Interview

Long interview with Per Gessle in Livets Goda

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As Per already informed us some time ago, Livets Goda did a very long and veeery nice interview with Mr G. The December issue contains 16 pages of Per Gessle: awesome interview, 20 important songs, some wine tasting and hot photos of Per. Interview by Anders Enquist, photos by Erik Dahlström.

The magazine is available in Sweden at the newsstands from 10th December, but you can also have your own copy even if you don’t live in Sweden. Here you can buy the pdf version online for 50 SEK. (You can pay even via PayPal.) It is really worth it!

The interview is mainly about Per’s career in the music business, stories about how Gyllene Tider and Roxette started out, his solo projects, the 80’s when he met Åsa (he says it was the best thing that happened back then), The Look, the US, It Must Have Been Love, the Billboard, EMI, later years, Roxette comeback, GT comeback, how he became interested in wines, so briefly, kind of the whole story of his life so far. There are not too many real news in the interview, but it’s always nice to read Per Gessle’s thoughts and what he is saying about different songs, for example.

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THERE IS SOMETHING NEW: Per would like to record an acoustic album with some of his old songs.

Great news! 😉

You surely remember Mr Gessle was talking about the Top20 songs he was setting up for this article in Livets Goda. These are not his all time fave songs, but the ones meaning a lot to him. Here is the list:

1. Nina Simone: Wild Is The Wind
2. Heart: Love Alive
3. Air: Le Femme D’argent
4. Caitlin Rose: For The Rabbits
5. Big Star: September Gurls
6. The Young Rascals: How Can I Be Sure
7. Fleetwood Mac: That’s Alright
8. John Holm: Den Öde Stranden
9. The Beatles: Hey Jude
10. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Refugee
11. David Bowie: Lady Grinning Soul
12. Lorde: Royals
13. The Tornados: Telstar
14. Docent Död: Solglasögon
15. Divinyls: Pleasure And Pain
16. Joni Mitchell: Rainy Night House
17. Kenny Rogers: Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town
18. Frank Sinatra: It Was A Very Good Year
19. Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra: Summer Wine
20. The Buzzcocks: Ever Fallen In Love

 

Some probably think that I’m a super-capitalist who is just sitting there and earns a lot of money on nothing, while others think I’m a talented pop craftsman who knows far too much about pop music, a nerd … I don’t know …

There are many things I’m not talented in, but I’m good at melodies and writing songs. That’s what I can do, so I need people who are doing all the other stuff I can’t.

 

He also mentions in the interview that he always thought Marie is the world’s best singer since they met for the first time.

Per’s 5 favourite Roxette songs which are lesser-known (with his comments):
1. I’m Sorry – Great chorus, a hit in Brazil.
2. My World, My Love My Life – A damn good song.
3. It Takes You No Time To Get Here – Some country text and feeling.
4. Opportunity Nox – Our best pop wallop.
5. Sleeping Single – Marie sings amazing. She makes the album.

 

I have no idea why Roxette is still so big. Maybe it’s because of the songs, maybe there is a certain timelessness in many of the songs’ melodies. But why exactly us? Maybe it’s my Swedish poor self-confidence that makes me unable to respond to it …

Regarding the next Roxette tour he says that first Marie goes on tour, but sooner or later there will probably be a major Roxette tour. Bring it on!

 

Roxette Brasil interviewed Jokke Pettersson: ”Marie and I are very close since I was a child.”

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Roxette Brasil (Bianca Cappelletti) did a nice interview with Jokke Pettersson, Marie’s nephew, who is going to be part of Marie’s band on tour. Here you have the translation:

 

Marie is the youngest child of the Fredriksson family. Her sister Anna-Lisa (who died in a car accident when Marie was 8) and Ulla-Britt were much older, so Marie had a closer relationship with Tina. In fact, they were inseparable! The family has always lived in a very musical environment and it seems that the tradition is being kept. Jokke Pettersson, Marie’s nephew will play the guitar in the band that will accompany her on tour in 2014.

Jokke kindly gave an interview to Roxette Brasil and here it is:

Roxette Brasil: – Hello, Jokke! For a start, tell us a bit more about your musical background. Has music always been present in your life? When did you start playing? What are your biggest influences?

