Oskar Eriksson and Axelina Nilsson from Hesa Fredrik sat down together to answer my questions about the really good trallpunk orchestra Hesa Fredrik. Don't miss out on buying their record! This interview was conducted at the end of April 2025.

Tell me a little about the band, how you met and how you came up with that you should play trallpunk in this way, when was this? Where do you come from?

(Oskar) I had a little dream of starting a trallpunkband that would be called Hesa Fredrik because I thought it was such a good name. Me, my friend Oscar Jidåker and a guy named Hannes started meeting and rehearsing out in a barn in Säva sometime in early 2021. Hannes had a little trouble getting on the rehearsals so we needed to find someone new, then she showed up wearing a vest of the finest denim scribbled down with various known and unknown Swedish punk bands - Axelina Nilsson. In the autumn of 21, Malin joined and Oscar then switched from bass to guitar and the band was complete. At the turn of the year 23-24, Oscar had to drop out and Max Löfgren came in. We all like different styles of punk so it all came quite naturally.

Tell us a little about each member, previous bands, ages, hobbies etc etc?

The band today consists of Oskar Eriksson (27 years, guitar and vocals), Axelina Nilsson (24 years, drums and vocals), Malin Arlid (31 years, bass and vocals), Max Löfgren (31 years, guitar and vocals). Oskar likes to drink beer, watch Formula 1 and solve the melody cross (no bath towel yet).

Axelina likes to drink beer, paint and turn things on. Now the remaining members are not here and can defend themselves but here are some things we think they like! Malin likes to drink cider, ride her bike and scroll on Hemnet. Max likes to drink booze, play on Jack Vegas machines and smoke cigarettes abroad.

You feel like a band that is both serious and does a little bit of fun with your lyrics... Can you write lyrics about anything or do you want them to contain something sensible?

(Axelina) It's fun to be able to mix a little, our funnier songs usually have some serious undertone. (Oskar) a bit like the song Flashbackkungen that Axelina wrote, I laugh a little bit of it sometimes but you can also see the seriousness in young angry men on the net who blame everything on others in their closed groups of like-minded people. Yes you can do lyrics about everything but somewhere it should still mean something to me as a songwriter.

Tell us a little about the following songs and why they were written

-Lyssnar på Trall

-Flashbackkungen

-Döda Tankar

(Oskar) I wrote the song Lyssnar på trall about growing up in Björklinge where all the cool people were doing sports, we nerds who built with Lego were most in the way. It's kind of about "yes keep doing sports you guys, you're not as fucking cool as you think, I'm lying here under my cork oak and listening to trallpunk".

Döda tankar is the only song that was written with inspiration from a picture that Axelina drew, the picture later became the album cover. My interpretation of the picture was that they at the table just had too much in their heads for a very short time and kind of shut down the brain office for a while.

(Axelina) I wrote Flashbackkungen in pure anger against people who refuse to form their own opinions because of their laziness. It's about how easy and nice it can be to shut yourself in your bubble and make no attempt to broaden your horizons or understand other people. It's not based on any particular person, but I think we've all met someone whose personality can be attributed to what is said in Flashbackkungen.

Is Conny about something that happened for real or is it just a story taken from the air?

(Oskar) Conny is a fictional story but it is not far from real. I think many people know someone with addiction problems and how difficult it is to break with it.

Hesa Fredrik makes me think of the war alarm or of hockey matches, what do you think with the name, why did it become Hesa Fredrik, did you have any other band names in the pipeline?

(Oskar) As previously said, I just thought the name Hesa Fredrik sounded so good.

(Axelina) We've had it confirmed, usually we get more praise for the name than the music haha.

You are releasing your album Döda Tankar on vinyl, was it important to get it out physically?

-Yes, it was important to get the record out physically, mostly because it is a special feeling to have your own material in your hands.

How was it to hold the record in your hand the first time?

-The feeling was euphoric. To see how the design turned out, to be able to show it to your partner or friends, it was great. We would like to extend a big thank you to Stephan Kamelen Johansson who releases the album!

Do you buy records yourself? Or is it just Spotify? -(Oskar) Me and Malin and Axelina usually buy records. (Axelina) You and I buy mostly vinyl and Malin has a solid collection of CDs. Max likes Spotify.

I think I hear some Björnarna, LK14 and DLK in your music but still you have managed to get your own style in all this, what do you think it depends on?

(Oskar) We have of course listened to a lot of those bands but they all come from different musical backgrounds.

