Freak When Spoken To

by Anastasia Jonsen

  “Of course you can hear when certain things happened in my musical life, like the Indian influences. But isn’t it always like that? You discover something that has a major influence on your life or creative side, and then you want it all the time, and you want other people to discover this amazing thing too. But even if the Indian influences are more subtle and integrated now, someone from India would hear it in every other song in different ways. On Cooking with Pagans, these influences are more of an exciting spice instead of a main course.”

  It also seems as if IA is writing fewer “repressed frustration” kind of lyrics (“Inner Revolution”, “Chest Pain Waltz”) now, but more introspective or existential lyrics (“Hide”, “Professional Help”). Is it possible that his inner frustrations have eased off or changed shape?

  “I suspect that’s right and it’s a good thing that I’m forced to think about it. I tend to plough on and never look in the rear view mirror and I have no clear picture of my own development. I’m the least nostalgic and melancholic person I know. Cooking with Pagans does have a bit more of a thinking middle aged man’s reflections than before, when I wrote more chaotic texts such as ‘Inner Revolution’. I like to reflect upon things. Realising and accepting my mortality has given me trust and comfort, and that’s something you don’t really think about when you’re 25.”

  One of those introspective pieces of lyrics is “Hide”, where the person in the song expresses a wish to get away from Wi-Fi and text messaging and find a calmer reality with someone like-minded. If ever there was a possibility to pretty safely claim that the “I” of the lyrics and the lyricist is the same person, this is the one.

  “I don’t particularly enjoy arguing or debating. Christer is much keener, but I’ll say my piece and then leave and do something more constructive instead. And it’s not that I don’t want to hear the opinions of others, but many people just want to argue for arguing’s sake. And people want to argue about small-minded things, but if you’ve seen children with cut off fingers collecting garbage in Bombay, you couldn’t care less about people’s first world problems.”

  Even if IA includes all of us and himself in texts occasionally now, he is still pretty harsh in his criticism of people he doesn’t like, such as in “(Saving Up for an) Anal Bleach” and “Nobody’s Laughing”. What is it IA doesn’t like about people?

  “That is a big and interesting question, and I think about it a lot. There are plenty of things around me which irritate me, not least in the sometimes quite sheltered old Sweden. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sweden, I really do, and the more I travel, the more I appreciate my native country. But we also see ourselves as such fine fellows, but we have no idea of how the surrounding world works. I see myself as a constructive cynic.”

  Another track with ruthless lyrics is “Freak of the Week”. This text may be seen as somewhat problematic, as IA has said that “Internet has been a blessing for Freak Kitchen”. “Like me, like me, won’t you like me?” IA and Freak Kitchen are in a way very dependent upon people liking their Facebook posts and YouTube videos. Where do you draw the line between healthy and unhealthy online behaviour?

  “That’s the big paradox. I think about it every time I post something about the milestones in YouTube views: Look, a hundred thousand people watched us, won’t you like us too? It is a paradox and I write those kinds of lyrics with a pinch of twisted delight at the same time. I bring myself into that story; I’m not merely pointing fingers at others. If you’re going to be an artist and you want to reach your fans, you need a streak of exhibitionism. I’ve learned that you have to engage in self-promotion; I have to put certain things online, especially if you’re like me and want to do as much as possible without external agencies. But it’s a fine line; how much promotion is just enough?”

  Freak Kitchen have had their share of haters and Internet trolls commenting online, and although IA doesn’t actively search the Internet for these remarks, sometimes he sees it because it’s happening in the comment field of his own videos, or in dedicated forums.

