoyed it in the first place, almost as if they had committed a sin. Looking back, that's probably one of the defining features of growing up in that environment: you're constantly encouraged to examine your thoughts, your interests, and your behavior through a (skewed) moral and spiritual lens. Nothing is ever just a TV show, a book, or a night out.
What probably saved me was that I found a group of friends who, despite belonging to the same religion, were curious about many of the same things I was. We'd watch Studio Ghibli films together, which was definitely not encouraged considering the amount of spirits, magic, and strange creatures in them, and we'd go to concerts and music festivals too.
I still have a vivid memory of sneaking two bottles of prosecco onto the dancefloor at Way Out West and dancing to Peggy Gou with my friends while getting drunk on warm bubbles. Looking back, it's funny how rebellious and immoral that felt at the time. In reality, we were just a bunch of teenagers having fun on a dance floor.
The difficult part came later. In my late teens, I started realizing that there were parts of myself that simply didn't fit into the worldview I had been raised in. I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I am gay, while at the same time carrying this growing feeling that I probably didn't believe what I was supposed to believe. It's a strange thing when the religion you've grown up in has an answer for every question, but deep down those answers stop making sense. You end up living a double life: one version of yourself that says the right things, and another version that's quietly asking questions it isn't supposed to ask.
Eventually, keeping all of that inside, along with dealing with mental illness in my family, caught up with me. I became depressed and anxious. Some people around me believed it was because I was hanging out with "the wrong crowd" or because I had become spiritually weak. But the reality was that I had spent some years researching my religion and had reached the conclusion that nothing I believed was true, nor would it ever be true. The hard part wasn't losing my faith, though. The hard part was understanding what that was gonna mean.
As a Jehovah's Witness, your entire social world is usually tied to the religion. Your friends, your family, your community, everything exists within that framework. So when you begin questioning it, you're not just risking a set of beliefs. You're risking your relationships, your sense of belonging, and the life you've always imagined for yourself.
I left them (officially) in April 2020.
I remember that a few months before I left, Marie Lindén from I Break Horses had just released Death Engine, the first single from Warnings. I was listening to that song on repeat while crying all the time. It sounds dramatic now, but things genuinely felt hopeless and incredibly painful back then.
The song was written as her way of processing a friend's suicide attempt, but there was one passage that resonated with me so deeply:
"I have felt your presence
You've spoken to my troubled mind
You give me salvation
But can you save my life?"
Those lyrics hit me at exactly the right time.
Those lyrics resonated with me so deeply because it felt like that song came into my life at exactly the right time. When everything felt hopeless and unbearably painful, it reminded me that there was still another path forward. It became the soundtrack to me choosing life, and to the realization that religion was never my salvation. I was.
At the same time, I try not to be overly bitter about it. There are people from that period of my life that I still care deeply about, and there are experiences that shaped who I am today. Some of those people have reached out in later years to tell me that they've also left, or are on their way out, after going through their own crisis of conscience.
P: Do you feel like that has had an impact on the music you’re interested in?
M: I think so, yeah. Not necessarily in a direct way, but I've definitely become more drawn to music that comes from a spiritual or devotional place. For instance, I love spiritual jazz, and I have a framed poster of Alice Coltrane on my wall, haha. She made so much beautiful music during her lifetime, and in recent years I've found myself becoming increasingly drawn to her later work in particular. There's something so otherworldly and esoteric about it.
I think that's what attracts me to a lot of music, actually. I like music that sonically hints at something beyond itself, something ethereal, mysterious, and just out of reach. It's difficult to explain, but I've always been fascinated by things we can't fully grasp. Whether it's the idea of God, spirituality, or something else entirely, I often find myself imagining what those concepts would sound like if they existed as music. Maybe that's why I'm drawn to records that feel like they're reaching toward something they'll never quite touch.
P: This might be a stupid question, but was there a music scene in the JW?
Haha, no. We had a song book with some of our own devotional songs though. I remember some were real bangers!
P: What are your earliest memories of music?
