Interview

Per Gessle talks about his tribute to Metallica in Aftonbladet

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Aftonbladet did an interview with Per Gessle and asked him about his cover of Nothing Else Matters under The Metallica Blacklist project. On 12th August 1991, Metallica released “The Black Album” and it took the band to the charts. Approximately four months earlier, Swedish pop wonder Roxette had released “Joyride” and was at the top of their career. This year, both albums celebrate 30 years.

Per about when he – among 53 artists – was asked to be part of the project:

I was hesitant at first because I didn’t know all the songs, but when I had to choose a song on my own, it was obvious to be involved. It is of course an honor to be asked.

To Aftonbladet’s question why he picked Nothing Else Matters, he replied:

It was on the radio all the time in the early 90’s and Marie and I always joked that it could have been an amazing Roxette ballad. And that’s exactly how I made it. I’ve used the classic Roxette musicians. We shortened the song properly, made a completely new intro and tried to create an atmosphere in the early 90’s spirit. We even added a typical “roxish” key trick. Lovely. I sang the song together with our two Roxette backup singers Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg.

What Per thinks about Nothing Else Matters from a songwriter’s perspective:

It’s basically a really good pop song. Nice and efficient chord sequence with a few small unexpected twists. Strong melodies that you can stretch. Sensitive text that is open to interpretation. Perfect score in my book.

Aftonbladet asked Per what it was like touching one of Metallica’s most respected ballads. Mr. G replied:

Very inspiring. From my side, of course, it was important to do it my way without directly caring about, or mimicking, the original. It was the song I wanted to work on. I wanted to make a Roxette production out of it. Nothing else mattered.

Aftonbladet asks if Per is afraid of any possible reactions from pure hard rockers who think he has touched their holy ground.

Haha no. It’s only rock ‘n roll but I like it.

Interviewer Per Magnusson notes that PG had a period as a hard rock fan in the early 70’s with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Mr.G confirms:

You’re absolutely right. When we were growing up, both Marie and I listened a lot to Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and early AC/DC. And I liked Motörhead, don’t forget that!

To the question about his relations to Metallica Per replied:

The first thing I actually heard from Metallica was “Nothing Else Matters” and “Enter Sandman”. Both were played all the time, everywhere you went. It was in the middle of the period when Marie and I travelled the most around the world. I have no other direct relationship with the band.

To the question if Per has ever met any of the members of Metallica he replied:

Absolutely. I have met Lars Ulrich several times. We have mutual friends both in the United States and in Europe. Last time I saw him was at a bar mitzvah in New York. He is a very nice and social person. He talks a lot so I left him to my wife after a while. She also likes to talk.


PG still is from the recordings of Nothing Else Matters.

Mats MP Persson on Skiss podcast about himself, Gyllene Tider and Roxette

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Musician Morgan Lydemo is doing a podcast, Skiss where he meets influential people from different corners of the music industry, who have managed to develop and build a stable platform for themselves with the help of musical talent, hard work and a sense of entrepreneurship. This time he invited Mats MP Persson who was involved in two of the biggest acts of Swedish music history, to talk about himself, the songs he was involved in, Gyllene Tider, Per Gessle and Roxette. You can listen to the podcast episode HERE.

Morgan introduces MP as a producer, songwriter and musician and is uncertain about Mats being a drummer or a guitarist in the first place. MP tells that in his teens he started out as a drummer, but of course, many know him as the guitarist in Gyllene Tider. Morgan tells MP is recording most of the demos of Per Gessle and he asks Mats if he is also doing the final production of the songs. MP tells final production he doesn’t do so often, but last year they recorded a home-made solo album for Per and that was mastered by MP. Demos are recorded at his studio since the early 80’s and it’s fun that they are also released on albums to show how the songs started out. Some are very much produced, some are very simple.

MP tells that at high school he played in a band as a drummer. The bassist, Peter Nilsson was friends with Per Gessle and Per visited them at their rehearsal studio in the attic of MP’s grandma’s house. MP thinks Per changed then completely. Until then he was sitting at home translating Leonard Cohen lyrics, listening to David Bowie, playing a nylon-string guitar nicely, but the rock ’n’ roll experience in the rehearsal studio changed him and he thought that was what he wanted to do.

Morgan asks MP if one can say that he is Per Gessle’s right hand both in Gyllene Tider and Roxette. MP says Per writes a lot himself, but it happened that MP had some ideas before PG started writing and Per thought those were fun to build on. When that happens, both of them are stated as composers of the song. Regarding their collaboration, Mats says it can only work well if you realize that making it together is one step ahead vs. if you are doing it on your own and the other is doing it on his own. Then the collaboration is perfect. Morgan notices that if they have been working together since so long, it must be working fine between them. MP adds of course there are discussions like could we change this or that, related to the arrangement or so and it’s fun. MP has a well-isolated studio and he thinks his stuff there simply fits Per quite well. Often when Per comes to the studio, MP just puts on the right microphone capsule and Per sounds absolutely fantastic, his voice. Per feels safe there and has MP as a sounding board when he sings. Per decides 80% himself and then asks MP for his opinion.

Morgan asks MP how it was to start a band when they started playing together, how different it was vs. nowadays. MP says he hasn’t really been following the music scene nowadays, but today it’s more about computers and music programs, back then it was a must to build a band, have a rehearsal studio, rehearse a lot and do something that no one else was doing or at least do it better than anyone else, create your own identity. The lead singer often became the face of the band. You had to play a lot to be better and better at playing your instrument. It cost a lot of efforts, but if you were talented, it was probably all worth it.

