“They play songs with all kinds of weird time signatures, different tunings, classical Indian music – you name it, but their goal isn’t for you to stand there watching them, scratching your chin and applauding their ability to play in 13/8. They want to involve the fans and the best way to do that is to get them to try and clap along to ‘Murder Groupie’ and join in the chants of ‘Goody Goody’.”
IA lights up when he hears about how people talk about him and his fellow freaky musicians and says that he’s extremely fortunate to be perceived that way.
“The way I am when I meet people, it’s not at all a fake. If I do a clinic and ten people show up, I appreciate their enthusiasm just as much as if two hundred had come. I love to chat and shake hands, but I think my problem is understanding that the hype has grown so big. I’ve always been the one keeping this ship afloat and nowadays the workload has grown so heavy. I love what I do, but it’s quite demanding when you’re bending over backwards to satisfy people and still you get a dozen e-mails wondering why there hasn’t been a Facebook update for three days.”
So, if you don’t get an instant reply from IA about which strings he uses, it’s not because he can’t be arsed, it’s because he’s ploughing through 5,600 e-mails. And by the way, that’s not even a randomly made-up figure…
“Everything takes time. If Germany’s biggest guitar magazine wants to feature a private session with me, I have to create some examples, write notations and tabs, convert the file, write some text and send it. I can’t just send them some old crap I’ve got lying around. And because we’re keeping the organisation as small as possible, I’m involved in everything. I have tasks like that hanging over me all the time. Perhaps three seconds a year, I get to think ‘There! Done!’ and then the mail program collects a new batch of e-mails and the mobile phone goes ping-ping-ping. So yeah, I’m a control freak, but I don’t see how I could manage if I wasn’t.”
One reason for keeping the number of people involved to a minimum is economy. But surely a band on Freak Kitchen’s level gets paid decently? IA explains the harsh reality of band finances and tax matters.
“In France, for example, they keep 35% in taxes from whatever you earn in France. But you then have to pay an additional 50% in taxes in Sweden when you’re self-employed, so even if I get a decent amount of money, I pay 85% taxes on what I earn. Add to that the money you’re paying your promotor, costs for transport and living and so on. It takes will power and integrity to turn down sponsorships that gives you money, especially if the offer coincides with your car breaking down.”
Although Freak Kitchen weren’t touring on an epic scale around Organic, they were playing in all sorts of unusual places, and Björn and Christer got to travel a bit more than the previous members did. Many musicians dream of playing in Japan, but by the time Björn joined Freak Kitchen, he had already played there many times.
“The first time I was there was in May, 1994, with a fusion band from MI called Amatis. Their tremendously gifted bass player Amit Carmeli had gone to Japan and managed to book twenty gigs – and then their amazing drummer Agostino Menella quit because he couldn’t afford to go to Japan for six weeks. I was only too happy to take over, and I had a bit more financial stability thanks to the grant from the Swedish state. We recorded a demo in the MI studio just before the tour with some original songs and a few Weather Report covers and we sold the cassette at the shows. I loved Japan! We played in Okinawa for four weeks and the remaining two in the rest of Japan, in jazz clubs. Then we did the whole thing again in November the same year. It was one of my biggest musical adventures and I was so fortunate to be able to play with Amit. I think back on my time with Amit and Amatis with great joy. He’s truly been one of my great inspirations musically. After that particular adventure, I’ve been in Japan with The Spotnicks and now with Freak Kitchen.”
There is no doubt that Japan lies close to the trio’s hearts and Freak Kitchen are popular in Japan on a whole other level than in for instance their native Sweden. Guitarist Janne Stark has toured Japan many times with his own bands and knows the Japanese fans and press intimately. He has some thoughts on why certain countries have more of a conservative attitude towards Freak Kitchen and others go crazy for them.