  “What bugs me are the occasions where I might have criticized something and it just sets some people off. I would never write snooty comments on YouTube videos or in forums, yet people feel they can on mine. If I joke about how it sounds like Kirk Hammett if a string snaps when I do a clinic, and someone happens to capture that with their mobile phone, you bet it’ll be up on the Internet in no time, and there’ll be comments like ‘Who is he to criticize Kirk Hammett!?’ If I then try to comment that, like, hey relax, it was just a joke, it snowballs so quickly. I don’t get the uncontrolled rage some people feel the need to inflict on the rest of the world. When I’ve tried to communicate with these angry people, I always come out of it thinking that I’m never going to engage in Internet conversations again. So I prefer to speak my mind through lyrics and the occasional blog updates.”

  “Freak of the Week” was never meant to be made into a video – that was the Spanish illustrator Juanjo Guarnido’s suggestion. He is well-known all over the world of comic books and graphic novels thanks to his creation Blacksad, and initially, he e-mailed IA and wanted to send him some of the things he had done. IA confesses that he was exhilarated and begged him to draw the cover for Cooking with Pagans. Juanjo in turn willingly admitted that it was exactly what he was hoping for. The collaboration resulted in an even bigger project: the video, and as an added bonus, a book about the making of the video. But IA says that, to him, that track wasn’t an obvious choice.

  “I feel it when I play the song live; we have catchier songs. But it’s so typically me. I have a catchy song and then squeeze in some strange jazz solo all of a sudden. And it’s not to be difficult on purpose, it’s because I don’t want people to know exactly what’s around the corner. I don’t like musical predictability. But there you have the paradox again. I want as many people as possible to see the video, mainly because Juanjo and his team have put so many hours into making it happen. And yet another paradox: as soon as things start to grow in popularity, you start losing control, and the bigger you get, the more hate you have to endure. When you become public property, you also have to deal with the nutters. And believe me, there are serious bedlamites even on our level. But imagine if you’re Beyoncé, you’d never even open a magazine or ever go online. It’s all hate and sexism and rape threats. Therefore, huge success is not necessarily a good thing. I want to keep Freak Kitchen on a modest level; I love having a smaller but truly devoted fan base around the world. I don’t want to be a mega band, because so much of their time is spent protecting themselves both physically and mentally.”

  But simply by writing those lyrics, isn’t IA contributing to the negative attitude?

  “Perhaps so, but life is one big grey area. I seek attention, but I withdraw from the public whenever I can. Camilla and I are vegetarians, but we’re not vegan, we sort out our household waste meticulously, but I fly around the world in aeroplanes and that contributes to pollution. But you have to try and find a middle ground where you can live with yourself. The video to ‘Freak of the Week’ was going to be sponsored by one of the biggest shoe companies in the world, but I said no. Juanjo asked me, because it would have made the finished product better with the additional money, but I couldn’t allow that. It would have to be good enough using the money we got through the Kickstarter campaign. We can’t have any major corporation logos on what we do, because then everything the band stands for will fall. But I’m happy to do a clinic in Sardinia with the help of a vegan association! You just have to try your best and accept that you can’t be perfect.”

  Freak Kitchen have also made a video for “(Saving Up for an) Anal Bleach”, and while the production is but a tiny fraction of the time and money required for “Freak of the Week”, the lyrics are no less poignant.

  “When I recorded and edited the video for ‘(Saving Up for an) Anal Bleach’, I made the conscious decision to put the lyrics to the song in it. Some people have said that they think I
exaggerate, but I honestly don’t think I do, quite the opposite, actually. Whenever I read about the surrounding world, there’s always some new, horrible example. Dad too concentrated on his mobile phone, kid dies. When I leave my son at his school, I wouldn’t dream of bringing my mobile phone. Whenever I see a parent absent-mindedly mumble a reply to their child while staring at their phone, I get absolutely furious. It truly worries me, this ‘smart’-phone addiction. If you’re on social media all the time, online all the time, you’re never going to find the flow and you’re never going to be bored. And you need to be bored sometimes, because that’s when you get the ground-breaking ideas: when you’re bored, or by accident.”

  IA sometimes quotes Frank Zappa who said that “information is not knowledge” and IA says that to feed your brain with an overload of information is not going to make you a better guitar player or improve your creativity.