Morgan says Halmstad has always been a big music scene. MP says he and Per were influenced by the punk era at the end of the 70’s, the sound was awesome, they thought. There were a lot of bands in Halmstad those days.

Morgan compares Gyllene Tider to ABBA in the sense that they weren’t so popular in the homefront. MP says GT was on TV on Måndagsbörsen in 1980 and played some songs there. Everyone in Sweden was watching that TV program back then. Himmel No. 7 and Flickorna på TV2 were already out on a single. They picked Himmel No. 7 as the A side, but Flickorna på TV2 was played at discos in Stockholm, so there was a second release of the single as a double A side. They had a huge break-through then and played live on TV. It was awesome. One could see what effect appearing live on a TV show had back then. There were only two TV channels those days.

They were touring, they rehearsed a lot in the studio and they weren’t really social, but had their close friends around them. MP tells that in another sound recording they talked about 1978-79 when they spent ten thousand hours at the rehearsal studio. They were there every day instead of going to the soccer field or running after girls. The money they earned with their summer jobs they spent on strings and cables. They were really focused. MP thinks it comes from those days that whenever they sit down to play together, it’s still there. All of them 5 ride in the same tempo and everyone strives towards one aim. When there is e.g. another drummer or bassist playing those songs, it’s different. Not better or worse, just different. The beat is not the same. All 5 of them live different lives, but when they get together there is a smile on their faces and they know they are there for the sake of music.

Morgan says Listen To Your Heart is probably the most known song MP composed together with Per. He asks MP to mention some more Roxette songs where he was co-writer. Mats mentions (Do You Get) Excited? and Spending My Time from the Joyride album. As per Gyllene Tider, he can’t remember anymore, but it was mainly their first album, e.g. Flickorna på TV2, Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly, (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän.

Getting back to LTYH, Morgan asks MP to tell the story of the song, how it was written. MP remembers that they were sitting in the studio in Gullbrandstorp or Styrdal in 1988. MP recorded something on the sequencer, what became the verse part of LTYH, one can say. Per came in with a paper and wanted to record something totally different, but he asked what that was. He thought the melody could work with the text he had on the paper. He put the paper to the side and they started working with the melody. For the next day, Per added another part and they did a simple demo. It’s Per who is singing on the demo. MP says it felt like a little happy accident, because if Per hadn’t entered the studio when Mats was playing that melody, maybe it would have never turned up.

Talking about the studio work, Morgan asks MP if he thinks the new generation is missing anything when it comes to the old studio techniques. MP says that in a way it’s fun to have the limitations of tapes and distortions and such things. When they started, he didn’t have a 24-track multitrack recorder, but an 8-channel recorder, then in 1989 they upgraded to a 16-track recorder and used it until 1998. Now it’s computers and it’s much easier to manipulate the sounds. Morgan says it’s easy to sound good nowadays. MP agrees. Mats adds that it’s e.g. fun for him if there are 4 choruses in a song, he wants to record all four. Copy-paste of course saves time, but it’s more fun in the old school way.

Morgan asks for some basic tips from MP as producer and technician for those musicians who would like to build their own studio. What is what they should think about in the first place. MP repeats that when they started they had a simple mixer and an 8-channel recorder. He adds tips about microphones and amps. He says he still likes coloured sounds, which can e.g. be a strange frequency or a certain distortion. It’s so easy with the plug-ins nowadays. One has to test them.

Morgan asks MP about GT’s break-up in 1985, how it was and how it felt. MP says it was a horrible feeling. They all felt that they had reached a career that they couldn’t top. Before that, they felt they did everything they could in Sweden, so they recorded an English album, The Heartland Café under the name Roxette, not Golden Times. MP thinks the album sounds quite good, but what they did before was not reflected on that album. It became a mini LP with 6 songs in the US, but it didn’t sell at all. Anders wanted to leave the band, so they broke-up in 1985. For Per then came Roxette, a collaboration with Marie Fredriksson, trying something in English with her. It was fun, MP says and in the end, GT’s break-up was a milestone in Roxette’s history. MP adds he started working at Halmstad airport at the time to be on the safe side, so he was recording demos with Per and working at the airport.

Morgan asks MP about GT’s comebacks too. Mats says that in 1989 both he and Per turned 30, then Roxette was on tour for a long time, then they made the album Crash! Boom! Bang! and went on tour again. Then there was a pause and there was this Halmstad All Stars happening at Stora torg in Halmstad in 1995 and the guys in GT were asked if they could put together something for that event. It became so huge that journalists wrote it was time for a comeback of GT. So the guys decided for what became Återtåget and it was fantastic with sold out concerts all around.

There was a longer break when Marie got ill and Per did his Mazarin album in Christoffer Lundquist’s studio in 2002 and went on tour in the summer of 2003. Then came the idea to celebrate GT’s 25th anniversary in 2004. They wanted to do the same size tour as Återtåget was, but they had to book football stadiums instead. So instead of venues of 10.000 they played venues of 20-25.000, then there was Stockholm Stadium and Ullevi too. It was totally crazy, of course.

Mats remembers Marie was a secret guest at their last show on the Återtåget tour at Brottet in Halmstad and it was fun when she was singing a verse of När alla vännerna gått hem. It was like being on a completely different planet. It gives you goosebumps, Morgan says, she was one of the best singers.

