How was 2018 for you?
Mattias Fridell: I have to say it was a pretty interesting year in many ways. Mostly in a positive way.
Highlights?
Two new projects I’m involved in. One being Destroyka, which is a collaboration with Alexander Johansson (who also established the idea and myself). We’ve been working together creating music for 20 years by now and it was time to make a full-scale program with a new idea over a lengthy course of time instead of a track every now and then. It’s a concept-based affair, involving music, art and dysfunctional poems. We worked on it since summer 2017. In March 2018 we launched it and kept us very busy since.
Second, I’m part of the techno online community Subsekt [for] a long time and during 2018 it also became a label. Completely run by its passionate members, releasing the members’ music as well as doing absolutely everything else that needs to be done together. Everything is being discussed, reasoned and decided together. Involvement and inclusion! Enthusiasm. It’s a mighty fine thing. No doubt it can be seen as a natural reaction to what’s happening within the scene today. Commercialism.
Too much ego, fake fame and quick results and too little focus on what really matters. The Subsekt label makes a thing of supporting and developing talent and release music from those who never released music earlier for example.
Lowlights?
Everything that is negative with the world — its inhabitants. It really appears the world is more polarized. The humanity advancement is dragged down in many aspects. On a more personal level, when the few ones close to me are in trouble, being ill or doesn’t feel well in any way. I also had to let the vet euthanize two of my cats last year. That was definitely a lowlight.
Song of the year?
It’s always very tough to just nominate one track to be the one stand out tune of the year. When it comes to techno I’ll go with a very basic, purist track to keep things simple for myself: “Kick It (Them)” by Dold on Arsenik Records.
“Kick It (Them)” by Dold
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Never been a fan of dull traditions rooted in religion like New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps it works for some but, honestly, all I can see if that it is just another thing to subdue people in the end. A resolve to change something about you can be done at any time.