Facts: Mikael Åkerfeldt
Age: 48
Place of birth: Stockholm
Right now listening to: Greece, Vintage Caravan, Silk Sonic.
Watching: “Better call Saul”, “Hacks”
Current with: Tour and 30th anniversary as a band with Opeth. Has also made the original music for Netflix “Clark”.
– I think that concerts give a power to handle the everyday, says Mikael Åkerfeldt in answer to a question about whether the chaotic world situation is a good time for metal.
Åkerfeldt has just stepped off an early gig at the Sweden Rock festival in Norway and sips a glass of red wine in the backstage area. As frontman and head of the progressive metal band Opeth, Åkerfeldt has often changed the sound from album to album – from death metal pioneers to becoming more melodically progressive.
“We were seen as traitors”
This is something that has led to some angry fans over the years.
– We made an album in 2010 that was quite hated, says Åkerfeldt.
– We were seen as traitors to a style that I assume we were involved in creating. There was a lot of turbulence then within our fan base. A little threat even. I think music is fluid. Just because you identify with something that happened 20 years ago does not mean it is forever.
Åkerfeldt believes that hard rockers like to stay in a sound that “works” because it is commercial. Opeth has taken a different path. Åkerfeldt identifies as an elitist when it comes to musical origins but can still appreciate when new artists like Bruno Mars borrow sounds from James Brown. As long as it is done with finesse.
“Jan Gradvall said something about everything that is popular being good, but for me it is ‘fucking bananas’, says Mikael Åkerfeldt who over the years has been criticized when Opeth sacrificed his own popularity and changed sound. Made the music for” Clark “
Mikael Åkerfeldt has not written any new Opeth music during the pandemic. Instead, he has worked in a record store and also made the original music for “Clark” – Netflix miniseries about the infamous Swedish bank robber Clark Olofsson (in the series played by Bill Skarsgård, directed by Jonas Åkerlund).
It was the first time Åkerfeldt made film music. He was attracted by the challenge of musically illustrating the journey of a 40s artist who has had a turbulent life since his teens through Sweden’s prosperous folk home years.
– Sometimes you can see knight movies with techno music, but I wanted to date all the music instead, so I sent years to the rocks and said “this might fit 1965” or “this works -71”, says Åkerfeldt.
TT: How do you celebrate your postponed anniversary as a band?
– We never celebrate. It’s about someone from management coming to the conclusion that “you celebrate all the time, time to make money”. I have no idea when the records were released. It feels cool, but it’s not a real job.
TT: Is there anything left to achieve with Opeth after 30 years?
– We do not chase a huge audience or to end up right on time, but maybe we do it sometimes. It’s like I get compliments for my flared bras every ten years when they become fashionable again, says Åkerfeldt.
– If I have a future dream, it is not to bow to an idea of what we are. I like that we are not something, but we are something. It will be little as it will be.