MP says there are a lot of things and happenings that became really successful, but all projects take a lot of time and energy. In between their big GT tours they didn’t do anything related to Gyllene Tider. What MP thinks is that a lot of people who listened to them in the beginning of the 80’s are the same age as them 5 and as they got older, they would have also loved to relive their youth. They have now kids and grandchildren and the guys can see that there are different generations at their shows. They are very fortunate. Before they got their record contract in 1979, they – mainly Per – sent mails to e.g Mats Olsson at Expressen, to Aftonbladet, to record labels they also sent cassettes again and again and again, quite frequently. It was kind of a ritual every wekk. One doesn’t have this kind of energy nowadays. They thought they had something in them, they believed in themselves.

Their songs live their own lives, new generations are also listening to them. Morgan says they are evergreens. Mats tells when they were recording Puls, they were looking for a sound and they were inspired by the big American sound that Tom Petty represented. When they thought they were ready, Kjell Andersson at EMI said there was no hit on the album. They needed a hit for the summer. Then Per went and wrote Sommartider, so that was the last song they recorded and it became a huge hit.

Morgan asks MP to tell some more anecdotes he thinks would be interesting for the listeners to hear. MP laughs and says there are some he can’t tell. He says many thought they had a lot of girls around them, a girlfriend here and there, but it wasn’t the case. They were really nice and good guys and were focusing on their job. MP also talks about touring in the 80’s and that they had the same financial management as Björn Skifs.

At the end of the interview Morgan asks MP to pick one option from two made-up happenings (related to music and Gyllene Tider) and then pick another one from other two made-up stories and here it turns out that MP played the trumpet until the age of 15, but he can’t really play the violin.

Morgan asks for some closing thoughts and MP says to play music for people who enjoy it is pure happiness and so satisfying. Music spreads joy, he thinks.

Pic by Patrícia Peres, Ronneby, GT40 tour 2019

Roxette – Joyride 30 Q&A with Per Gessle & restored 4K Joyride video premiere

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To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Joyride reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 11th May 1991, Warner Music Sweden organized a video Q&A with Per Gessle. Fans could send their questions in video format in advance and Per answered them today at 3 pm CET. It was a 15-minute-long session, but we wouldn’t have been bored even after an hour of listening to Mr. G’s great answers to fan Qs.

Right after the Q&A, the anniversary version of the Joyride video premiered in 4K! What a wonderful remake it is! So sharp and there are new details in them! No monkey though. Haha.

As the press release says, the beginning of the 90’s was the peak of the MTV era and a powerful – and expensive – video was of course a must for anyone aiming for the top of the charts.

The Joyride video became a really playful and spectacular video, where Marie and Per, among other things, sat on a Ferrari while a driver laying down, being invisible to the camera took care of the gas and brake.

Those 30 years undoubtedly had left its mark on the original video and it was time for restoring it. As part of the celebration, therefore, here comes a 30-year-old version of the Joyride video with sparkling colours and maximum sharpness in 4K resolution.

Per Gessle smiles and says:

The MTV era was a fun period, because everything was so big and you bought all the crazy ideas that came up. There were very few barriers – not even to make a video where you sit in headwind half the time.

Director Doug Freel had done a solid job. In total, he had recorded 186 minutes of raw material for a song that is just under four minutes. After the recordings, 18 rolls of 35 mm film were shipped from Los Angeles to Swedish EMI, where they spent their time on a shelf in the darkness of the basement until the 30th anniversary began to approach.

But the original master of the approximately 4-minute-long Joyride video was not among the materials. So to update the video, there was only one thing to do: start from the beginning and go through all the materials to recreate the video from scratch.

Said and done, box after box of 18 rolls of film was sent to mastering and restoration expert Thomas Ahlén at Filmtech in Stockholm. He immediately noticed that the materials were in unexpectedly good condition and started the work of removing dirt and sharpening colours and details.

Thomas Ahlén tells:

Since the film reels haven’t been used in all these years, they were very well preserved. It’s been a time-consuming job, but at the same time much fun to be able to present a 30-year-old video in the best possible way. The fact that all the raw materials were silent films and then they had to be matched to the single version was just one of the challenges.

In this project of Joyride – the 30th anniversary version, a piece of Swedish pop history meets the enormous technological development that has taken place in moving media since 1991. The result is a version that follows the original video to 75%.

Per tells:

Some so-called “green screen” scenes have been removed, because they were very difficult to recreate. Instead, we’ve found other goodies in the raw material. In the long run, however, we plan to restore the video completely – and perhaps also other Roxette videos – in 4K resolution.

Joyride’s 30th anniversary is celebrated this autumn with a vinyl box that will consist of 4 LP’s and a 3-CD set, which in addition to the original edition will contain lots of unreleased or hard-to-find materials that paints a larger picture of a piece of Swedish music history.

The 4K video is available on YouTube, as well as the Q&A with Per. Stills are from these videos.

Joyride 30th anniversary – RoxBlog interview with Per Gessle – „… loved to be in this wonderful Roxette balloon with Marie”

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Music-wise Joyride was the first real life-changing experience for me and I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who felt the same when first heard either the title song or the complete record. It’s been 30 years now since we joined the joyride and became magic friends. The little girl who in 1991 was sitting persistently in front of MTV to catch the video certainly wouldn’t have thought that 30 years later she would ask the guy in the world’s best power pop duo about this album. I hope you’ll enjoy the reading as much as I enjoyed doing this interview with Mr. G.