M: My mom was always playing music around the house, mostly older Latin pop. My brother-in-law was really into metal, and since we spent a lot of time together, it was only natural that I gravitated in that direction as well. As a kid, I was obsessed with symphonic and melodic metal. Whenever I managed to save up some money, I’d go out and buy CDs by Nightwish or Within Temptation, and later Evanescence and Muse.. Looking back, it’s a bit funny, but I absolutely loved it. I still listen to metal today, although my taste has changed quite a bit. These days it’s mostly doom and stoner metal, with the occasional black metal/shoegaze crossover. Some things never really leave you, I guess.
P: Could you give us some examples of doom and stoner metal? I have no idea what that is but I want to know what it sounds like.
M:
P: What is the scene like in Stockholm?
M: Stockholm is small, but we have so many talented DJ’s and producers here. The only issue is that we don’t really have the infrastructure to accommodate the amount of talent that we have, in terms of good clubs and venues. We have Under Bron/Trädgården, which for me is like the only real club in Stockholm (and Sweden lol). It holds an international standard and Johanna always does really good bookings. I’m also biased because I’m a resident there, haha.
That said, there are some other great spaces as well. For a long time, Stockholm has needed a place where people can simply have a beer, dance to good music, and enjoy themselves without the atmosphere feeling overly curated or pretentious. That’s exactly what Spice99 has managed to create. Spice99 is one of the best things to happen to Stockholm nightlife in recent years. It’s equally enjoyable as a dancer and as a DJ. The crowd tends to be quite young, but what I love about them is their openness - they’re genuinely curious, engaged, and willing to go wherever the music takes them. That sense of enthusiasm and trust in the DJ is something I’ve felt has been missing from Stockholm for a while.
P: I discovered you first through your productions. When did you start producing?
M: I started producing when I was around 14. I had an iPad back then, so I downloaded GarageBand and started making music on that. Around that time, I had just discovered witch house, which was kind of on its last legs, but I was completely obsessed with everything coming out on Tri Angle Records (RIP). I was really drawn to that draggy, sad, weird, slightly occult-sounding electronic music, so naturally everything I made sounded like a bad rip-off of Holy Other or Salem.
Then I started high school and got my first MacBook Pro. The first thing I did was download a cracked version of Logic Pro and just went for it. By then, I had also discovered dance music and completely fallen in love with labels like Northern Electronics and Aniara Recordings. I liked pretty much everything Aniara released, but Dorisburg was the one who really got me. Up until that point, most of the dance music I'd heard was either commercial or at least adjacent to it, but his music felt different.
When I first heard Tundra, it was probably the first time I realized that dance music could be deeply emotional and melodic without being designed for the masses or arena crowds. I remember playing that track nonstop and thinking, "Okay, this is what I want to do." I still play it in my sets.
P: What was your first VST or synth or piece of kit for production?
M: I still use Logic and never really got into any other DAWs. I guess if playing live becomes more of a thing for me, I’ll probably have to give Ableton a proper try, but for now it’s just Logic.
Most of what I use is Logic’s stock plugins, combined with a lot of sample packs. I think it can feel a bit lazy when you immediately recognize an untouched stock loop in someone’s track, so whenever I use one, I try to make it my own by filtering it, automating it, or processing it in some way.
Lately, I’ve also been experimenting with an amazing plugin called Slink, developed by Dorisburg together with Michel Iseneld from Hypnus Records. It’s inspired by the movement of water and works by sending ripples through 32 band-pass filters that are applied across the stereo field. I’m not technical enough to explain exactly how it works, but it creates these really organic, constantly shifting textures that don’t sound like anything else I’ve used. It’s become one of those plugins I keep reaching for whenever I want to add movement and depth to a sound. For instance, it works wonders for dub techno-chords and to add movement to other elements that might often sound a bit static, like pads or certain fixed percussive elements.
P: I’m glad you mentioned Dorisburg, because you have a track with him called Galapagos. Can you tell us how this came about? Do you have any shared inspiration which informs the music?
M: Galapagos actually started out as my track. I remember Alex (Dorisburg) reached out to me because he'd been playing it quite a lot in his sets while touring. He basically said, "This sounds really good, but maybe you should come by my studio and we can sort out some things in the low end."
When I got there, we listened to it for a while and I eventually said, "Why don't we just keep the melody and make it our track instead?" So we ended up scrapping pretty much everything else and rebuilding it from the ground up.