Jokke: – Yes, music has always been a large part of my life. I started playing the drums when I was 8 and the guitar at the age of 11. In my family we were always playing music and singing, so it was natural for me to play the instruments, too.

Roxette Brasil: – We know you have a strong blues influence, but you also play great pop and wow … heavy metal? Can you tell us more about your style?

Jokke: – I started out as a big heavy metal fan and I was listening a lot to Metallica, Pantera and stuff like this when I was a kid. At a time in my life I thought that it was not enough and then learned to play all the other styles such as blues and pop. I always liked guitarists like John Scofield, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix and others.

Roxette Brasil: – In 2011 you gave an interview to a newspaper in Helsingborg, related to a United Nations day show. You were asked about playing songs from Marie (Tro, Sparvöga , Ett hus vid havet, Vinterangel and Ännu doftar kärlek) and you said that the conductor of the choir proposed the songs, who revealed that Marie is your aunt and that your mother was in the choir, too. Can you tell us more about your relationship with Marie? Are you close to each other?

Jokke: – My mother is Tina. Marie and I are very close since I was a child.

Roxette Brasil: – Tell us about your band, Ladah.

Jokke: – I and two friends are the members of Ladah, where we played jazz-rock fusion. I’m currently working a lot with my band, Karavan. We released two albums that can be found on Spotify. We toured with American Hunter Perrin and now we’re on tour with Cameron Ochs. I also have a metal band called Kayser. We will release our next album in February. I love playing different styles.

Roxette Brasil: – For those who are wondering if you’ve worked together with Marie earlier, you played the guitar on some of the songs of Min bäste vän album, right? How did she invite you to accompany her on tour?

Jokke: – Yeah, I played on Min bäste vän and also on her new album, Nu!. She called me to go on tour with her and of course I said YES! It’s an honor!

Roxette Brasil: – Marie has one of the most beautiful and the most recognizable voices in pop. For this reason, she has many fans around the world and we know that many fans will travel from their countries to join her tour. Do the pressure and anxiety increases for this reason or the fact that you are her nephew makes you more relaxed?

Jokke: – Tough question. I think the biggest reason to be calm is that I know what I’m doing. But I love Marie and her personality and it is very good of course.

Roxette Brasil: – As a final question, what are your expectations for the tour?

Jokke: – Play great music, meet cool people and have fun.

Marie Fredriksson & Mikael Bolyos interview on TV4

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This morning at 10:15 am CET there was a short interview with Marie and Micke in Nyhetsmorgon on TV4. The interview took place at Marie’s & Micke’s home in Stockholm. Marie was talking about how grateful she is for everything and they both said they learned how to live in the present. Marie said she learned to live with the fact that it takes her more time to write and also that she can’t remember the lyrics sometimes.

It means a lot to both of them that they could make this new album, ”Nu!”, however, it took a long time to release it. When she wrote ”Sista sommarens vals” of course she was thinking about Micke and when Micke wrote ”Vad vore jag utan dig” he thought about Marie. Marie says this latter song is so beautiful. That’s her favourite off the album and it feels fantastic to sing Micke’s words. Watch the video how Marie is “touching” Micke when they are talking about these 2 songs. So lovely! 😉 Both Marie and Micke were in a very good mood and relaxed, Marie was smiling all the time during the interview.

They were also talking about the kids, how fantastic it is to have them and that they are also interested in music and they are talking about music each day. They also told the story of their meeting in Sydney and how they became a couple right after that.

While touring with Roxette she felt better and better, she got strength and she gained her self-confidence back. Marie – besides her family – is grateful also to Per who was writing new material for Roxette and believed so much in Marie.

Marie is longing for the tour. It will be fantastic to tour in Sweden with a great band she’ll have with her. Besides new songs, there will of course be old ones, too on the setlist.

Watch the video HERE! Don’t forget to check the wonderful old pic of Marie in front of Micke!

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Interview with Mikael Bolyos: “Working with Marie is a blessing”

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Marie Fredriksson’s album “Nu!” is out since Wednesday. Reason enough to ask her husband, Mikael Bolyos, who wrote most of the songs, to ask some questions about the process of recording and some well-known names who came with “Nu!”.  Thankfully he made a slot in his tight agenda to answer our questions. We appreciate that!