Patrícia Peres: – Hej Per! Your best selling record, „Joyride” is celebrating its 30th anniversary today! Congratulations! It’s a very important album both in your career and in Roxers’ life. How do you feel about this anniversary? Have you already popped champagne?

Per Gessle: – Hello Patricia. And thanks. No champagne yet, still on cappuccino time here!!!
Yea, well… there are so many record anniversaries going on all the time. But of course „Joyride” is special. It’s a very important album for us from every angle. Together with Warner I’m planning a beautiful box set for release later this year.

PP: – After the success of „Look Sharp!”, how much did you feel the pressure to make something bigger and better? How did it effect your songwriting?

PG: – Oh, I was always triggered by success. You have to remember we came from nowhere (spelled S-W-E-D-E-N) so we didn’t take ANYTHING for granted. The more success we got the better songs I wrote. It felt like that anyway. It was the same for Marie. The bigger she became, the better performances she made, both in the studio and on stage. It’s all about self confidence.
However, looking back and checking the drawers, I don’t really understand how I found the time to do all this writing and to record so many demos. We were travelling the world constantly! But I guess I was fairly young, highly motivated and loved to be in this wonderful Roxette balloon with Marie. No rest for the wicked.

PP: – Because of the Gulf War, you had to postpone the album release. What were your thoughts on this?

PG: – Yea, it was delayed a month or so. Maybe six weeks. I don’t know if that mattered, I don’t think so. The basic reason for Joyride’s success was the timing. It’s always the most important thing. The music we made turned out to be the perfect soundtrack to 1991 for some reason.

PP: – The album sleeve became very colourful, it has definitely more colours than the first 2 Roxette album covers. Did you also feel that your music got more colourful?

PG: – We always wanted Roxette to be a colourful band. Personally I wanted us primarily to be more pop than rock. Power pop. Pop with an edge. That was always a constant discussion between Marie, Clarence and myself. What was Roxette all about? For me it was easy. But all of us came from different musical backgrounds so the answer wasn’t easy for everyone.
When I wrote the „Joyride” album my ambition was to write only songs that were strong enough to become hit singles. I didn’t really succeed, but that was my master plan.

PP: – On the edge of the sleeve it’s written „Don’t bore us – get to the chorus”. Did you take this phrase as a guiding line during songwriting?

PG: – Hahaha, yes I did. It was something our US manager Herbie Herbert once said and I loved it and thought it made sense in our particular corner of this crazy music biz.

PP: – Different formats played an important role here. 3 tracks were not released on the original LP, but on the CD version. Were you happy for the appearance of CD format in general and in this case?

PG: – No, I never liked the CD format. I like album sleeves. They are bigger and you can present the music and the idea behind the record in a proper way. It’s a piece of art and you should treat it like that. You can’t really do that with a CD.

PP: – How long did you play with the title „Joyride”? Is there a scientific reason behind going for it without the „r” in the end that was still there in the first demo’s title?

PG: – It was called „Joyrider” to begin with. I think all of us felt „Join the joyride” was an excellent slogan for what we were doing at the time. So I guess there were probably a few hours when the song was called „Join the joyride” as well. But, following the Don’t Bore Us-mantra… we made it simple and snappy. „Joyride” it was!

PP: – How should we imagine the day you wrote „Joyride” and „Spending My Time”? You enter the room where your piano is, you see Åsa’s note there and…?

PG: – I have only vague memories of it but I’ve checked my files and it looks like I was at home in our apartment in Halmstad and started the day writing „Spending My Time” on the piano, creating the verse and the instrumental melody in the outro (which was actually written as an intro).
I think the main part of the chorus came from something MP had written. He used to present snippets he had made and sometimes I used them in my writing process. He came by for an hour or two as well.
Then I changed to acoustic guitar and wrote „Joyride” after finding Åsa’s note. It all happened very quickly. I finished writing „Joyride” the day after.
Both lyrics were written basically at the same time as the music. I changed some words along the way but not that many. It must have been a sunny weekend. May 19-20, 1990.

PP: – Were there different whistle melodies or was it this tune from the very beginning?

PG: – It was the same melody from the beginning. I got the idea to whistle from Monty Python’s „Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”.

PP: – Is „Joyride” a perfect pop song in your book?

PG: – It’s one of my best anyway. I’m not 100% satisfied with the production though. I think it’s a little thick and meaty and the song could go a little faster. Also, I don’t sing it very well, but that was the best I could do at the time. I always feel relieved when the middle-eight comes in and Marie starts to sing… I take you on a skyride… she sounds so much better.

PP: – You have four US No. 1’s! That’s huge! When „Joyride” reached the top, did you feel the same excitement as with the first three No.1’s?

PG: – Yes, I did. It was unbelievable. I was in Paris that day with Åsa, Clarence and Anna, his girlfriend at the time. We all went to La Coupole in the evening to celebrate. I remember staying at the Raphael Hotel. Åsa woke up in the middle of night seeing a ghost (it wasn’t me!) so we moved out. That’s Paris for you! Hahaha, I should write a book!

PP: – „Ghosts of Paris”, would be a bestseller! Haha. Your career was soaring in the US and one would have thought that nothing could go wrong. Then shit happened with EMI. Do you think if „Spending My Time” had been released much earlier, maybe even as the lead single, it could have also reached a No. 1 spot on the Billboard?