(Axelina) Yes, it is very natural to be inspired by something you like but at the same time be able to express your own creativity.

(Oskar) Yes, Malin and Max come a lot from the metal scene while me and Axelina like to tab in with a little more in the song direction.

If you were to describe your music in three words, what are the words you think of?

Difficult question. Three words would be depressing, reflective and a little mischievous.

The five most important records that have been released through the ages?

(Axelina) We do this so that I choose two, Oskar two and then we fight for the fifth! My two albums are American Idiot with Green Day (basic bitch I know) and Livet är en fest by Nationalteatern.

(Oskar) My two albums are Number of the beast with Iron Maiden and AC/DC's live album from the Razors Edge tour!

The common album we choose will of course be a punk record! We're only in it for the drugs with Ebba Grön.

Singing in Swedish feels just right for you and I hope you continue with it because you don't have any other thoughts in English or anything like that, do you?

(Axelina) Glad you asked! In fact, we have discussed switching to Esperanto in order to reach a wider audience!

(Oskar) We actually had a song in English in the beginning but we switched very quickly to Swedish because it felt right. We will not sing in anything other than Swedish what it feels like now.

Supa bästa som däckar sist is a nice song, will it be the song will end your live gigs with?

(Oskar) We usually throw it in the middle as a little surprise sometimes.

(Axelina) If the audience has proven themselves worthy! We have a minimum requirement of five mosh pits!

What is the best thing about playing live with your music?

(Axelina) To play punk in general is very fun because it is rowdy and loud. You also don't have to play right all the times because you can't hear it in all distortion anyway.

(Oskar) It's a very good community, everyone talks to everyone and everyone pretty much knows each other. A great bunch!

Have you released anything more physical you can take part in?

An early version of our song På golvet igen on Grönpeppar Records' compilation album Ursäkta röran vol. 7.

Is there any good really good groups that you want to recommend, in Sweden, abroad? -There are many, but some would be Bror duktig, Wrong way back, Sekundna, Trallskruv and Jag sörjer min döda höns.

What does the word punk mean to you?

Beer, fast guitars and a nice community!

How do you think it is to live in Sweden today, thinking about Tidö agreements, SD, High food prices etc etc?

(Axelina) It's crap! You get scared of the dark, I'm genuinely worried about what the next generation's upbringing will look like. I hope that, as has happened in the past in history, there will be a turnaround when people realize what is happening.

(Oskar) It's like you've had poop sandwich after poop sandwich for years now.

To have politics in your lyrics, is it a "compulsion" when you play punk?

I (Axelina) think punk is left in its essence. There are those who try to do right-wing punk but basically it's about equality and welcoming. Then I think that you don ́t necessarily have to write political lyrics, many good punksongs are about absolutely nothing and I appreciate that!

(Oskar) I think it's a bit of a compulsion with politics in punk. For my own sake, it's important to show where I stand, with that said I like more to write songs about drunkenness, mental well-being and one's work situations.

Which is the best political band and the best non-political band?

Asta Kask is in any case one of the best political bands. The best non-political band would probably be Skithuvve maybe.

Have you got any response/review on the record yet? If so, what do people think or do you give a fuck about it?

We've received two reviews so far and both were consistently positive! You always get comments about a song that wasn't appreciated or was a little out of place, but we only see that as an opportunity to develop.

(Oskar) My mother thinks we're very good, that's all that matters to me.

Interviews is there anything you like? Is there too much of that or too little?

Yes we like interviews, there is not so much of that so it's always fun!

If you have a question you never get that you want, ask it and answer it?

Difficult question. We can't actually think of anything in particular.

The weirdest question you've ever been asked? (except for this one)?

The strangest question we got was when we were going to be interviewed in another fanzine once and they asked if we could write our own questions. It was a bit funny!

Futureplans for the band?

Record more music, maybe get another album out physically, play a lot more live. As long as we think it's fun and people actually come and listen, we'll probably continue.

For yourself?

(Axelina) My plan with the band is to play as long as we think it's fun and feel that we get something out of it.

(Oskar) My plan with the band is to become more confident in myself as a frontman, I have a bit of a hard time taking a stage sometimes so I want to get better at letting go of the boards. And to squeeze out as many good songs as I can, because you never know when it's going to end!

Words of wisdom?

Don't be a dick!

Something to add ?

(Oskar) Something to add would probably be that those (mostly middle-aged men) who have to shout out "fun that you have girls in the band" can stop doing that now, we know.