As for inspiration, Alex and I are actually quite similar in some ways. We're both pretty abstract thinkers and tend to have vivid imaginations when it comes to music. I think the difference is that I work best in solitude. I often find it difficult to translate the things I hear or imagine into something tangible that another person can work with.
I'm also not very technical, so whenever I make music with someone else, I have to prepare beforehand in a way that's probably comparable to showing up for a job interview you're only semi-qualified for. I need to have at least some idea of what I'm trying to communicate.
That said, if there's one person I could and want to make music with, it's Alex. We share a lot of the same values and appreciate many of the same things in music. There's actually a very old work-in-progress sitting on a hard drive somewhere that I still think could become a really nice EP one day. We just need to find the time to get back into the studio together—and I probably need to get better at describing ideas with something more useful than, "It should sound like a liquid sunset." Haha.
P: Okay great moment to ask - Sunrise or Sunset?
M: Sunset.
P: What track would you play at Sunset?
M: Ooooh I’ve always imagined playing Life Form’s “Come Down” (The June mix) during a sunset. I have only played it once before, and that was as a closing track at a festival last year,, but I think it would have benefitted from a different setting, since it’s such a beautiful track.
P: What was your inspiration behind the mix? Did you think of anyone or anything while recording it? Do you have a favourite part?
M: This is probably going to sound a bit cringe, but the mix is basically a soundtrack to the last year of my life. That's also why it doesn't really follow a traditional club mix narrative, and why it's so ridiculously long, haha!
It starts off quite emotional because, well, my ex and I broke up almost a year ago. We continued living together for a while afterwards because I needed to find a place of my own, so a lot of that period, and the months since, have been spent thinking about love. What it feels like to receive it, what it feels like to give it, what it feels like to be completely consumed by it, and what happens when it changes shape or slowly fades into something else.
I still love my ex, and I'm incredibly grateful for him. Growing up, love often felt conditional, something that depended on beliefs, expectations, and whether you fit into a certain mold. Being loved simply for being yourself was something I had to learn much later in life, and he was the person who taught me that.
But this isn't a sad mix. If anything, it's about gratitude. About accepting that love doesn't become less meaningful just because it ends. It's also about the strange feeling of mourning something that you were responsible for losing. Looking back honestly at a relationship and realizing that two things can be true at once: that you loved someone deeply, and that you weren't always able to give them the version of yourself they deserved.
I think a lot of growing up is learning to sit with that discomfort. To acknowledge your mistakes without letting them define you. To carry the lessons forward instead of regret. In a way, this mix is about trying to become the person you wish you had been while still appreciating the person you were.
But there's also a lot of happiness in it, and the mix eventually ends up on the dancefloor, as some sort of welcoming of the summer and “new beginnings”. Some of the tracks are tied to moments from the past year when I've felt completely locked in, either hearing them on a dancefloor somewhere or playing them myself. Moments when I've looked around and thought, "I can't believe I get to do this." DJing is such a silly little thing when you think about it, but it's given me friendships, purpose, and some of the most meaningful experiences of my life.
So if there's a theme running through the mix, it's probably love in all its different forms. Romantic love, friendship, loss, freedom, gratitude. It's about endings, but also beginnings. About carrying people with you even after they've left your life. About letting go of one chapter while slowly finding your way into the next.
P: Thank you for sharing this <3 it means a lot to hear your story and thinking “i can’t believe I get to do this” always comes back to me as well. I don’t know if that ever fades. Funny to ask this maybe after you’ve poured your heart out but - do you have a favourite time to play? Like peak time in the club, or setting the tone for the night?
M: It depends on the slot. If I'm given a three- or four-hour opening set, I'd probably choose that every time. I'm naturally drawn to house music and deeper, more atmospheric sounds, and I love having the time to slowly build a room and take people somewhere.
That said, if you give me a two-hour peak-time slot, I'm more than happy to do that as well. I enjoy playing both ends of the spectrum, whether it's deep and hypnotic or harder, faster, and more driving. The funny thing is that I rarely get booked for the latter. I think people tend to associate me with the deeper side of dance music, which is fair, given that my musical output is slightly more techy, but lately I've been trying to show that I can do both. At the end of the day, I just want to play good music. Whether it's 11 PM or 5 AM is secondary.
P: When did you start djing? Was there a moment or many moments that inspired you to start?