PG: – I think the new 1992-regime at EMI USA, led by Charles Koppelman, definitely weakened us in that market. The „new” EMI showed no interest in us whatsoever and certainly didn’t know what to do with two foreigners speaking a strange language even though we’ve had so much success in their country. So they basically just let everything slide.
With the support from the people at the „old” EMI I’m pretty sure „Spending My Time” would have been a Top 5 single. It was climbing fast on the Billboard Hot 100 when the take-over at EMI took place. Then it just stopped.
The whole marketing campaign set up for the „Joyride” album in the US was supposed to peak with „Spending My Time” being released in the winter/spring of 1992. It was regarded as „the big one” on the album. The natural follow-up to „Listen To Your Heart” and „It Must Have Been Love”.

PP: – You wrote the lyrics to „Watercolours In The Rain” several years before „Joyride” was in sight. What project did you write it for originally?

PG: – I don’t know. I wrote so much all the time. Poems, lyrics, phrases. I always liked that title, it makes your imagination tick. As you know, there’s a Swedish song with the same title I wrote back in 1982 (for Gyllene Tider), „Som regn på en akvarell”. Maybe I should have another go in French?

PP: – „Aquarelles sous la pluie”? Hm. It’s the only song Marie wrote the music to. Back then how motivated was she to maybe write more for Roxette?

PG: – Roxette’s fundamental idea was me being the main writer and Marie being the main singer. Marie never really wrote Top 40 songs in those days and Roxette’s only chance initially to go abroad was via „hit records”.
Over the years Marie presented a little bit more material for Roxette, but at this particular time she focused primarily on her Swedish stuff. The main reason was probably that she felt she couldn’t express herself lyrically that well in English.
Also, generally speaking, she didn’t write as much as I did. When we had time off I spent basically every day in the studio, writing and demoing new songs. I was ALWAYS working!
Marie needed much more space outside of Roxette than I did. We were different.

PP: – Music to „Hotblooded” you co-wrote with Marie. It was one of the last demos recorded for „Joyride”. Was it written together to make a difference vs. other songs on the album?

PG: – No, „Hotblooded” was written in January 1990 when Marie came down to the westcoast for a couple of days. We wrote and demoed „Hotblooded” and „Watercolours In The Rain” during those sessions.

PP: – You’re so right! The date of the „Bag Of Trix” demo fooled me, but even in the previous interview I did with you you mentioned that there is an earlier demo of „Hotblooded” with guitars + bass + drums.

PG: – For „Hotblooded” Marie wanted something really simple and sexy to sing so we used basically just one chord in the verse. Marie improvised a bluesy melody to a lyric that I had and it sounded really cool. I think I wrote that Jimmy Page-style guitar riff on the spot, but it was definitely MP who played it on the demo. Too tricky for me.
Later in January and early February Marie, Clarence and Anders joined MP and me at the T&A temple to start the real production of the album. The first song we cut was „(Do You Get) Excited?”. I remember that clearly because the electricity in the studio went down. A total blackout. Tiny village.
We had so many songs floating around the „Joyride” album at the time. Anders and Clarence programmed, for instance, a version of „Shelter From The Storm” („Segla på ett moln”) for Marie to sing. We even demoed two old Gyllene Tider-songs; „Run Run Run” and „Another Place, Another Time”. But we had better stuff coming.

PP: – „Knockin’ On Every Door” started out as „Rocket” in 1987. How can you keep distance from your songs to be able to rewrite them to an extent that even Clarence wouldn’t realize it’s the same song?

PG: – Hahaha, he’s pretty easy to fool! Nah, he’s a tough one. I really loved „Rocket” when it was written, but I had a hard time convincing Clarence and Marie to use it for „Look Sharp!”. So I re-did it (= put a shuffle-beat to it + wrote new lyrics). I think Clarence started to like it when Jonas played that guitar riff in the studio. It was a monster hook!

PP: – Why did you decide to remix „Soul Deep” and include it on „Joyride” instead of a totally new song from the many you had written for this album?

PG: – Because it was Marie’s big showstopper live and we were heading for a huge world tour! It was an amazing song to play in concert, Marie loved it. So did the crowd.

PP: – One can never know when it comes to you: is there any song on the album that has a Swedish lyric too? Except for „Soul Deep”, of course.

PG: – No. Sorry. All custom made.

PP: – I think „Small Talk” is the song you talked about the least. Any confessions that have to be heard?

PG: – All of us felt it was a little bit too similar to „Dressed For Success” stylewise. But not as good. I think it found its place on the album because we needed uptempo songs to get the right balance.

PP: – We are lucky to have „The Making of Joyride” docu where we can follow the process of recordings through „The Big L.”. It’s the only single that wasn’t released in the US. Why wasn’t it considered?

PG: – Because EMI USA wasn’t interested in us anymore.

PP: – „Perfect Day” is a difficult song vocally. Is there a demo that you sing?

PG: – No, thank God! I have a T&A-demo with Marie singing made in August 1990. Haven’t you heard it? MP plays hillbilly accordion!

PP: – The demo you released on „Bag Of Trix” is definitely a fab one. Regarding „Perfect Day”, Marie said it was a song she had dreamed about. Do you remember her first reactions to it?

PG: – She adored it immediately and I knew she would. It’s a tough one to sing and she loved that challenge. She didn’t even use her falsetto voice on the recording. She sang it „au naturel”. Outstanding!

