We recently connected with Eddie Matus and have shared our conversation below.

Eddie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When I was at the end of my undergraduate studies in orchestral conducting and composition, I took my first steps in learning what I do now when I entered the Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay (UTU) to study guitar construction. I wanted to familiarize myself with the tools and techniques of instrument making and I ended graduating with a degree in guitar making. After I graduated I was able to move to the city of Cremona in Italy, to study violin making, which was what I really was interested in.

The most important skill that one must have in this profession, in my opinion, is to always have the willingness to exchange professional knowledge and experiences with colleagues. The result of each one’s work will be similar, but the ways to get there are infinite, and it is important not to confine yourself to only one way of doing things.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Since I was a child I wanted to be a musician, composer and conductor. I also really liked manual arts but they always remained in a secondary place. I would perfect my skills working with wood in my free time, until my close friends encouraged me to combine those two arts, music and manual arts, on instrument making.

Today I am a violin maker, I make and restore instruments of the violin family.
I fix many physical problems that these instruments can have, and I also care a lot about the sound quality that each instrument has.
My goal is that every instrument that comes to my workshop should return to the hands of its player enhanced to its fullest potential.

All makers have our individual style or characteristics. Mine is that I try to be empathetic with the problem that the musician has regarding his or her instrument. I investigate the
problem, find a solution and explain it in detail to its owner. But I can also be honest and admit that sometimes something can be beyond my knowledge. It happens very rarely, but I always have to be prepared for something like this.
I feel proud that people are satisfied with my work, and it gives me pleasure to be able to solve each of the problems that I’m faced with.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

When composing my goal is to create images, a story through sound, to be then freely interpreted by the audience. What guides me in most of my compositions are experiences I have lived and strong, deep feelings generated by memories.

In my work with violins my goal is to discover, with the sculpting and the finishing, what is the best sound the wood can give us. I am also constantly researching to develop accessories to continue improving the sound that musicians are looking for, which is the ultimate mission of a violin maker.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In my life I have had two big turns that I consider of great importance. The first one was when I decided to study to become a professional violin maker. I had to learn Italian, which did not present great difficulty to me, so I was able to communicate easily when I arrived to Italy for my studies. Regarding the culture, it was not a big change, I hardly noticed it since we are very close cultures and I was able to adapt very quickly and easily. Seven years later came my second big turn, which was to emigrate, with my wife, to the United States. That was a very difficult process for me, because the culture is totally opposite to what I had experienced up to that moment. Another difficulty was the language. I hadn’t learnt English well growing up and that refrained me a lot during my first two years here from being able to develop my work. Nowadays though I can perform my profession with confidence and interpret in all areas, not only language wise, the requirements of the clients who come to my workshop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.eddiematus.com
• Instagram: ematus
• Facebook: Matus Luthier
• Linkedin: Eddie Matus