Welcome to My Morning Routine, where we take a look at how people kick-start the day. And by "people" we mean celebrities.
When he's not recording or touring with the band Peter Bjorn and John (sometimes referred to as PB&J), drummer John Eriksson is the mastermind behind Hortlax Cobra , a more electronically driven project far from the pop that his mainstream group pumps out. Hortlax Cobra's latest album, 1984 , was released December 12 and is based on the Van Halen album of the same name--each track coincides with the original, with the same track names, tempos, lengths, and keys. We sat down and talked to the multi-talented Swede about his seasonal breakfasts, eating on the road, and teaching his son "tricks." --Danielle Walsh
I wake up around 8, I think. My clock is set to 8:05. If I can, I want to have a long start so I can read the whole morning paper before eating breakfast and slowly start the day. So usually it starts with reading one of the Stockholm-based newspapers.
In Sweden, the seasons are very varied, so my breakfast varies with them. Now, in the wintertime, usually I eat some kind of Finnish-style porridge, like really dark with a lot of grains--a variation on oatmeal with hazelnuts, and cinnamon and apples. And some good, dark rye bread. When spring comes, I eat more Swedish-style breakfast: sour milk with muesli and some sourdough bread with seasoned tomatoes and a boiled egg. Summer, I like huevos rancheros with lots of coriander and freshly squeezed orange juice. And in the fall, it's English-style toast, fried potatoes, fried eggs, vegetarian sausages.
If there is one thing that is consistent throughout the year, it is that
John, the Thinker (Credit: Stunt Company Media Inc)
When I'm on the road, it's sort of fun to take advantage of what's special about where you are. So if you're in France, you eat croissants and that's it. And if you're in New York, you might eat a bagel. I like to surprise myself from morning and onwards so it's always different when I'm on tour. If not, I get bored.
I try to go to studio as soon as possible because I think I work best in the morning. But these days,
On Swedish television, they broadcast the world cup of cross-country skiing every weekend in the morning, so I keep it on. The sound of the skiers coming around--it's a very calming, soothing sound.
If I could have any breakfast I wanted, I would bring my grandmother back from the dead and have her make pancakes. When we visited my grandparents as kids, I would always wake up thinking that the house was on fire. But it was Elna, my grandmother, frying thin, crisp Swedish-style pancakes on high heat. Every little pancake had been fried in a tablespoon of butter. She served them with thick whipped cream and white sugar--it doesn't get any better than that.
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