Facts: Fire mill
Formed in 1971 by brothers Per “Plura” Jonsson and Carl “Carla” Jonsson and friend Tony Thorén. The band was originally called Piska mig hart, but changed its name in 1976 to Eldkvarn.
Has released around 30 albums.
Today the band consists of Per “Plura” Jonsson (vocals and backing guitar), Carl “Carla” Jonsson (guitar), Tony Thorén (bass), Werner Modiggård (drums) and Claaes von Heijne (keyboard). Also Werner Modiggård’s son Adrian Modiggård sometimes participates on percussion and choir.
Former members include Liten Falkeholm (who later co-founded Tant Strul), Claes Carlsson and Peter Smoliansky.
Eldkvarn ends its more than 50-year career with two concerts in Norrköping, on July 25 and 26 in Götaparken. The last time they had a concert was in 2015.
In connection with the concerts, Eldkvarn also releases a compilation album.
When TT reaches Per “Plura” Jonsson – singer, backing guitarist and main songwriter in Eldkvarn – the band has recently started rehearsing for their two closing concerts.
— Some songs are not fun to play in a rehearsal space. They require an audience, like “Boys, boys, boys,” says Plura Jonsson.
It had been a while since Eldkvarn had that audience in front of him. In 2015 they left the stage in the Concert Hall in Västerås and since then it has been quiet from the band.
In 2022, the plan was that they would both release a new album and go on tour. However, it was canceled – largely due to Plura Jonsson’s back problems. It is still not quite good and in the worst case he has to sit on stage, he says. But the biggest concern before the gigs in Norrköping is whether the condition will hold up.
— I still think it will work, someone said that the audience will lift us up.
The fact that the gigs are held in Norrköping is of course no coincidence. This is where Piska mig hard was formed by Plura, brother Carl “Carla” Jonsson and friend Tony Thorén in 1971.
A few years later they changed their name to Eldkvarn and members have come and gone over the years. Since the mid-1990s, however, the core trio as well as Werner Modiggård and Claes von Heine have made up the band.
Since the mid-1990s, Eldkvarn has consisted of Claes von Heijne, Werner Modiggård, Carla Jonsson, Plura Jonsson and Tony Thorén. Here they are in 1997. Stock image.
They have been productive and with almost 30 released albums, they have a hard time deciding which songs to play during the evenings in Norrköping.
— The song list has been changed many times. It’s one thing what people want to hear and another what we want to play. It’s a trade-off, it can’t just be thin songs.
Hits are promised in any case. And a guest artist with a Norrköping connection. “Perhaps,” is Plura’s answer to the question of whether it could be Markus Krunegård. Also the answer to the question of whether the gigs will really be the last for the band is somewhat cryptic:
— That’s the last thing we do. It is said so anyway.
However, this does not mean that it will be quiet from Plura. He is working on a solo record together with his son Axel Jonsson-Stridbeck and he tours from time to time with his brother Carla Jonsson.
But Eldkvarn will thus be a closed chapter after the two gigs in Norrköping. Should Plura summarize his career, he highlights the albums “Musik för millionaires” (1980) and “Svart blogg” (2007), which includes the huge hit “Fulla för kärlekens sake”, as the best.
“The best thing is that we have maintained a good quality, it is noticeable when we released compilation albums, that we have a fairly high quality. And that we made new songs all the time and do not live on old merits,” says Plura Jonsson about Eldkvarn’s career. Archive image.
The latter is produced by Jari Haapalainen. In Håkan Lahger’s book “Die med stövlarna på” (2023) it appears that the band members have different opinions about producers – not only who the producers are, but also whether they should bring in outside producers on the records at all.
— I like producers, the others don’t, but I like them. Yes, it has been a bit of a hassle.
Plura Jonsson’s television career is also brought up as a somewhat abrasive topic in Lahger’s book. But according to Plura itself, there is nothing that has given rise to any major problems.
— In the beginning, the others thought it was creepy that I was on TV. Then they noticed that more and more people came to the gigs and then the rest of the band started asking when I would be on TV next, says Plura with a laugh.
TT: What else have you argued about over the years?
— What time to go in the morning, where should we eat – such banalities.
TT: Who gets the last word?
– A little different. Sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s Werner, he has very strong opinions.