PP: – Once this song was in sight, it kicked away „Queen Of Rain” from its album closer position on „Joyride”. Then there were songs you gave easily away to other artists (e.g. „The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye), while you didn’t give „Queen Of Rain” to anyone even if they asked for it. How did you decide which ones could go and which ones to keep?

PG: – Since I’ve always been an artist as well as a songwriter I’ve obviously saved the best material for my own projects. It’s a big difference compared to being solely a professional songwriter. Then you’re a „hired gun” and have to compromise a bit more to please „the customer”. My priorities have always been Roxette, GT and my solo career. And Mono Mind and The Lonely Boys, of course.
Laura Branigan got hold of both „The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye” and „Queen Of Rain”. I can’t remember how. She wanted to record both of them, but Marie wanted us to keep „Queen Of Rain” for Roxette. So we did.
Phil Ramone produced Laura Branigan at the time. He liked my songwriting and I was really flattered that someone like him took interest in my work. He produced, as you probably know, superb records by Paul Simon and Billy Joel and did some amazing stuff over a long period of time.

PP: – „Church Of Your Heart” was suggested to be a single by the American record company. Did it make sense to release a single that was not on the original album (LP), only on the CD version?

PG: – No, we never understood that. It was a leftover from the LP. Clarence hated it. Jonas loved it, though. I thought it was kinda nice, but I don’t think Marie liked it very much. It wasn’t really her cup of tea. It was more me pretending to be Halmstad’s Tom Petty.

PP: – You wrote so many songs for „Joyride” that it could have easily been a double album. Weren’t you thinking about it back in the days?

PG: – No, we were in the Top 40 game. No double albums allowed. Thank you very much.

PP: – You had quite produced demos, knowing exactly how you wanted the songs to sound. Still if we watch „The Making of Joyride”, we can see there was creativity on the sessions and changes were added here and there, even if the final songs sound quite like your demos. How did that work with the team?

PG: – Well, the more comfortable I felt in the studio the more advanced demos I made together with MP. But the whole Roxette thing was a collaboration and a teamwork and I was always very open to that.
If Jonas presented a guitar sound or a riff we took it seriously, listened closely and had an opinion. The same went for everyone. Marie changed some of the melodies sometimes, Clarence sneaked in a new chord here and there. Or a different modulation. Maybe Anders changed the beat or the tempo to a song. I loved that. It all made the songs better and created that glimmering Roxette Universe.

PP: – Which of your lyrics on „Joyride” do you think is the best still today?

PG: – I don’t know. „Spending My Time” is pretty good. „Excited” is OK. „Joyride” is a good idea.

PP: – Which song was the trickiest to write?

PG: – There were no big hickups with these songs. You start with an idea and go from there. If you get stuck you throw it away and start something new.
I’m a pretty restless person, so I don’t like to spend weeks and weeks on a song. It has to grab my attention very quickly and keep it there until it’s finished. It’s always been like that.

PP: – Which song title do you find the most exciting on „Joyride” and which one you wouldn’t use as a title today?

PG: – Hahaha, I’ve always been a sucker for good song titles!! I actually think all of them are pretty good. The title is often the very first impression you get from a song, so it’s important that it grabs your attention and makes you curious.

PP: – Which song on „Joyride” has the best chorus / best verse / best melody that you are the most proud of?

PG: – Oh no Patricia, so very tricky questions this time! Joyride’s got a great chorus, but so does „Fading Like A Flower”. I still love the chorus in „Perfect Day”. It’s really beautiful. I like most of „Things Will Never Be The Same”. „Excited” stands out because of all the modulations. It opens up new doors all the time. I like „The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye” (great title!), but I don’t know if that counts!

PP: – What’s your best rhyme on „Joyride”?

PG: – Well, „lady” and „baby” in „Joyride” isn’t that good, is it?

PP: – Haha! 4 songs from „Joyride” were later released in Spanish too. Do you remember which of them Marie liked the most to sing in Spanish? And which is your favourite?

PG: – Marie loved to sing „Un dia sin ti” („Spending My Time”). It was HER song. Even in Spanish!

PP: – Actually, it was 30 years ago when you changed my life forever for the first time. After we got access to satellite TV and I first saw the „Joyride” video and heard the song on MTV, I became an instant Roxer at the age of 11. Once a Joyrider, always a Joyrider. How do you see MTV’s role in Roxette’s career?

PG: – MTV was very important for Roxette. The videos made us come alive and become real persons to so many people. It was a new tool, very fresh and we loved it. We spent enormous amounts of money creating all those clips. It was a very exciting era in pop music. Anything was possible.

PP: – You had 6 videos shot for songs off „Joyride”. Which one did you find the most challenging to shoot and which was the most fun?

PG: – „Joyride” was fun, it felt like everyone was waiting for it! The hype around that song was huge even before people had heard it. It was certainly a thrill to go to the desert shooting the video. Even though the Ferrari Dino was fake!
„Fading Like A Flower” was a beautiful one paying homage to Stockholm. We had a great time freezing in the cold. Guess we were used to that.
„Spending My Time” was also nice, sensitive and intimate. Fit the song perfectly.
„Excited” was wonderful. It was entirely Marie’s show. Outstanding and really beautiful. It was supposed to be a single but never happened.
„The Big L” was hilarious and totally over the top. Big crazy production staged in Stockholm.
„Church Of Your Heart” I can’t remember. Was I involved?