Mikael, we saw that you collaborated with 4 other songwriters. How did you choose them? Did they offer their texts or did you kind of order them? We remember Ulf Schagerström, who wrote Mot ökända hav and Aldrig som främlingar. How come you worked with him and the others and how was working with them?

Mikael Bolyos: I quite recently started to express myself in lyrics. It’s not that easy for me, so it takes mostly a while to finish a song. I always liked the simplicity and poetry in Kenneth’s lyrics, so when I had the song ”Bara 3 ord”, I just gave him a call and asked if he was interested in helping me out. Luckily he wasSkavlan. He is such a talent!!! Johan Kinde was the singer in a band I used to play keyboards in (Lustans Lakejer). We always got along wery well so it was easy asking him for a text. To me ”Stjärna som brinner” is one of the best texts on the album. Uno and I met during the Roxette concert in Göteborg 2011, and we talked about doing something together and Ulf has, as you know, been working with Marie since day 1. He contributed on several songs that we recorded, but only 3 of them are on the album.

Good choices. The lyrics on “Nu!” are really impressive. And how and why did you decide to produce the album with Christoffer Lundquist and how can we imagine the producing process? Have you been to Skåne or did he come to Stockholm?

Mikael: As you know, Christoffer has during the years made an exceptional good job in recording Marie with Roxette. They are such a great team in the studio, speaking the same language (Skånska). Although Marie is such a great singer, I wanted to improve the vocal part from what we’ve done before. Chris became more & more involved in the process so we decided to produce the album together recording in AGM in Skåne and Atlantis in Stockholm. We are both (Marie and me) so happy working with Chris.

When I first asked you for the interview you wrote that you are satisfied yourself with the album. Now that it’s released, what are you most satisfied with? Which song is your favourite song and why? And which is Marie’s?

Mikael: I must say that I’m very satisfied with how the leadvocal turned out. Thanx to Chris! Favourite song ? Hmm … maybe ”Kom vila hos mig”. I think I managed to say something with the lyrics and I like the beat. Marie says her favourite song is ”Vad vore jag utan dig”.

To get more insight (since we are very curious, of course). When Marie writes a song, does she do it on her own and presents it to you when it’s done or are you evolving it together? Speaking of Sista sommarens vals! How did you develop this song?

Mikael: Marie writes on her own and presents it to me when it’s more or less finished. We made a demo on the song and then we re-recorded it in AGM with Chris.

How did you choose treview_DIhe first single, “Kom vila hos mig”?

Mikael: Marie wanted an uptempo song and “Kom vila hos mig”  felt like an excellent choice.

From the lyrics and looking at you 2 we know how you feel towards each other, but how would you describe working together with Marie?

Mikael: Working with Marie is a blessing. She is so patient and a great source of inspiration.  She is amazing in her concentration and has extraterrestrial singing skills.

Do you have demos to all songs? Are you considering to release them all?

Mikael: Mostly, we record a serious demo that we can develop into the final version.  Like put real bass & drums into it instead of programmed. We never thought of releasing the demos.

Are there demos with your voice to the songs you wrote for “Nu!?

Mikael: Yes! Some of the songs are with my vocals on it. I can assure you that those demos won’t be released as long as I’m alive.

Three words you think describe the album the best?

Mikael: Life is good!

After I read most of the reviews of the album in the internet I really didn’t know what to think of the Swedish music journalists. Some wrote it’s one of the best albums ever, some wrote it’s weak and nothing special and most important: all of them picked different weak or strong songs which shows that it’s really only a thing of taste and nothing else. Do you care about those reviews? Do you read them at all or is indeed the most important thing that the artist is satisfied with his work?

Mikael: Yes, I admit that the reviews have been different from each other, but no one has been really nasty so far. Still it’s interesting, as you say, that they pick different songs as their favorites. To your questions I answer Yes, Yes, Yes! I read them, I care about them and after all what matters the most is to be satisfied yourself. (Another review on the left)

Final question. Is there any question you want to be asked about the album that we didn’t ask? Feel free to ask and answer yourself. Maybe we missed the most important aspect!

Mikael: Hmm. I really don’t know what that could be. Maybe that the first two songs we recorded were already mixed in Jan 2010. We thought the album would be released in 2010/2011, but as you know something else came between.

