Not many moons ago I found a copy of the issue of Solo Magazine which was guest edited by Sarah Meurle. As I was rereading an interview with Johanna Juzelius, I was suddenly struck by inspiration. Reading the words ‘Enya’ and ‘melodic metal’ I instantly thought “okay…yeh…heck yes! I would skate to that!”. I was curious to know more about the axe-bearing skateboarder from the north so I reached out to Johanna, hoping to demystify some Swedish myths and traditions. So here it is, without further ado, straight out of the deep Scandinavian forests – the playlist of doom and heavenly harps.Get to know Johanna as we chat about Swedish Midsummer, rituals and cults and of course, skateboarding.
Words by Maria Lima
Hi Johanna! How’s life at the moment?
Hej! Life is treating me good. I have lots of time to do what I like and without glorifying the weird situation that we are in, I actually kind of like that the society is on hold right now.
When did you start skateboarding? I think I used to see you jumping down really big things like back in 2010 maybe?
Haha, yes! I started jumping down big things 2003 I think.
You’re currently living in Gothenburg, right? How’s that?
Yes! It’s really nice. I recently started to enjoy Gothenburg more. My friend Klas Andersson who I skate with a few times a week opened my eyes to all the cool skates spots here and we’ve been skating in all kinds of weathers and just doing our thing. And Gothenburg is close to so many beautiful forests and nature, which I love.
Did you go to Bryggeriet?
No I wish!
Which school is most magical Bryggeriet or Hogwarts?
Must be Bryggeriet. They rebuild the skate park every year and have lots of good skaters. That’s magic!
Is Sweden in general a pretty nice place to live, you think?
Yes I love it. The nature here is amazing and we still have a pretty good welfare system.
Did you watch the movie Midsummer? If yes, what are your thoughts on it?
No not yet! I’ve only seen the trailer and heard a lot about it. But it looks like a common Swedish Midsummer celebration to me ;)) Except it’s always raining on Midsummer.
Is celebrating Midsummer pretty common in Sweden? Like dancing around the maypole and all that?
Yes it’s common. Last time we built our own maypole, had a nice feast and went into the forest to do some rituals hehe. We didn’t sacrifice any Americans to Freyr and Freyja this time tho.
Are you into culty activities or rituals? I guess skateboarding is pretty culty.
Hehe, yeh skateboarding for sure is culty. Yes I would say I am. With all my interests in nature, metal music and Norse mythology it’s hard not to get drawn into all the spirituality that comes with it.
How did you get on Poetic Collective?
As I remember it, my friend Sarah Meurle suggested me to the team. Then we skated a few times together with the Poetics. After that I became a part of their projects and have been skating with them ever since. It’s been so cool and I’m thankful for it!
If you could be sponsored by a non-skateboarding related brand, what would it be?
How would you describe your taste in music?
Epic.
If this playlist was a landscape painting what would it look like?
All of the Nordic seasons mixed in one big painting of a Norwegian Fjord … maybe some fire somewhere in the background … and also a giant wolf on his way to swallow the sun. hehe:)
Tack så mycket Johanna!
Feature photo by Jerry Svensson