“The Japanese have always been mad about unique and technically brilliant guitarists. They have a few great players themselves, but they often lack the originality IA has. The Japanese are also very analytical. They like scrutinizing things in detail and if they have to really delve into something in order to understand it, it becomes a challenge. IA is one of the guitarists who truly gives them that challenge.”
Up until the tour for Cooking with Pagans, Freak Kitchen actually didn’t tour for longer periods of time. Christer still wishes they could tour more.
“The ideal would be to tour for a month, be home for a while and then tour another month. But that would mean getting decent pay during the tour, so you could spend quality time with the family during the time you’re home. I want to tour more, and we keep discussing it. We have always wanted to take care of everything ourselves, but when it came to touring, that became a problem. Today you need muscles in order to get gigs, and because we didn’t have a booking agency, it was difficult. We were afraid that we might have to kiss ass to dance the polka, you know? Lose our integrity.”
Freak Kitchen’s DIY attitude is legendary, but in 2014 the band started working with Triffid Productions and booking agent Edward Janson, who also works with Hammerfall, Evergrey and Dream Evil. This is another example of how IA keeps his business close to home. IA and Edward have a similar background, they have been active in Gothenburg’s hard rock scene since the end of the 1980’s and worked with the same circle of people. Gothenburg may be the second largest city in Sweden, but the truly dedicated followers of hard rock and metal are not that many. The fans may be many, but those who are active – musicians, journalists, broadcasters, booking agents and so on – are a select few. They may not all know each other, but most of them at least know of each other. And to Edward, working with Freak Kitchen is not just a business deal.
“First and foremost I want to work with them because they’re a great band. Our paths have crossed many times, but it’s not until now we’ve had a formal business relationship. They’re well established in a certain circle of music fans, but they have the potential to reach a much wider audience, and my aim is to help them achieve that.”
One other possible obstacle to touring may be that IA is so busy. Christer says that there are two sides to this.
“It means that there’s less time for touring because he needs to be away doing clinics to make money for his family. But his clinics also mean that we get to play certain places we would never had the chance to see if it wasn’t for the fact that he had been invited there. Sometimes it’s not really financially justifiable for all of us to go there, but the experience is worth it; the amazing things you get to see. I had the opportunity to go hiking in Nepal on my own with a guide, and I don’t think that would have been possible if it hadn’t been for IA’s clinics. But I wish we could concentrate more on Freak Kitchen.”
All three members express a love for playing live and travelling around the world. Björn compares his day job with his passion.
“I really like being on tour! Even if I really enjoy being a teacher too and it’s my real job, so to speak, it still feels secondary compared to the band. That’s when I really live and do what I’ve dreamed of since I was a child, and the three of us work really well together. We’re so old by now and have played and toured with so many bands, by now we know how to tour in a professional way. We know how to focus on the good sides and keep a positive spirit all the way.”
However, touring seven months a year is not an option for Björn.
“Not now. I’m way too busy with my children; perhaps when they’re older. We all have fairly young kids and two weeks is quite enough to be away. But it’s difficult at the same time, because playing
live is what I love most.”
Shorter tours perhaps make it easier to stay friends in the band. If you’re not living like packed sardines in a tour bus for months and months, fewer arguments brew. Björn is clear about the way Freak Kitchen handle communication.
“That is absolutely not the reason we don’t do longer tours. If we have something to ventilate, we shout at each other briefly, sort the problem out and then put it behind us. I can honestly say we deal with it like grown-ups. We have a row and then we hug and it’s over. We let each other know immediately what’s on our mind and never tip-toe or play the martyr. I’m a really bad actor. You can see in an instant how I feel and what kind of person I am. I try to be plain in my communication, both verbally and emotionally. If I’m sad, I cry; if I’m happy, I laugh.”
According to Björn, these arguments rarely concern the music itself. However, the members do have differing opinions about live set lists.