PP: – Well, if it’s not you boogieing around that Sydney church, I don’t know who that guy is. Haha. Marie loved acting, so shooting for her must have been a fab experience. How about you?

PG: – Oh, I liked it as well! The first big ones, „The Look” and „Dressed For Success” were amazing to be part of. It felt like we had landed on Mars. Buying clothes at Trash & Vaudeville in New York City late 80’s was definitely science fiction.

PP: – Did you get scripts in advance for the videos? Were there different scripts vs. the end results in any of the videos’ case?

PG: – No, not really. We had meetings discussing the general idea, the direction, the location, the budget and so on.

PP: – Getting back to MTV, you won the International Viewers Choice Awards with „Joyride” in 1991. How did it feel to win this award for the second time?

PG: – Amazing, of course. To get an award based on the exquisite taste of the audience is always the finest achievement.

PP: – Which video did you like the most in the sense of standing out from the mass of music videos at the time?

PG: – Of all our videos „Crash! Boom! Bang!” felt very innovative at the time. I still think it looks great. And „The Look” is really cool. Always loved that one.

PP: – „Things Will Never Be The Same” has always been an amazing song, but after Marie left us, it has a different meaning to all of us. If you did a video to the song back in the days, how would it have been?

PG: – Who knows? I can’t answer that.

PP: – „Join The Joyride!” was your first ever world tour. How did you prepare for it and how was the rehearsal period with the band?

PG: – Everyone was really triggered by the success. We knew we were gonna play big arenas, maybe even moving to stadiums later on. It’s easy to work when you’re on a roll.

PP: – Of course you already had great hits, but the Roxette catalogue back then wasn’t as big as today. How did you decide what to include in the setlist?

PG: – First of all, we wanted to please the fans playing the songs they wanted to hear. Then we wanted to show the world what a great band we were. People, and media in particular, didn’t expect that from a Top 40-act.
Jonas was amazing. That’s why we did those long intros and solos on „Soul Deep” and „Cry”. Clarence and Anders were world class players. Pelle solid as a rock as well as Vicki and Staffan. I was the weakest musician in this gang, but I did my best to put my fingers on the right frets. Like always, I spent most of my time „directing”, changing the setlist, suggesting different visual things etc.

PP: – Songs on tour sounded more like the album versions back then. How was it with the arrangements? Would it have been too early to change it live (e.g. do an acoustic version of „Spending My Time”)?

PG: – We had a very distinct sound on the records and we tried to duplicate that live as well. It was hard to do sometimes. Some songs had pre-recorded tracks, like the bass sequencer on „The Look” and „Dressed For Success”, but we tried as much as possible to avoid technology. We didn’t really need it since everyone (not counting myself…) were superb musicians.

PP: – You were supposed to start your tour in the US, but because of the Gulf War the American part was postponed and became reality only in 1992. Do you think Roxette’s American history would have been different if you could have started touring there already in 1991?

PG: – We will never know. Doesn’t matter now. Things turned out amazing the way they did.

PP: – I think you have a definite main act character, but was it ever an option to be the support act to a big American band to make Roxette more known among US people?

PG: – No. We never did any support act gigs. It’s always gonna be a compromise, so we never bothered.

PP: – You experienced a kind of hysteria with Gyllene Tider in Sweden earlier, but how different was the worldwide hype of fans around Roxette those days?

PG: – The same but much bigger. I was ten years younger when the GT frenzy started. I think that experience helped me focus on the most important thing for me in Roxette, which was the songwriting and the guiding.

PP: – Already back then the age group of the crowd at your concerts was very wide from kids to grandparents. What do you think made all generations interested in hearing you live?

PG: – I don’t know. It just happened. What we did appealed to a lot of different people for some reason.

PP: – Marie definitely stole the show on tour. She was an amazing perfomer and perfectly owned the stage and the crowd too. How did you feel about it?

PG: – It was never an issue. I was used to be the front figure in Gyllene Tider, but most of the songs in Roxette were sung by Marie, so it came natural that she stepped up and became the leader on stage. She did an amazing job. I think those hours performing was what she loved the most.

PP: – Even if pyrotechnics were used, as a backdrop you only had some playing with the lights and screening some words. Was that minimalism on purpose or was it rather budget-related?

PG: – Oh, I thought we had a big production even back in 1991!

PP: – You didn’t have a big guitar pick holder on your stand like you have nowadays. How did you manage with only a few picks during a whole show?

PG: – The big guitar pick holder wasn’t invented in those days! I think I had my picks gaffa-taped close to the lukewarm water beside my amp.

PP: – Marie also got a guitar on „The Look” and „Joyride”. Did she use your picks or did she have her own?

PG: – Can’t remember. She probably stole mine. Everyone did.

PP: – Both you and Marie wrote songs during the tour. Yours were rather bright, while Marie wrote the darkest album of hers to date. How do you look back on this busy touring period from a songwriter’s point of view?

PG: – I think I enjoyed the touring part more than Marie. It’s sooooo much more than just the two hours you spend on stage. We were different people. In the end of the day that’s what made Roxette special.

PP: – Back in the days there was no iPhone and sound recording apps. What device did you use to record your song ideas while on tour?

PG: – Oh I had my gadgets. My favorite one was a dictation machine that made me feel like a Hollywood-lawyer. Still have it. Two tapes still exist with sketches and rough demos on them.

PP: – You know how to tease! Haha. Now 30 years later what advice would you have for yourselves in the „Joyride” era?