M: I bought two Audio Technica’s and a Xone23 when I had just finished high school the summer of 2016 and just started from there. I think I just wanted to learn, and I had already started to collect dance music, so it felt quite natural to have a two-deck-setup. That is still my home-setup fyi!
P: Where is somewhere you haven’t played yet, but would like to? Is there a specific reason you’d like to play there?
M: There are many places I haven’t played. I think I’d love to play anywhere really, outside of Europe. To do an Asia tour and a US-tour would be cool!
P: How did you record this mix?
M: I went down to Trädgården on a Tuesday some weeks ago and recorded it in the club on four CDJ’s and a V10.
P: Who is your favourite DJ at the moment?
M: I have way too many favourite DJs to pick just one. I tend to think about them in different categories because the things I admire in a house DJ aren't necessarily the same things I admire in someone playing disco, techno, or more leftfield stuff.
But to name a few: Loidis, Luke Una, CCL, Richard Akingbehin, Livwutang, and of course all my friends here in Stockholm; Sergej Orlov who I have my club night Ritmo Liminal with,, DJ Døden, Jenny Seth, Anna Kohlin, and Dorisburg.
And then there's Hunee. We've played back-to-back twice before, and we actually have two gigs together this summer: an all-nighter in Paris and then another one in Berlin the day after. Those are probably the gigs I'm looking forward to the most.
What I love about playing with Hunee is that I feel completely free. There are no expectations about what should or shouldn't be played. You can go from house to souk, from disco to techno, or throw in something completely unexpected, and it just makes sense. Those are my favourite kinds of sets, the ones where curiosity matters more than genre.
P: Can you tell us where we can see you DJ over the next while?
M: Besides some gigs in Stockholm, I'll be playing Bosburcht Festival in the Netherlands on June 13, Bilbao BBK in July, in a couple of back-to-back sets with Hunee in Paris and Berlin, and Lost Village later this summer.
Tracklist
1. Medasin - Magic
2. Cinnamon Soullettes - I'll Show You How
3. The Sounds of Soul - Yes, I'm Ready
4. Art Feynman - Can't Stand It
5. Sam - Life (Club Mix)
6. The Untouchables - Onward Forward
7. DJ Plead - 03 RT3
8. The Gist - Love at First Sight
9. Chez Ali - Untitled / Forthcoming
10. Celi Bee - Closer, Closer
11. Willie Wright - Right On for the Darkness
12. Fatback Band - Going to See My Baby
13. Leroy Hutson - I Think I'm Falling in Love
14. Coast to Coast - Love Is the Same
15. Alex Kassian - Leave Your Life (Lonely Hearts Mix)
16. Fantastic Man - Ode to a Dream
17. Soul of Hex - Power Twice
18. Nush - Nush
19. Anna Kohlin - Snapshot in Time
20. Fantastic Man - Alpha
21. Crustation - Flame (Mood II Swing Borderline Insanity Dub Mix)
22. Halo Varga - Future
23. Pink Freud - Musica Suave
24. Celeda - Be Yourself
25. Debbie Jacobs - Don't You Want My Love? (Dimitri From Paris Classic Re-edit)
26. Voilaaa - Spies Are Watching Me
27. TJ Williams - Heartbeat
28. Joe Claussell & Kerri Chandler - Escravos De Jo (Acoustic Mix)
29. Paramida - Limbo in Heaven
30. Vincent Floyd - Your Eyes
31. Transfeld - Lovesong
32. Blaze - Lovelee Dae (Beloved Vocal Remix)
33. Opal Sunn - Elastic Pt. I
34. Ari Bald - Apollons Arpeggio
35. Lanier - 25 Hours
36. Priscilla Chan - Yeke Yeke
37. Kylie Minogue - I Believe in You (Mattias El Mansouri Extended Edit)
38. Maruwa - On My Mind
39. Saint Etienne - Cool Kids of Death (Underworld Mix)
40. Brother's Vibe - Manos Libre
41. Trevor Rockliffe - Influx
42. Ottagone - Ottagone 013
43. Peace Division - What Is This Sound?
44. Mattias El Mansouri - Unreleased
45. Hard Fax - Embargo
46. Evil C - Spring
47. Disco Hybrids - Everything