Meet Matas: a Bach to Rock-star Who Went Viral for His Guitar Skills and Received National Praise from Metallica
What do you get when you combine the power of social media and the prodigious talent of a 12-year-old guitarist? Thousands of views, attention from the world-renowned band Metallica, an invitation by Tampa’s top rock station 98 Rock to play at the band’s tailgate show, and media coverage across the entire Tampa Bay area. What started as a tribute to Metallica on Instagram leading into their recent Tampa show became the springboard for a young guitarist named Matas to polish his performance skills and make lifelong memories with his band, Invasion 66.
The young musician from Bach to Rock Lutz has talent, energy and drive. He and his parents decided it would be fun for Matas to play a Metallica song every day leading into the concert and post on his Instagram. With about 176 posts in, he earned coveted views and likes by the band. After that milestone, Matas decided to continue playing Metallica every single day until the concert. Metallica commented on three of his videos and liked many as well! Plus, Matas gained over 1000 followers!
98 Rock in Tampa featured Matas several times during their Mystery Riff segment, and the big bonus was that the band were invited to play at Metallica’s tailgate. The band played for 30 minutes, and the crowd enthusiastically sang along!
That’s the positive power of musical talent and social media!
Meet Matas’s parents
Matas started playing guitar at age 7. At about 10 years old, his parents Vaiva and Arnas enrolled Matas at Bach to Rock Lutz in September 2022. Initially, he started with guitar lessons, then joined quickly joined the band program exclusively, starting with the group Screaming Metal Death Trap as their lead guitarist.
As parents, tell us about your experiences with Bach to Rock.
All the teachers we’ve met have been amazing. Band lessons have been a lot of fun for him. Band lessons have given him more opportunities to excel at guitar, gave him confidence during performances, and importantly have given him the opportunity to play with other kids in a actual band, not just by himself with a backing track.
What would you tell other parents?
We recommend Bach to Rock! If your child wants to play an instrument and perform in front of a live audience, Bach to Rock provides that opportunity, no matter the child’s skill level. We appreciate that Matas was able to easily transition to the band program, and there was no requirement for him to take individual lessons. Since he’s an avid player, we felt the band program provided the ideal music education path for him.
What’s been the best part of the Bach to Rock experience for you?
All the experiences combined have been great. It is nice to be a part of the Bach to Rock Lutz family! The owner, Rick Schmidt, is a good, reasonable person who cares not only about operating a business, but also about all the kids who are in the school. And we appreciate that a lot!
What other experiences with Bach to Rock would you like to share?
Matas and his band Screaming Metal Death Trap won their local Battle of the Bands in the summer of 2023 as well as a National Battle of the Bands that summer, too. Then in summer 2024, he and his band Fear the Hammer won both the local and national prize in the middle school division. Most recently, Matas and his band Invasion 66 won the 2025 local Battle of the Bands, middle school division.
After winning the local Battle of the Band in 2023 with Screaming Metal Death Trap, we posted a couple of videos on TikTok of the boys playing a cover of Metallica’s “Lux Aeterna” and Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness.” Metallica’s video received over 100K views and a like and a comment from Metallica. Disturbed’s cover went viral – it received over 4 million views. Disturbed liked the video as well as posted it on their TikTok profile. Because of such success, the boys received VIP tickets from the band to Disturbed’s concert in Tampa and got to meet the band members. It was a fantastic experience!
Check out these clips featuring Matas and his bands:
Full story on Fox13 – https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJ8YG3yA-dw/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MXdyaHZqcHZieDluag==
Interview with ABC Action News – https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKpoRUxgEUc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MWFmcGhjMTlhaXl1bw==
Post-Metallica interview with Fox13 – https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKtBjQGAQSk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MTdzaDI0Ymp5ZjB2cA==
Last day (Day 258) of playing Metallica every day – https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKk4hfLg2Yw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MXJxNm42ZXB3b3hzOQ==
Link to Metallica’s Lux Aeterna video – https://www.tiktok.com/@bearmusic529/video/7244032602540150062?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7515282729865791018
Link to Disturbed’s Down with the Sickness video – https://www.tiktok.com/@bearmusic529/video/7243652402195352875?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7515282729865791018
Meeting the band Disturbed – https://www.tiktok.com/@bearmusic529/video/7263963640481565994?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7515282729865791018
Tampa Bay Times – https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/music/music-news/2023/06/15/tampa-lutz-disturbed-metallica-battle-of-the-bands/
Tampa Beacon – https://www.tampabeacon.com/news/youth-rockers-find-fame-through-music-competition/article_4697bc36-27d6-11ee-a6e3-df89f5d465ae.html