PG: – Looking back I’m pretty pleased with the whole ride. It was a remarkable thing to be part of. I feel truly blessed to have experienced it. I know Marie felt the same.

PP: – As a last question, you talked about a 30th anniversary „Joyride” release and we can see from your updates that you are digging deep in your drawers again. Could you share some more details with us? What can we expect? And of course: when?

PG: – We have a few ideas to stimulate your eyes and ears. I guess the boxes will be out early autumn. 4 LP’s and 3 CD’s. Including unreleased stuff, demos and a fab booklet with lots of hidden secrets and shameless hairstyles revealed. I hope we can release some unseen footage as well. Maybe some of the old videos in HQ? And a „Joyride” live album would be nice. There’s no set date yet. But hey, who’s in a hurry?

PP: – We’ll give it a warm welcome anytime! Thank you so much for your time, Per! Congrats once again on the anniversary and please, let it be a BIG FAT box!

PG: – Fat is my middle name!

 

STIM interview with Roxette manager Marie Dimberg

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As we informed you about it in October, Marie Dimberg was awarded the Swedish Government’s Honorary award for a lifetime achievement of Music Export. Now STIM (Swedish Performing Rights Society) did an interview with Marie, founder of Dimberg Jernberg Management, who besides Roxette, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider represents several other great Swedish artists.

STIM’s first question to Marie was how she started working with music. Marie tells she has always been interested in music, but when she moved back to Sweden in 1982 after a period in Brighton (where the music scene flourished before), a lot started to happen with Swedish music. She went to a lot of concerts, hung out at the Ritz and bought records at Gamla stan’s record store. Music became a lifestyle and something she wanted to work with. She says her first job in the industry was as CEO secretary for Rolf Nygren at EMI. A year later, she was promoted to PR manager for Swedish and international artists and she started working with, among others, Per Gessle, Marie Fredriksson, Ulf Lundell, Jakob Hellman, Eldkvarn, Wilmer X. On the international side, she worked with artists like David Bowie, Tina Turner, Queen, Diana Ross and Paul McCartney and eventually Blur, Radiohead, Pet Shop Boys and many more.

STIM is curious why Marie moved to London 10 years later. Marie tells it was because of Roxette’s big breakthrough. She was assigned as Vice President International at EMI in London. She went to a lot of trainings and they sent her there to work on Parlophone and Capitol, which meant that she didn’t work with Roxette during that time. When Marie returned to EMI in Sweden, she became marketing director and had 22 people who reported to her, but this way she got further away from the artists.

When Marie came back to Sweden, she started her own management. She wanted to get closer to the music again and her experience from London made her dare. There were hardly any managements in Sweden during that period (1997). Roxette and Peter Jöback were the first ones she signed.

STIM asks Marie what she thinks has contributed to the fact that she has been working with both Roxette and Peter Jöback for so long. Marie thinks it’s because they have more or less grown up in the industry together. Her job has always been like a lifestyle for her that she prioritized. You either grow apart or you grow together, as in all relationships, Marie adds. Being an artist is the world’s loneliest job and therefore you need someone who stands there and applauds when things are going well and is there when things are going badly. In addition, you learn a lot from each other.

STIM is curious about what the biggest difference is between working in the music industry now vs. 20-30 years ago. Marie tells it’s easier to make music today because the technology has developed so much, but at the same time it’s harder to break through because so much music is made. There are greater opportunities for exposure today, but in the past it was easier to break through because the channels were fewer. At that time they toured to promote their record because they sold so many records, today it is the other way around. Today you release music so that you can tour.

STIM asks Marie what makes her a good manager. Ms. Dimberg says she is steady, extremely loyal and takes care of good communication. She thinks it’s important to be able to communicate with and to an artist. You have to be a team when you work together and have both long-term and short-term goals. There will always be steps along the way that you will like differently, but the artist’s vision should always be first. Marie Dimberg will never forget a moment when once Marie Fredriksson left the stage after a gig and Ms. Dimberg burst out in “How good it was! But…” and then Marie F. interrupted Marie D. and said: “You never say BUT immediately when someone leaves the stage.” Since then, Marie D. never gives criticism immediately after someone has performed, but then they have to talk through it later.

STIM asks if their is any magic formula for an artist break-through. Marie usually says that it’s the four T’s [in Swedish all words start with T /PP] – luck, timing, talent and teamwork. It’s very difficult to break through and have a hit, but it’s almost even harder to follow up and create more hits.

STIM is curious about what has been the most instructive period of Marie’s career so far. Ms. Dimberg says she was trained at EMI and the climate there was very good. It was made clear very early that they worked for the artists and not for themselves. Kjell Andersson (EMI) used to say that you must prove that you deserve to have an opinion. Marie thinks it’s a very good saying because many people just say things out without thinking them through.

If Marie had to do something differently in her career, she would have been paid more and insisted more in certain situations. The latter requires that you pursue a case and not fight for that matter: “be confident, not cocky”, that’s a big difference, Marie says.

Regarding future happenings at Dimberg Jernberg Management, Marie tells STIM that they make plans, but they are flexible due to the current situation. Ana Diaz is their latest signing, Molly Hammar just released a smash hit, “Douchebag”, Per Gessle is in the studio and recording in English right now, their Danish pop prince, Christopher comes with hit after hit, Peter Jöback turns 50 this year and they will celebrate it in every possible way. Loney Dear has just released “Trifles”, which Marie thinks is fantastic and his album will be out on 26th March.