“When I joined the band, I had this vision where we all learned all Freak Kitchen songs so we could do the Zappa thing and just improvise set lists live. And I like the concept of being able to play a whole album on a whim. But that’s never going to happen. And we hardly rehearse. I think we could do a lot more if we worked, for instance, with our vocals. We are three people with three very different voices and approaches to singing, and I think we could develop that.”
Christer too enjoys both the stage and the company of his fellow freaks, but mentions that the level of comfort sometimes leaves things to be desired. But staying in hotels that bear an uncanny resemblance to flea circuses and playing equipment Tetris to fit everything in a tiny car is somehow OK in the end when you’re among true friends.
“We don’t complain because we know that we all have the same sore arse after sitting on hard van seats for 18 hours straight. When we’re met by some whining bastards who say they just cannot get our backdrop up because it’s too heavy and too high up and too risky, IA will just do it himself. He’ll climb all the way up there himself and be all ‘fuck you, it seems as if me and the gaffa tape managed it!’ Once he got the backdrop in place by stuffing baguettes in some pipes and let me tell you, you don’t say ‘can’t be done’ to Freak Kitchen, because we’ll prove you wrong! And that’s rock ‘n’ roll to me! People might claim that it’s rock to do drugs or drink until you’re comatose, but that’s not rock ‘n’ roll! Rock ‘n’ roll is not taking any crap from people. The attitude that it can’t be done – that’s what I hate most of all. That’s why I’ve accomplished so many things in my life: several degrees, black belt in numerous martial arts, studied Japanese, played live on several continents. You mean to tell me I can’t do it just because you don’t think it’s possible or acceptable? Well, just fucking watch me!”
Christer says that the force and the energy of playing live and experiencing a unity wasn’t something the members shared in Road Ratt.
“I’ve known IA for such a long time and we’re very similar; we both love the feeling of unity in a band. In Road Ratt, it felt as if we were constantly drawn in different directions. We rehearsed 4-5 times a week and I always said that you have to rehearse like it’s for real. And the guitarist said ‘I’ll give it my all on stage, I can take it easy when we rehearse.’ And I said, ‘No you won’t! If you don’t do it now, you won’t be able to do it when you’re nervous and there are a thousand people looking at you.’ It’s like when some people practice martial arts. They don’t punch or kick for real, and yet they maintain that if something actually happened and they had to fight for real, they would deliver proper blows. If you practice something several nights a week, for years and years, and something happens and you panic, you’re going to do what you’re trained to do, not something else. And it’s the same thing with playing live. You’re under pressure and if you want to be a force on stage, that’s what you have to rehearse.”
IA points out that it’s important to remember that the live experience and the efforts in the studio require two very separate skills.
“I have seen so many bands who were amazing live and then disappointed me when I bought the CD. I would never record vocals reading from a lyric sheet. If I don’t know my own lyrics, the listener will hear it. If I don’t believe in it one hundred per cent, there will be no edge, no nerve. This goes for cutting and pasting vocals as well. It will sound faked.”
IA, who has been a touring musician for 27 years, has rather an unusual collection of things to remind him of life on the road. Some collect nude pictures of their groupies, others collect boarding cards.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do with them, a ritual burning or turn them into a marvellous tapestry, but they help me remember where I’ve been. It’s not easy to keep track of where you’ve been – or even where you are! I’ve had times where I’d wake up in some hotel room, and I’ve had to open the hotel information folder before I remember which country I’m in.”
And speaking of groupies…
“Sometimes at gigs, I get asked if it’s alright to kiss me on the cheek, and yeah, that’s OK, but that’s it. I’ve had to get physical and basically push people away, because they’ve more or less shoved their crotch in my face and that’s not bloody alright! And it’s not alright to cut a curl from my hair or any other kind of weird fanatic stuff some fans want to do. Even at our modest level of success, there are some pretty crazy cats out there, who write pages upon pages upon pages of insane text in forums. But I’ve not become cynical enough to live as a hermit and completely shut out the world.”
