MILLENCOLIN – The GOOD THINGS about Being Stranded with Fat Mike
Words by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Monday 31st October 2022
Talking Skating and Survival with Erik Ohlsson
Swedish skate punks MILLENCOLIN are returning to our shores in December as part of the ridiculously stacked GOOD THINGS lineup. I caught up with Erik Ohlsson to talk skating, graphic design, and potentially getting marooned with Fat Mike.
I was stalking your Instagram, and skating is something that always comes up. You’ve got your own ramp in your backyard. Is this a big part of your mental health? What kind of good effects does that have on your life?
Actually, these days, I’m not skating that much. My front foot is really messed up, and I don’t want to mess it up even further. My trick days are over. My flip days are over, which is so sad, because I’ve got a hard time just cruising on a skateboard, you know? Since you know you can do more stuff, I’ve got a hard time saying, “Oh, let’s just cruise.” Nah, my foot … I sprained my ankle, I broke my ankle so many times over the years, and now, the ligament … I’ve got a tiny string left. So the doctor said, “Okay, you need to work on this and not mess it up, otherwise we have to [operate.]” I don’t want to do that … Skateboarding will always be a big part of my life, but I’m not skating as I used to, unfortunately.
Another thing I noticed is the artwork that you do, the drawing. How much time do you get to dedicate to drawing these days?
Quite a lot. I’m a graphic designer, doing logo types and stuff like that for people as well. I have to turn down most of the stuff, but stuff I really see as something, like a fun project, I do that. I’m working a lot. Sitting a lot in front of a computer, drawing. I’m doing everything with MILLENCOLIN, I’ve got a boat company as well where I’m the marketing director and doing all the ads and everything for that, and then my graphic design company. I keep myself busy!
So, mate, GOOD THINGS … What have your experiences been like touring Australia over the years?
Always great, always great. We love the country, and we love the people. It’s just a super nice vibe in Australia all the time. You always feel good on tour in Australia. Sometimes, in the wintertime, and you’re at some industrial city somewhere in Europe or whatever, you can feel like, “Ugh…” The shows are always great, but in Australia, it’s always like … you love it! Every time you’re at the hotel room and you look out and it’s just beautiful everywhere. Awesome. Been doing a lot of fishing and playing golf in Australia over the years too. It’s great – I love it!
You’ve played thousands of shows over the years with MILLENCOLIN. What are some of the strangest things you’ve seen in crowds and mosh pits during your shows?
So much weird stuff … Just this weekend, we played two Finnish festivals. This is just an example – it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen … We played past midnight, like quarter-to-one in the morning, and on the last day, people were super drunk. The crowd was good but not huge, but we had a really good time, and we told them to … in Sweden you celebrate Midsummer … You dance around a pole with flowers, like a big pole, and you do a round dance. I don’t know why you do that, but we told them, “Let’s get the guy who can be the pole!” So one guy came up and held up two beers, and we had the circle pit go around him. I was awesome. And then somebody smashed one of his drinks, so he’s got really upset, and then there was a huge fight between those two guys. [Laughs] And then they were thrown out.
Maypole carnage!
That’s a Finnish festival for you! [Laughs]
The GOOD THINGS lineup … I almost shat myself when I first saw it … Who are some of the bands on there that you’re most looking forward to catching up with?
I think NOFX. We’ve played with them a lot of times before. They’re good friends of ours, and a huge inspiration for us forming the band thirty years ago. So of course it’s going to be great to see them. But FEVER 333, they’re a really, really great band. I’ve never seen them live before. I like those guys.
I’ve got a weird one for you. If you were stranded on a desert island with anyone from the GOOD THINGS lineup, who would be the most useful, and why?
Holy crap. [Laughs]
[Laughs] I warned you!
That’s a hard one! It would definitely be fun to be stranded with Fat Mike. He’s got a lot of weird stuff. There’s always weird stuff happening around Fat Mike, and he’s a funny guy, so why not?
Funny, maybe. I don’t know how much of a survivalist he’d be, though.
[Laughs] No, exactly! The surviving part, that’s secondary!
You might have to get GOJIRA to summon up some whales or something, and you can ride them off the island.
Yeah. But I like SURVIVOR, the TV show, and I’m a fisherman myself. I’ve been fishing a lot in Australia. I can probably get a snapper or two, if we go out a little bit onto a reef.
What plans do you have to follow up S.O.S.?
We’ve got some new ideas for songs, but until we set, “Okay, we’re going to record this,” which will probably be a new album, or maybe we just record a song. These days, with streaming, you can put out four new songs. But still, I like the concept of albums, and the next one will be the tenth album as well, so we’re probably going to save it up for a new album, but we haven’t really started talking about it. We’ve been focusing on touring. We’re, like, one year ahead booked with touring, so first we finish up that year and then we see what’s going to happen. But we got ideas!
Millencolin play the Good Things Festival in Australia in December. Get tickets here.