Mattias Björkas on the Cats On Fire album

I invited Mattias Björkas, the singer and lyricist from Cats On Fire, over for tea and some appropriate accessoires. We had a good time with Johan, discussing press ethics policies and the saddest authographs we'd collected as kids. After a couple of hours listening to Bear Quartet albums approximately '94-'97, it was time to hear the mastered and sent-away-for-print Cats On Fire full-length album, "The province complains". Just then, I came to think of the article where Alkberg of the same name as us spoke about each song on the forthcoming Bear Quartet album. Thought it would be a good idea to let mr Björkas do the same, for the sake of this website's reading value, and to increase the anticipation about the album even more. I didn't want to ask questions at all, here's what he said while we listened.

1. I am the white-mantled king
- We had severe problems while arranging this one. It took quite a long time, and there are numerous demo versions. Something about the beat just wouldn't come out right, but at the end, I think it did.

2. Astray
- Well, when we'd played it through for the first time, Henry (Ojala, drummer) said it would be a hit song, but that it's 70 years too late...

3. Higher grounds
- People will say the version on Seelonce Mayday was better, it's inevitable... On my own behalf, this is closer to the vision we had for the song to start with. At first, we were going to put it first on that EP. And I guess we should have, although I never thought we got that version right. But it's probably the song we've recieved the most response for.

4. Heat and romance
- This one's probably one of my favourites on the album.

5. Born again Christian
- It's about a certain character. He was in my class when we were between 13 and 15. He was pretty hostile, very ungodly. And now he's a real saint... I don't quite trust him.

6. The smell of an artist
- This one is also inspired by a certain person. By an occurrence. There's a Finnish artist (Teemu Mäki, website), he's quite well-known. He created this installation, it was some sort of video art. An entire film. In a part of this film, he stabbed a cat to death. Actually, it didn't die until the third stab... And then he masturbated and ejaculated over it. He managed to get this sold to the Finnish museum of modern art. He was charged and convicted, cruelty to animals. The judge ruled that the cruelty was unintentional, though. After that, he published this long article on his website that stated his intention to debate the double standards of morality in the Western world.

7. Chain of saints
- Perhaps a bit short.

8. Mesmer and reason
- I'm really happy about the way it turned out. I just hope that people... perhaps I haven't been clear enough, with what it's about. I just hope it goes down well.

9. If you must tell him
- Someone said that this could be an instant radio hit. He's probably wrong, though. Sometimes it feels as if people just want fast, rough and unpolished songs. But i really, really hope people will be able to live with this album. There is "Draw in the reins". "Higher grounds" and "The smell of an artist", they're also in that cathegory somehow. This is exactly the sort of song that you really fear that people won't listen to in an attentive way. Mikael (The Honeydrips) once said that you can't build an entire album with 7" A-sides. I'm eager to hear his record.

10. The sharp end of a season
- We've had problems with this one aswell, we haven't been able to make it sound good either live or in the studio. Now we just have to get it right so we can do it live. It's really one that's dear to me, I'm glad it's on here.

11. Draw in the Reins
- Felt like quite a big step... Every time we'd rehearsed it, we had to look at each other with shamefaced looks, after having been so shameless! But we got used to it, finally. We weren't agreed about having it on the album, we were two against two. Looking back, it was a good decision after all. I think it fits in. Anyhow, it is different. Something bursted inside us doing it!

12. End of Straight Street
- Quite early on, we thought of it as the song that would close the album. I'm sure people can figure the lyrics out with some googling... Not that there's a certain hidden point or anything; it's supposed to be straight. This is the only song where there's any kind of synthesizer sounds. Ville (Hopponen, guitarist) and Henry added them when I was away and they remained there... They tried to convince me that this was Classy Stuff, that it wasn't the cheezy kind of synth strings. They're probably right.

"The province complains" is out in about three weeks.