Something which is ongoing whether or not Freak Kitchen is on tour, is the work Torben Schmidt does for Thunderstruck Productions. Through Facebook and YouTube, it’s very easy to follow the work Freak Kitchen does – recording, promotion, touring – but there is much additional work done “behind the scenes”.
“There are a lot of things I’m involved in. When a new album is released, I just do it lot more. I’m in touch with the band on more or less daily basis. Listening to new songs is always exiting, either here in Denmark or in IA’s studio. Sometimes I’m in the studio when the album is being mixed. I make sure the finished audio master and artwork are sent to the CD factory. I’m also handling the catalogue number, EAN Code, ISRC codes and so on.”
Because Freak Kitchen isn’t signed to a major record label with branches all over the world, there is also the licensing business to take care of for Torben.
“I talk to and negotiate contracts with license and distribution partners around the world. I then get the finished CD albums shipped to the distribution partners, and CD masters parts to license partners. Nowadays there’s also the uploading of the new album to services like iTunes, Spotify, Wimp, Amazon and YouTube. I’m in touch with our press agent and I correspond with bookers, or set up concerts directly with venues. Then there’s plugging radio stations, TV stations, reporting to Gramex, Stim and NCB, being in touch with our partners around the world, and taking care of possible issues. Just basically running the day to day business, being the band’s right-hand man, and dealing with whatever comes up, and much more. In many cases IA and I overlap each other.”
Intermission
THE SAME YEAR ORGANIC WAS RELEASED, 2005, IA also released his second Freak Guitar album, this time with the subtitle The Road Less Traveled. Whereas the third Freak Kitchen album had been a kind of mixture between all of IA’s musical impulses, a pattern had now been established where Freak Kitchen delivered hard rock with progressive and various other influences, and Freak Guitar gave IA the opportunity to really be musically unrestrained.
The most commonly used word in the reviews of The Road Less Traveled is “unique”. If IA is indeed unique in his playing, what separates him from other guitarists? Janne Stark explains.
“IA is definitely unique! He has a unique combination of having total control over his playing yet thinking way out of the box. His constant search for new angles, odd note phrases, weird time signatures and mixing in other kinds of tonalities
and scales from other musical traditions gives him a completely distinct sound. He’s also not afraid to use gadgets no one else would ever think to use in a musical situation.”
Yes. Gadgets. Come on, we all know we’re talking about the period when IA used a dildo to get a totally novel sound from his guitar. He often tells the story of when he was called in by airport security because his checked-in bag was buzzing suspiciously, and he had to open the bag in public and reveal a collection of wildly humming anal dildos. But through the years, IA has used everything from hose clips to remote controls and kids’ toys to play the guitar in entirely innovative ways.
“I’ve cut down a little on the zany on-stage stuff with dildos and funny animal keyboards, and that’s no conscious decision, apart from my not feeling like it at the moment. I was also a bit tired of having people come to gigs specifically asking for ‘the dildo solo’. Nope. That’s not why you should come to the gig. But the dildo seems to have struck a chord, so to speak, with people, despite the fact that it’s only one among a large number of strange objects I’ve used to make sounds with. More recently, people grew fond of the comb, and that happened by mistake as well. I don’t sit down and try a number of thingamajigs to see which makes the funniest noise, it all happens by mistake. I might sit somewhere, bored, waiting for the taxi to take me to the airport, comb the strings…whoa! That sound! I get so excited, I nearly spontaneously combust! I need to go home instantly to try this new thing! I already hear the song it’s going to feature in!”
But IA’s music would not be labelled unique if all he did was utilize a number of odd objects. What sets him apart from others is something much more subtle and almost indefinable. Janne Stark has studied his sound in detail for many years and written about it in numerous publications.
“First and foremost he has a sound and a tone you can recognize anywhere. Not to mention that he has a particular way of ‘smacking’ in overtones with his oddly shaped fingers.”
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