  “I’m not anti-technology, far from it, but people need to understand that I’m not joking when I say that you should lock yourself in a room with no mobile phone or Internet for 15 hours a day every day with your instrument if you truly want to explore what you can achieve as a musician. Don’t download apps! Don’t spend all your time watching step-by-step analyses of other guitarists on YouTube! Listen to music you love, practice and play. And remember that it’s not dangerous to be bored.”

  The eye-catching title of the song comes from when somebody told IA that a colleague of theirs had used bleach in this novel way. IA couldn’t believe his ears.

  “I didn’t have a bloody clue you could even do that, until Björn and Christer told me it wasn’t a made-up story – it’s a thing. You bleach your anus to make it whiter. Apparently all porn stars do it and you can even do it in local salons around here. When I hear things like that, I have to let off steam and I don’t think I’m over-reacting. I think my critique is pretty damn mild in comparison to that level of insanity. In the video you’ll see that I’m almost frothing at the mouth and it’s for real, I have to get this off my chest, because I find this level of shallowness so utterly despicable.”

  No, you don’t have to keep up with the Joneses. IA is very outspoken about this, and it’s not just about extreme superficiality, he also talks about social fads.

  “I have acquaintances who have taken up wind-surfing again, just to be able to don a Go-Pro camera helmet and start a YouTube channel about wind-surfing, where the motivation is not the sport itself, but the instant gratification of getting followers. Because everybody else in their circle of friends shoot Go-Pro videos about their hobby. But you don’t have to follow the herd! My whole life is about moving under the radar. If you’re well-known, you don’t have to go to cinema premiers, you can go to matinees on Mondays, like Camilla and I do. You don’t have to go to Thailand, you can choose to stay at home and paint the house with some friends and not shoot it with a Go-Pro. If you enjoy cooking and spend hours in the kitchen, you don’t have to Instagram it. Enjoy the experience instead of hashtagging it. I believe that if you truly, truly, enjoy doing something and you keep that up at a steady pace, you will get attention without jumping on every opportunity to be seen and every Internet fad there is.”

  IA says that he spends a lot of time reflecting over life and decisions, and that he tries to learn from mistakes. He also doesn’t suffer fools gladly anymore.

  “You come with a certain set of personality traits and you learn along the way what’s OK and what’s not. Insight is really important to me, and one good thing about growing older is that you refine your life and behaviour. There are so many things I don’t care for, people I don’t want to be associated with anymore and I simply choose not to. If I discover that someone has a rotten personality or crappy values, I just cut them out of my life rather than to put up with opinions or behaviour I find abominable. Ten-fifteen years ago, perhaps I would play along out of politeness or because I thought I had to, but now I’d never do that.”

  Onwards!

  A LOCAL NEWSPAPER JOURNALIST described IA’s home environment by writing that the family dogs were “yapping happily in the window”, which is probably a slight understatement. The dogs, Bardo and Panja, are trained to protect the Eklundh family. It might sound dramatic, but they are guard dogs, not lap dogs. IA explains his need for privacy.

  “I’m very territorial and if someone stops by uninvited, my reaction is not to put the kettle on, it’s ‘who the hell is that on my drive?’ Of course, that in turn may be misinterpreted, but you know, it is possible to be kind and friendly and yet want to maintain some privacy. When I’m in my official mode, I’m fully committed, but in order to be that person, I need to recharge my batteries by sitting in peace by the fireplace with that cognac. Even at this humble level of a career, if I go down to buy some milk in sweat pants and shabby hair in a ponytail, you can bet your ass that some fan will see me and want me to sign their receipt or whatever. So I need a safe haven.”

  Many artists have an official persona and a private side which are, if not conflicting, at least very different from one another. Camilla, IA’s wife, says that IA is basically the same person on and off stage.