Marie interviewed on P4 Premiär

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Swedish Radio programme P4 Premiär interviewed Marie during the presentation of her single in Stockholm last Tuesday.

Here is a transcript of the interview. We tried our best (Jud with a little help from Patrícia), just drop us a line if you would write things differently.

P4: How would you describe the artist Marie Fredriksson in year 2013?
Marie: Yeah… relatively fun artist. I have been working on this album for a loooong time…

P4: For how long?
M: well.. about 6 years. But I’ve been busy with Roxette for more than 2 years. I am so happy that the album is finally ready and with the single “Kom vila hos mig”, written by my husband.

P4: It’s a very nice song, but also a bit sad or a bit melancolic. Can you tell us what is it about for those who haven’t heard it yet?
M: What one feels inside.

P4: What is it about for you?
M: For me it’s about strength. It has given me a lot of strenght. When you think what I have gone through, I am very very happy about this song, it means a lot to me.

P4: After all you’ve gone through and now that you are healthy again, do you think it’s shocking to talk about cancer?
M: Yes, very much. It’s sad to talk about it again and again. I am now fine and healthy again for a looong time so let’s talk about other stuff.

P4: But what came out of this? what has changed?
M: Mainly, I got a stronger voice. I had a great voice before, but now it’s heavier. I am happy about that.

P4: Why do you think your voice changed?
M: Well, I don’t know. Probably age and of course what I’ve gone through. But why talk about that, it’s so long ago. I feel very well now.

P4: I gotta say that you are shining. One reads that people who have gone through such hard times are stronger. Do you think people realise what life is about after such experiences?
M: Yes, I think so.

P4: And your album is called “Nu!”. Are you good at living the present?
M: Oh yes, I am damn good at that haha! I love to live in the present, it feels very strong to live the present, it feels very powerful, it’s the best there is.

P4: Do you remember when you started back in the 80ies, how was Marie back then?
M: The first song that was  a success was “Ännu doftar kärlek”. I wrote it together with Lasse Lindbom. We were so lucky and we had so much fun. It was great to get that much success with the song.

P4: Was it your dream since you were a kid to sing on stage, become a singer?
M: Yes! I used to wake up the whole family in the morning singing kind of arias, aaaahhh aaaaaah. I woke up all my family with that, everybody was like “cmon, shut up now”. But I went on, singing a bit lower. I was crazy to sing.

P4: And when did you find out that you had such a strong voice?
M: I guess when I sang at choirs and with my sibilings. I used to sing so strong. We were 5 of us, my brother was the oldest and then 4 girls. But too bad one of my sisters died in a car accident, I was 4 years old, that was horrible. But one doesn’t really realise when one is so small.

P4: So now that you will release a new album and you will go on tour next year, how does it feel, how do you plan it?
M: Yes! it will be sooo much fun! I really look forward to it and to start rehearsing.

P4: You have never been a primadonna and there was never a huge circus around you, you are very down to earth…is that right?
M: Ah.. I don’t know, it’s just the way I am. I can’t be any other way. Of course, we were very big when we did all those world tours with Roxette and we got the 4 number 1 in the USA, it was great.

P4: You’ve been famous since the 80ies with “Ännu doftar kärlek”. Was it hard when you were sick? People wanting to know how you feel, etc?
M: No… , well, of course it was hard, but now I am fine, so I am very thankful for every day. I see life in a totally new way nowadays.

P4: And how is it going with painting?
M: Oh! I haven’t had much time lately! I love it, I already did 3 exhibitions, but I like to do different things. I have to be creative with music, art…

P4: What do you do when you are not creative? Is there anything you do that is not creative?
M: Well.. I write texts sometimes, always did so. But I have to have something to do. Even though I also think it’s important to take it easy, maybe look at birds outside or something, do something outside the house, but it has to be warm, not too cold, haha!

P4: If you had to choose the absolute Marie Fredriksson song of all timesy, which one would it be?
M: Sparvöga, it means so much for me. Lasse and I wrote a lot of songs together, but this one I wrote myself. I got this offer to write this song for this TV series called “Sparvöga”, it was inspiring. And I got a lot of self-confidence because it was a success. And then comes “Tro”.

P4: What is your driving force?
M: My family, they mean everything to me. Without them I probably wouldn’t sit here today.

 

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