Hjelle from, among others, Bäddat för Trubbel took the time to answer a bunch of questions from me. Nice because I think he's a guy who has a voice with a lot of feeling that I've really stuck to.....March 2025

Tell us a little about yourself, age, why you started playing music etc?

 -I am a full-time working father of small children who lives out in the Skåne countryside. In my spare time, I make some boogie-based rock music as much as I can.

You have been in Bäddat för Trubbel. Hjelle & Ormarna, solo career etc etc. What else have you played in and what is the difference between Hjelle himself and Hjelle & Ormarna?

-I've been called Hjelle for as long as I can remember so it's simply me. After I released the first Hjelle record, I put together a backing group to be able to play live. In the end, there were permanent members. When it says Hjelle on the record I play everything. When it says Hjelle & Ormarna, it is Johan, Bengt and Emil who play. The difference for the listener is that you don't have to listen to my awkward piano clinking, my rudimentary bass lines and my rigid drumming on the Hjelle & Ormarna records. I've been in what feels like a million bands and never put anything down so I'm probably a member of a lot of bands. Everything from psychedelic rock to bands that should almost be described as noise projects. It's boring to just play the same thing all the time.

It feels like you've got your own singing style almost, do you get a lot of comments about your voice?

-No.

The texts are they self-experienced or are they just stories taken from nowhere?

-A combination. On the one hand, my texts should not be read as an autobiography. On the other hand, I've felt every single emotion that I sing about. Sometimes it's things that have happened to me, sometimes it's things that have happened to friends/people that I've met at the pub, sometimes it's a combination mixed with the narrative elements that are needed to be able to convey what I want to get across. I wouldn't have the energy to rehearse a song whose lyrics don't mean anything, it feels completely unnecessary.

Tell us a little about the following lyrics

P4

--P4 is usually on at work and it struck me that sometimes really good music is played. At the same time, I can't stand P3. Obviously an indication of age. I put this observation together with a text about wounds that never heal and ended with a small nod to Säkert!'s "Är du fortfarande arg".

Man på en scen

-I don't know how many self-help ideologues' meaningless speeches about positive thinking that I've had to suffer through at some kind of kickoff or start-up or the like. The worst example I've experienced was when the post office sent out fired mail cashiers who were supposed to teach us postmen who were left to think positively about the cutbacks (which the cashiers themselves were part of). An unusually sadistic measure even by postal standards.

Fötter på fast mark

-People usually try to help as best they can. That is fundamentally something positive. But sometimes the encouraging words hurt more than they help.

You release the records on Jared Sin, is it your own label or how is it? Because you appear on all the releases. Tell us a little about Löparna and Patrik Strand's El-Kvartett as well?

-The electric quartet is that we translate English-language country classics and play for people who like to cry in the beer. I play stolid shuffle drums and write some translations. Löparna are nonsense. Often the idea behind the song itself is better than the song itself. I love silly music. One of the greatest lyrical masterpieces in music history is The Ditto's 'Mustard'. So that's kind of the direction we're trying to aim. I don't understand how people can want just one band. It's like just having the same feeling all the time.

Do you have time for anything other than playing music really considering all the groups and your productivity?

-I work a full-time job and am a father of young children. It takes most of the time. Music doesn't take that long if you're not going to keep on dragging it out. People seem to love to rehearse hour after hour after hour. The songs should be seven minutes long and the gig should be two hours. It's just boring, silly and unnecessary. It's easy today to do things. Record and release on bandcamp you can do with a simple phone in like 20 minutes. Anything that takes longer than 20 minutes is a choice you make because you want to achieve something else. But these are purely personal and private reasons. For example, I choose to release most of what I release in physical format because I love physical format myself. It costs and it takes time, but it's a trade-off I make. I record everything with a porta in the rehearsal room. It would certainly have sounded more "real" if we had gone into a studio but partly I myself like very little music that sounds "real" and it costs ridiculous amounts.

Your music is very punky without really not being punk? How do you see on punkrock, what does it mean to you, is it just a word, lifestyle or just a style of music?

