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Exploring Love Through Music with Mathias SB

By Mister Styx on August 16, 2026

Though he's just starting his musical career, Mathias SB's songwriting and storytelling on Echoes of Us has been thoughtful. It's his debut EP and it's about the various stages of a relationship, past a typical heartbreak story to a happiness, uncertainty, contemplation, compromise and resilience. Each song has a different point of view and a thread that unfolds into a story that is grounded, real, and relatable.

In addition, the EP demonstrates Mathias SB's willingness to experiment. Spanning from the beat-heavy fun of Let's Raise a Glass to the film noir vibe of The Dragons Are Gone and the introspective final track Turbulence, Echoes of Us is a collection of sounds that don't stray out of focus from the importance of storytelling. En route, Mathias worked with great collaborators, picked up some inspiration from song writing camps such as Rena Song Fest and Song Farm Fresh, even introducing bits of his music production process to his final products.

Mathias is also continuing to develop as a songwriter, producer and singer by focusing on learning, discovering new avenues to create and enjoying making music.

He explains in this interview where his ideas for Echoes of Us came from, how he created it and what his experiences are that are informing the next chapter of his career.

Listen to Echoes of Us

https://open.spotify.com/album/2eLoO5cWDsiauJ9EhxdrVg?si=fhrHxUe4Q1CasvYD6appdA

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“Echoes of Us” follows the emotional journey of a relationship instead of focusing only on heartbreak. What inspired you to tell the story from that perspective, and why was it important to you?
It was important to me because a relationship always goes through different stages. When I originally wrote the songs individually, I started to realize that the entire EP could be understood as a love story told from different perspectives. That was why I decided to present the EP in that way, because lyrically, it fits very well.

At the beginning, you are happy. Along the way, you start questioning things, and by the end, you are left with a choice and a moment of reflection. Do you break up, or can you learn to live with your partner’s flaws? Nobody is perfect, and in a relationship, there will always have to be some give and take.

The EP opens with the uplifting energy of “Let’s Raise a Glass” before taking listeners into much more experimental territory. How did you approach creating that emotional and musical progression?
For me, it ultimately comes down to making songs that I enjoy. Interestingly, “Let’s Raise a Glass” was originally intended to be a trance track. However, the producer felt that the topline and lyrics were much better suited to pop, so we decided to take it in that direction instead.

“Let’s Raise a Glass” was co-written with Wanja Hamre after meeting at Rena Song Fest. What was it like collaborating together, and how did Wanja’s ideas help shape the song?
Wanja contributed significantly to the creation of the song. She is very talented. She actually has a record deal with a small label here in Norway, and she has even been featured by NRK, Norway’s national public broadcaster, in an online article about her.

I was also given the opportunity to record the vocals for “Let’s Raise a Glass” at her record label’s studio. That was actually a pretty big moment for me!

For me, it ultimately comes down to making songs that I enjoy.

“The Dragons Are Gone” stands out for its bold electronic production and the use of sounds inspired by the traditional Chinese pipa. What sparked the idea for this unique combination, and what story were you hoping listeners would imagine?
You know, I have always enjoyed making little demos for myself. Apart from singing and playing guitar and piano, that was really how I first got into the production side of music. I often make musical demos in GarageBand on my iPhone, where I like to experiment with different sounds and ideas.

After I brought my demo to the producer and he developed it into a finished instrumental, I wrote the lyrics. With the song, I hope people can imagine themselves travelling back in time to medieval China. The idea is almost like being able to travel through time, which is also reflected in the “time machine” section of the production.

But underneath all of that, the song is really about having a sense of adventure within a relationship. I would say that is the hidden message behind it.

You also co-produced “The Dragons Are Gone.” How involved were you in building its sound, and what did you learn about yourself as a producer during the process?
The producer based much of the final production on my original demo, which gave me a real sense of achievement, I have to say. I created the pipa part in GarageBand and later sent him the stems. The bass and chord progression are also based on my original ideas, although he was the one who completed the final production, as well as mixing and mastering the track, of course.

The process taught me that I am actually capable of producing some good demos. It was also really exciting to have a musical element that I had produced myself become part of a professionally finished song for once.

Including an instrumental version of “The Dragons Are Gone” gives listeners a chance to focus purely on the production. What details do you hope people discover when they experience the track without the vocals?
The production is definitely the main focus of the instrumental version. Even though I was not responsible for the final production, as I mentioned, I contributed quite a lot to it. In a way, you can hear a part of me through the instrumental, if that makes sense.

In the instrumental version specifically, the pipa really takes centre stage. I sometimes like to say that “the pipa sings.” The bridge also comes through much more clearly without the vocals, so I hope people pay attention to that as well.

“Turbulence” ends the EP on a thoughtful note, exploring relationships that survive difficult moments rather than ending because of them. Why did you want resilience, rather than heartbreak, to be the final message?
There are already so many songs about heartbreak, so I wanted to write about a relationship that has complications without necessarily ending because of them. You know, even if around 50% of marriages end in divorce, there are still the other 50% that stay together.

It is almost impossible to imagine that a relationship lasting for many years would go completely smoothly the entire time. I wanted to tell a more realistic story about that. In my own opinion, I actually think “Turbulence” is the best set of lyrics I have written so far.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2y3HrHqBTj4AhckFCKN25G?si=4BL4H7noTb2lTCSi431NZQ&utm_source=copy-link

Throughout “Echoes of Us,” you move between accessible pop, cinematic electronic music, and guitar-led songwriting. How do you balance experimenting with new sounds while still creating music that feels authentic to you?
“Echoes of Us” was intended to be something of an experiment. I wanted to explore what resonated most with listeners and then use that experience to help figure out which musical direction I wanted to pursue. It was also the first time I had written songs in English.
At the moment, I am mainly focusing on EDM and dance-oriented pop in Norwegian, which is my native language. But I never want to lock myself completely into one genre or style, because the most important thing for me is to make music that I genuinely enjoy – songs that I would actually want to listen to myself.

Around the release of the EP, you were also expanding your international songwriting network, including participating as an official artist at Song Farm Fresh in Sweden. How have those experiences influenced your growth as a songwriter and your vision for future projects?
Both Rena Song Fest and Song Farm Fresh are songwriting camps that have given me a lot of valuable experience. They are great opportunities for networking, and I would recommend songwriting camps to musicians at any skill level.

Rena Song Fest is the world’s largest Eurovision songwriting camp, and Eurovision and Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix are major dreams of mine at the moment. “Veien du skal gå” was created at Song Farm Fresh, and shortly afterwards, I released my EP.

“Echoes of Us” introduces listeners to Mathias SB and gives a glimpse into your artistic identity. After this debut release, what do you hope listeners take away from the EP, and where do you see your musical journey heading next?
I released my very first song in 2024, called “Jeg trodde aldri.” It was the first song lyric I had ever written myself, and I decided to release it. The following year, I released my debut EP, “Echoes of Us.”
I hope listeners come away understanding the vision behind the EP and what I was trying to achieve by creating this kind of project.

Looking ahead, I plan to keep focusing on music. This autumn, I am going back to folk high school in Norway to study music again. My journey from here is really about continuing to experiment, making mistakes, learning from them, and releasing more songs. I want to develop further as a songwriter, producer and vocalist.

And maybe, just maybe, one day I will take part in a singing competition such as The Voice, Melodi Grand Prix or even Eurovision.