Mats Öberg
Mats Öberg (Umeå, Sweden, January 25, 1971) is a Swedish keyboard player and vocalist. Öberg is blind since birth. Since he was 10 years old, he and drummer Morgan Ågren (14 years old at the time) have been playing together for over 30 years.
Contents
Frank Zappa
Mats Öberg and Morgan Agren were 'discovered' at a very young age by Frank Zappa who heard their cover of T'Mershi Duween, who invited them to join his band. They performed as special guest musicians during the Stockholm performance. "They played unbelievable, just unbelievable." - Frank Zappa.
In 1991, Mats took part in the Zappa's Universe concert series. Mats reportedly provides keyboards for the unreleased Dance Me This.
In 2016, Öberg, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Hans Annellsson's band The Vegetarians covered Amnerika on the album Let's Have A Good Time.
In February 2020, Öberg released Frankful (produced by Hans Annellsson) on which he performs arrangements and interpretations of thirteen of Zappa's compositions. He also contributed the book Frank Zappa - The Nordic Stories.
Mats Öberg about Frank Zappa
"I've been listening to his music since I was eight years old, so of course, he has meant A LOT to me. His music consists of the things that I find most appealing in music: experiments, different styles (though of course with his own very personal style), and he's got a great sense of humour. All those things together ... well, it's just great. And he mixes all that with what we call 'serious' music, rock and jazz. (...) Zappa has such a wide range, being a great composer, arranger and guitar player. He just has it all." - Mats Öberg, Zappa's Swedish Universe, March 1993.
Concert Audio
Mats Öberg and Morgan Ågren join Zappa on-stage (YouTube)