-Punk is a style of music. A style of music that was invented to sell clothes. In the same way that the genre blues as it was understood today was invented by a furniture company and garage rock was invented by record collectors. That doesn't mean the music is bad. Genres in themselves are pretty silly, luckily it seems to be only stophiles like me and those in my generation who care about that stuff. If you like punk then you should of course also listen to Bunker Hills the girl can't dance even if it is not put in the punk compartment in the record store. The compilation album 'Songs in the key of Z' had as its tagline "Get off the focus-group treadmill". It is a good call and a good motto to live by. Today, there is a lot of talk about Spotify ruining music by using corrupted algorithms that give extra tips on artists that they themselves make extra money from. I don't know when the idea that the music industry (or any other form of commercial industry) should be reko started to spread. There are few industries that are as thoroughly corrupt and greedy as the music industry. Of course, the music industry, and thus also Spotify, are greedy bellies who only look to financial gain. Of course, their algorithms recommend music they earn extra money on. But if you only get your music tips from Spotify's algorithms, it's kind of like if in the 80s you only got your music tips from the reviews in Aftonbladet. Tell your friends about what kind of band you like, talk about music in the lunch room at work and read blogs/fanzines etc that are about the music you like. Listen to music outside of the algorithms. Find quality music and tell everyone you meet about what you find. The industry and genres are today, at best, a necessary evil. Support the arts. Support the quality. You don't do that by casually talking shit about Spotify as if it's worse than any other part of the industry, you do that by actively looking for and listening to good music. Regardless of what genre compartment it is put in. Regardless of whether it is on major labels or is self-released. In the same way that it has been the only way for quality music to reach out in all times. Get off the focus-group treadmill!

Is there any really good punkbands that you like a lot?

-I love lots of bands. If they call themselves punk I have no idea. Tjänstemännen, Haket, Raka rör, Trubbel, El parador, Härvan, Mascara Snakes, Polisman B, Andra Alternativet, Svart städhjälp, Kübler Ross, Gatans Lag, Lilla krogen band, My darling you, Hanna Hirch, Roffe Ruff, Billy Opel, Kiitos För allting, Hospitalet etc etc.

I interviewed Tre Folköl from Malmö and compared them a bit with Bäddat För Trubbel and he became completely lyrical about the comparison? That's a nice feeling to hear, isn't it?

-It's fun that people still listen to us even though we haven't done anything for almost ten years. I'm proud of most of what we did in BFT and it's of course extremely honorable and fun that people got it and that it's still listened to.

When you play live what kind of people is it on your concerts? Older/younger?

-There have been many older men who know their rock and it has been a great honor to play for them. In recent years, there have been a few more young people, which of course is also fun.

Are there any types of people you miss?

-I'm so fucking happy, indescribably happy that someone comes and looks at all. I was 15 when I started playing in bands and then I go on for 15 years until we started Bäddat and anyone at all cared. I find it hard to describe how grateful and happy I am for every person who comes to our concerts.

How do you see the political climate in Sweden? Shootings, TIDÖ agreements, SD/KD and other shit, is it just to fight on or what should we do about it?

-When I was 18 I had all the answers. Now I don't know. There is no one that I admire more than those who still have the strength to fight. I don't have any answers. We must stop asking artists/artists/influencers/new age ladies/self-help gurus and other loose people these questions and instead hold our municipal politicians accountable for their decisions. Why they close recreation centers, why they cut back on welfare when they go to the election to increase it, why they sell things that are everyone's property at a lower price, etc.

To have politics in music, is it important or even completely unnecessary?

-I have actually written very few political songs (Homeopati, Fan ta NPM, Maska and a few more). Music is entertainment. There's no excuse to be boring as a musician. I'm just trying to describe what I see. Unfortunately, we live in a time where it is seen as political to describe what you see.

Best political band/artist?

-Gatans Lag and Woody Guthrie.

Will it only be gigs in Skåne or have you been around a little here and there? Abroad?

-We play when people ask. Abroad, we have only played in Denmark and Norway. Otherwise, we have played from Skellefteå to Ystad. I would guess that about half of the gigs are in Skåne.

What's the best thing about playing live?

-To meet happy and nice people.

Tell us a little about the following records.

The first record you bought or got?

-Nagged myself to Hasse Andersson's Änglahund when I turned five.

The album that changed your life?

-Kommissarie Roy record made me want to play in bands, record and release music.

Last album you bought?

-Roffe Ruffs/Bubba Flex - Panterparken 2

The album you're ashamed of?

-I'm too old to be ashamed of music.

The album that makes Hjelle och ormarna sound like you do?

-Kommissarie Roy's record and "Sixties archives vol.1"

The album that always has to be in the tour bus?

-We usually go by train to the gigs so we don't have to fight about who should be sober and drive. So there won't be so much music listening.

The album that you would have liked to have played on?

-I'm so happy that I get to play on my own records. That's good enough.

Do you buy a lot of records yourself?

-Maybe 30-35 a year. Should buy more.

You release everything physically or how is it, is it important to do physical releases of your records, would it feel like you released for example if you only released it digitally?

-I'm so old that I think that if the record doesn't exist physically, it doesn't really exist.

How do you listen to music yourself, what is the favorite format?

-Mostly listens to Spotify. Prefers to listen to 7" EP. 2-3 songs per side is perfect.

Future plans with music?

-Keep writing and releasing music and keep playing live. I really like the level we're at now with the music.

Future plans otherwise?

-Take it as easy as possible.