In Flames Guitarist Bjorn Gelotte on Touring, Eating Ox Cheek + More

In Flames guitarist Björn Gelotte appeared on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show over the weekend. Gelotte talked about the band’s just-wrapped tour with Trivium, eating and preparing ox cheek and more. If you missed Jackie’s show, check out her Q&A with Gelotte below:

What's the best part about touring in America versus touring in other countries?

America is very diverse from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the North to the South. It's almost like going through Europe only it's all one country. The audiences are so diverse depending on where you're playing. I think there are a lot of metalheads here in the U.S. and we really like touring here. We've done it for 14-15 years now and we're not gonna stop because it's getting better and better for us.

You own the '2112' restaurant, which is obviously named after the Rush album. Neil Peart of Rush actually has a section devoted to food on his website. What would you recommend if he ever visits your restaurant?

I would definitely say that he should try the ox cheek that we have. It's fantastic.

Actual ox cheek?

It's so tender. It's boiled for hours, sauteed and everything. It's so tender you can almost eat it with a spoon.

Did you ever think that you were going to get into the restaurant business?

No. I always saw myself on the other side of the bar or at a table. I'm not the chef luckily, but me and Peter [Iwers], we kind of know what we like from all the touring and traveling and seeing all sorts of restaurants and bars. We figured, "Let try to do a place that we want to hang out in." It was kind of missing in Gothenburg [Sweden] so we did it. We didn't know it was going to be this difficult but it's fun at the same time.

Last year's Mayhem Fest was the last time people in the States have been able to see you. Obviously you guys were not on that entire tour, but this is the first time you're back in the States since then. Are you going to be doing any further U.S. touring this year?

As it is right now, I don't know. This tour is doing really well. We're having a lot of fun with the other guys [Trivium]. Hopefully we get to come back here fairly soon, but we always have the whole world as our oyster, so we have a lot of touring to do around the world before we can actually come back here - but we want to come back again very soon.

From my experience with any tours that In Flames have been on, there is always a lot of trouble. From my understanding, the In Flames guys enjoy having a good time and sometimes that involves getting into trouble with other bands. Has that happened on this tour?

Not getting in trouble, just having a lot of fun. [Laughs] There is a thin line.

I'm just trying to say it lightly because last time I'm remembering serious trouble there was a lot of bands ending up naked on other bands' buses.

That's standard procedure. We're a Swedish band after all.

Is that a thing that's common in Sweden?

[Laughs] Have you been to Sweden?

No, but I hope to be soon.

So I can still lie about it. [Laughs] So that's cool.

What have been some of the highlights for you on this tour?

Just hanging out with the other guys. We've had a lot of the people on our bus playing a new game that a Swedish guy made called 'Rock Science,' which is really, really cool. It's basically trivia. What we do on a Friday night is sitting with the dudes, guessing what album, who produced it, who played on which album and you get points for being a 'poser fan' or a 'scientist.'

This coming weekend, Full Metal Jackie will have legendary Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen on her show. Full Metal Jackie can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com.