  “The only difference is that he talks more, becomes the entertainer, when he’s the musician IA. When he’s at home, he is calmer and he wears working clothes, chops wood, doesn’t care much for washing his hair and so on. But that’s just two sides of the same person. And just like he’s loyal and reliable in private, the same goes for the official side. He might be boiling hot with a fever and he’ll still turn up. He always finds a solution and never lets anyone suffer for it.”

  IA also expresses very clearly that his official side is no façade: he loves what he does, and emphasises that he is thoroughly pleased to see and chat with his fans after shows and at clinics.

  “People might think that I talk a lot all the time, and I do when I’m on stage, do an interview or hold clinics, but much like with comedians, I’m the opposite when I’m here at home. And I need my alone time, I need my quiet time. I end every day by taking the dogs for a walk in the woods, and I never bring a flashlight. The darker, the better. I even prefer total pitch black darkness, so I have to fumble my way along. I’ve stumbled straight into several moose. But I’m quite happy to stand for three hours and sign stuff in France or Japan where a crowd of five hundred fans pours over me if I show my face after a gig. After that, I need time alone in my hotel room. It’s not OK to knock on my door at two o’clock in the morning to ask if I want to join the party. Björn and Christer know this: if my door is closed, it’s closed to everybody. People ask me how on earth I have time to do all the things I do: it’s because I refine my time and don’t waste it by partying, hanging out, watching TV I don’t really care for, and so on.”

  “Not hanging out” includes Björn and Christer, to the surprise of many fans. Although IA sees more of them than of his other friends, it’s because they tour together, and they hardly see each other when they’re not.

  “You know, hopefully I’m only halfway into life, but our time on Earth is limited, and I have so many things I want to do. Therefore I have to plan what I do meticulously. I’ve already started saying no to things.”

  Although the Eklundh family is very careful who they invite, they do get visitors: old friends and musicians from all over the world. Camilla says that she is very happy about this and that it means something positive for their son’s upbringing as well.

  “Gabriel gets to meet representatives of all sorts of cultures and hopefully that will make him tolerant and not afraid of what’s different and new.”

  IA says that he thinks people are, in essence, the same all over the world. This reasoning comes from having grown up with a house full of visitors from every corner of the world, as well as having travelled to…well, pretty much everywhere by now.

  “What differs is the scenery. If I play in south India, there’ll be palm trees, if I play in Scandinavia, there’ll be pine trees. In India, you might have to mend a cable
with chewing gum, but I’ve played some appallingly shitty places in Scandinavia too. In France, my fans will be very open with their enthusiasm throughout the gig, and in Japan, some may keep their appreciation locked up until they can’t hide it anymore and explode in some sort of crescendo. I met this fan in Japan, and I couldn’t even understand what she was saying because she was so excited; her fluttery colibri voice was so high-pitched. And that felt quite typically Japanese: control your emotions until you can’t hold it in any longer. But the love and appreciation amounts to the same – people just have slightly different ways of showing it.”

  If we look at all the albums IA has made over the years, does it seem as if he’s followed a planned route, or did he suddenly find himself on an unexpected side-track?

  “I don’t really want to look back. I panic over people who are so bloody nostalgic and thrive on finding old schoolmates and talk about old times. Sure, I’m happy about having had a great childhood, having had fun teenage years and a career full of ups and downs, but I’m so very ‘onward, ever onward!’ I love the now and I strive to make the best of what’s coming. You could say that the Mr Libido album was a pretty big ‘oops?’ moment, and I can’t say that I’ve got some grand and clear vision of my musical future. I just do what feels right at the moment.”

  And while we’re talking about making the most of life: IA has finally decided that he’s done carrying equipment.

  “For the longest time, I would rather carry my own stuff and get a few pennies more in my pocket. But I’ve decided that whenever we’re playing now, we’re going to bring a few trusted people to help us carry stuff, rig the stage and so on. I can do more for the band during that time, by catching up with correspondence, PR and so on.”

  OK, so no master plan, but surely IA has dreams? What about playing more classical music?