Just minutes after leaving Mainstage 2, following an excellent concert, Freak Kitchen‘s leader, Mattias “IA” Eklundh, came wandering into the VIP/Press area at Hellfest. Here to promote Everyone Gets Bloody, their 10th album, he kindly agreed to grant us an interview. Always humble despite his extraordinary talent, Mattias even wrote to us directly after the show to meet up, calmly navigating the usual aftershow chaos to arrive on time. A precious moment, just like him: passionate, sincere, and generous.
A word about your show that ended just a few minutes ago? It’s not your first Hellfest but it’s always something special.
Mattias “IA” Eklundh: I think the crowd was absolutely wonderful. They carried us. We had a wall of death, a wall of life if you will, a circle pit, people were sitting down and rowing… Festivals are always a bit chaotic, but Hellfest is very well organized and we love the people here. We did the soundcheck and suddenly it was already showtime. We traveled light, so Björn (Fryklund, drums) had to use a rental drum kit-I had to pay 700 € for that. He’s endorsed, but shipping his own kit here would have been way too expensive. But it was fantastic, and it was so hot I felt like I was going to pass out, but I took a deep breath and pushed through! Then you get energy from the crowd. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t pass out. Some people were carried away, but that’s it.
Everyone Gets Bloody is your tenth album! Maybe it’s time to release a box set? Ten albums is huge.
Mattias: Absolutely. We’re thinking about a lot of things. Right now, I have a new album called Freak Audio Lab with three other guys—crazy stuff, lots of odd time signatures. People will go mental, but I like it. With Freak Kitchen, we’re actually working on a songbook for the Move (2022) album and a vinyl release with the songbook together. It’s ridiculous that we haven’t done that yet because people love vinyl. We had a lot of pre-orders for Everyone Gets Bloody on vinyl. You can get it signed on demand—or not.
What’s the meaning behind the album title and the striking artwork? Is it about us all having ‘moral’ blood on our hands?
Mattias: I think it’s about me being sick and tired of today’s polarization: “I’m right and you’re wrong.” For me, it’s all good. You can think whatever you want. I’m a vegetarian, I recycle, but the things I thought four years ago… it’s completely different now. I have totally different points of view. And that’s okay! We can agree to disagree. Honestly, I don’t give a damn if you eat meat! My son loves meat. He’s a fighter, loves boxing, and he’s tall… I buy meat for my two 80-kg dogs, which costs me 500 € a month. (laughs) But I’m still a vegetarian!
No salad for the big dogs?
Mattias: (laughs) No, no salad for the dogs. Anyway, it’s all good-people just need to chill out. Because if I punch you in the face, I’ll get bloody too. Everyone gets bloody. Nobody wins in Israel or Iran, Ukraine or Russia. Everyone gets bloody. And there’s also the internet war, arguing online. Who gives a damn? Just relax, life is passing you by while you argue. Have a good life, go take a walk in the woods! Be kind to each other. It’ll come back to you. Be friendly, hug a stranger! It’s not that hard. And you’ll sleep better at night. I just want peace, love, and understanding. And for people to shut the fuck up. Anger is everywhere-road rage, etc.-just relax!
Is there a song that was really difficult to finish? Whether it’s the writing, the lyrics, or the production – a track you had to push yourself on to be satisfied with it?
Mattias: Good question. Actually, that’s the first time I’ve had that kind of experience. Nowadays, with technology and having my own studio, it’s pretty easy to know where I want to go when I write a song. But in hindsight, maybe I should have done some things differently… Some songs just mean more to you than others, you know? Anyway, now that I know what I want, I just go for it. I find it, I solve the puzzle of the song. Maybe next year I’ll do things completely differently.
Is there a song from the new album you’re really looking forward to playing live, but haven’t played yet?
Mattias: Yeah, “The Grief That Does Not Speak”. I’d love to play that one because it’s really a live song, almost like a mantra throughout… It’s in 21/4 time. But it’s tough for me and Björn to play because I have some tricky chord changes, and the vocals are very different from the riffing. I like to think I’m good with rhythm, but this one’s difficult, and it’s the same for Björn with his unique rhythm on the two chinas. We tried it once, but we failed after about a minute. We’ll get back to it though, maybe next time.
Are you planning to release a live CD or Blu-ray from this tour? Because you’ve never done that before‘
Mattias: Maybe. The hard part is capturing the vibe of Freak Kitchen on a live album-keeping that raw, dirty energy without starting to polish everything. You have to leave it as it is, not mess with it, because once you start retouching, the magic slowly disappears. But yeah, maybe one day. There’s already so much live material out there anyway.
One of your trademarks is using humor in your lyrics to convey serious messages. Is this album the same?
Mattias: Absolutely. “Porno Daddy” is a very tragic song, but the title sounds fun-like “Propaganda Pie”. I think humor lowers people’s guard, makes you human, shows that we all make mistakes. That way, serious topics come through more naturally. For me, the older I get, the less I think I know. On the first albums, I was ironic about many things. Nowadays, I’m not ironic, but I can be sarcastic, which is different-and I include myself in that sarcasm. For example, in the song “Hateful Little People” from the Move album, I don’t sing “How did you become” with hate but rather “How did we become“, including myself in it all. It’s the same with Everyone Gets Bloody.
