Ax facts & Stats vol. 47: Madina Lake's Mateo Camargo

Welcome once again to Extreme Guitars’ Ax Facts & Stats. In this issue, we are thrilled to bring you Madina Lake guitarist, Mr. Mateo Camargo. Madina Lake has just returned from touring in the United Kingdom just in time to jump back on the road with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Be sure to catch these guys live when they come to your town! And make sure you check out their new album The Disappearance of Adalia. on Road Runner Records featuring the smash hit “House Of Cards”. Now the interview!

My name is:

  • Mateo Camargo

    Myself described in 5 words:

  • Passionate, needy, artistic, funny and high-maintanance

    My current job is:

  • musician/songwriter

    My hometown:

  • Bogota, Colombia

    My current album or project is:

  • Madina Lake

    Former Bands:

  • Reforma, Neutral, Basica 1

    My guitar influences growing up were:

  • Nirvana, Ultrageno, NOFX, Pantera, Refused, Radiohead.

    The guitars I use are:

  • Paul Reed Smith, Univox limited edition, Fender Telecaster.

    The strings and tunings I use are:

  • GHS SIGNATURE ZACK WYLDE LOW 11-14-18-36-52-70, ernie ball 10-52 skinny top, heavy bottom.

    My current rig setup consists of:

  • 2 Mesa Boogie dual rectifier Rackmount amps, 2 Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabs, Pod XT Pro, Whirlwind a/b/y selector.

    The greatest invention for guitars is:

  • Pod XT

    My normal songwriting process consists of:

  • creating a loop on reason and then bulding a song around it, or recording myself playing for an hour straight, then listening back and selecting interesting riffs.

    My favorite all-time guitar solo is:

  • the song 10's, on Pantera's "THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL". it comes in at 2:39; it is genius.

    My favorite all time song is:

  • "The Great Below" by Nine Inch Nails

    My Career highlight thus far is:

  • recording with Mark Trombino

    My favorite Madina Lake song is:

  • “River people”.

    My most embarrassing moment on stage:

  • falling over onstage chasing a balloon.

    Other than my guitar, the one piece of my gear that I cannot live without is:

  • Protools.

    The first song I mastered on the guitar was:

  • “La Bamba”.

    My first guitar was:

  • Peavey Falcon.

    If I am only sure of one thing in life, It's:

  • hard work pays off.

    The one ritual I always perform prior to going on stage is:

  • taking a crap or two.

    The moment I knew I would pursue a career in music was:

  • Seeing my sixth grade music teacher playing U-mass (the pixies) in front of my whole high school. He took it seriously and started flipping out and broke some shit and then got fired. I was like, “yep, I wanna do that”.

    The one thing most fans don't know About me is:

  • I use to sing in my other bands.

    The best advice I could give beginning guitarists:

  • play for 10 hours a day and don't you dare take lessons.

    CD(s) I'm listening to right now:

  • Mos Def's "The New Danger", Babasonicos "Anoche", The Dresden Dolls "The Dresden Dolls"

    Three favorite albums of all time:

  • The Downward Spiral (N.I.N.), The Shape of Punk to come (Refused), Far Beyond Driven (Pantera).

    Best gig:

  • Headlining Metro in October 2005.

    Favorite junk food:

  • Arby's

    Pet peeve:

  • laziness

    The word or catch phrase I say too much is:

  • "how do you say in english......."

    The hardest part of my job:

  • loading in and out from a show.

    The first thing I do when I come home from touring is:

  • Watch Cable

    Previous or first day job:

  • Sprint representative

    Right after this interview I'm going to:

  • Go into the control room and see what’s happening.

    I couldn't imagine being on the road without:

  • my Ipod and my bass players enormous pillow that Is now mine.

    If I wasn't doing the musician thing, I could really see myself working as:

  • movie director

    Favorite movie:

  • “Return of the Jedi”.

    My mission in life:

  • happiness.

    Guilty Pleasure:

  • smoking cigarretes

    My first band was:

  • Basica 1

    My next major step is:

  • selling a lot of records.

    The greatest contribution guitars have brought into my life is:

  • outlet for my anxiety.

    Check out our Website at:

  • www.madinalake.com and/or www.myspace.com/madinalake

    The one musician I would love to work with that I have not yet had the chance would be:

  • Trent Reznor

    If I could have three wishes, they would be:

  • owning a studio with all the gear I want, Peace in my homecountry of Colombia, and good health.

    When it's all said and done, I want the world to remember me for:

  • my big nose. No seriously, its really big.

    Copyright 2006 Dave B. Roberts & www.extremeguitars.com is the web home of articles and interviews written by Dave Roberts. All Dave Roberts interviews & articles are available for use or FREE reprint ONLY by Permission and proper credits. Permission can be obtained by contacting dave@extremeguitars.com. All materials are Copyright 2004 Dave Roberts and Oceanbreeze Ent., All Rights Reserved.

    Contact me at dave@extremeguitars.com



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