I try to be a good father, husband, and human being, but I’m full of flaws like everyone else. To stay positive and give off good energy, I protect myself from others. I work with very few people. I live in the countryside with my family, I own my studio, my house, a little forest-I live a beautiful life out there. I’m at peace, and I’m just 15 minutes from the airport where I can fly to Indonesia or Japan easily. I have neighbors, but you won’t find them-they’re hidden in the woods. I want to do this until I die, in different forms that fit my age and where I’m at in life. I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke, just a glass of white wine on Fridays. I do push-ups every day, I’m pretty strong, and I’m moderately overweight. (laughs) I do exactly what I want. I’m very happy because I shape my life the way I want. I own my company, I own the Freak Kitchen songs, the merchandise…
It’s a lot of work but worth it, right?
Mattias: Definitely. I work like ten people. I get up at 4 a.m. every morning, have a cup of coffee, and spend an hour gaming online. I’m a Doom champion-I shoot, but in the friendliest way possible. (laughs) Then I start working, make breakfast for my family, and work again. But I never work in the evenings-I watch movies, read, or game.
Your guitar sound is another trademark, and you also do guitar clinics, right?
Mattias: I love doing guitar clinics because I have to get my act together-you can’t really fake it in front of 50 to 100 people, or more. At the Freak Guitar Camps, the best guitar players from around the world come to Sweden. They don’t mess around. There are 50-55 players every week, and sometimes I do two or three weeks in a row. It’s always sold out right away, and this has been going on for 27 years straight. But if you don’t have anything to say, you’re done-you’ll only last an hour. I just wrote a 72-page booklet with ten new songs that will be on a Freak Audio Lab album later. I put all my energy and love into the Freak Guitar Camps. In clinics, I like showing everything I can in my own strange way. It might not be for everyone, but it works for me. I’m the family provider, I own my guitar brand-it’s like a small cottage industry-and I make good money from it, so that’s great. Even at my modest level of fame and fortune.
Where’s your Ferrari?
Mattias: (laughs) At home. No Ferrari would survive in the woods.
Anyway, it’s not just about music.
Mattias: No, it’s about life. Life is music, and music is life.
We’re always amazed by your composing skills. For instance, two songs welove from Organic: the dynamic, bouncing riff of “The Rights To You”, and the finesse, sensitivity, and depth of “Breathe”. Two very different moods. Is it just about mindset when composing, or do you have a kind of agenda or purpose prepared beforehand?
Mattias: When I compose, I never really think too much about whether it’s going to be a slow or fast song. I just do what needs to be done. I wrote “Breathe” between two weeks of Freak Guitar Camp. It was just a cool structure with only three chords – the whole song only has four chords. It was tough to sing too because Christer‘s (Örtefors – Bass) brother had just been murdered… It was terrible. He’s in the booklet; we dedicated the Organic album to him. It was a hard time. I had to take a break halfway through to collect myself. You can feel the emotion in the song.
“The Rights To You” is actually about The Rolling Stones; it’s about being associated with trademarks. They don’t need more money, but now it’s all Volkswagen, McDonald’s, etc… It feels like a lot of companies own the band now. Why do you do this? “We own the rights to you“. Nike offered us a big bag of money to be in our “Freak Of The Week” video, but we said “absolutely not!” It’s not a Nike commercial. I have nothing against Nike, but it’s a big corporation.
Ikea also offered me a lot of money for a commercial that would have been shown in every Ikea store worldwide on TV screens. It was something like €15,000 for an hour in front of a green screen. I said great, but no. I didn’t want to be involved in a child-labor scandal a week later. I would have been associated with it because I took the money.
The US military was another offer; they wanted me to do a clinic on Indian rhythms for their marching band at a German Air Force base. That would have been cool, but only outside the base. They said: “We can pay you €50,000 for the weekend! We’re the military; we have money!” But sorry, I can’t do it. I can’t accept money from a military operation. It would be dirty money in the end. I would have loved to meet the people, but not on the base. Sometimes we just want to send the invoice, but I can’t. (laughs)
We realized our interviews this weekend are with you, Royal Republic, and Manegram-three very different styles, but all Swedish bands. Where does this musical talent in Sweden come from? The Freak Kitchen bio mentions there are music schools everywhere in Sweden.
Mattias: I think we’re good entrepreneurs too-we kind of keep it together. We don’t want to be just musicians, or poor musicians, so we know the business side of things. What generates money… I mean, it’s okay to be in a band for a few years and just hit the road, but eventually, you want it to be your job. This is my trade; I want to get paid for it. I’m not asking for ridiculously high amounts-I just want it to be fair. The same money for the same level, because I deserve it, you know? In Sweden, you start playing at an early age. Nobody lives here (laughs), we’re just ten million people, but there are lots of music schools.
There’s still a great alchemy between the three of you, a real pleasure to play, even for small audiences like in Toulouse, for instance…
Mattias: We’re friends, you know.
Yes, but the music business can be tricky…
Mattias: Exactly, that’s why we keep it tight. We were laughing today because every band has a big crew and huge trucks, and we came with a baby blue SUV I rented at the airport. (laughs). We have rental kits; even Björn put stickers on the kick drums. (laughs). It’s one backpack, one guitar for me, that’s it.
We saw your show in Toulouse, in front of a much smaller audience than today, but your pleasure on stage was exactly the same.
Mattias: Yes. We just love playing. Where I am in life right now, I can say: “Well, I’m not the most popular guy, I don’t have the most Instagram followers, but that’s good. It’s a good sign because it means I’m doing something that’s not meant to please everyone.” You just have to do covers to increase your followers.
Will there be a follow-up to the Freak Guitar Smörgåsbord? Which is a Scandinavian dish if we’re correct…
Mattias: It’s a buffet, yes. Kind of a sandwich with everything in it. And yes, I’m thinking about doing another one. It might happen.
Website: freakkitchen.com
