What is true and what is false in the movie about Gyllene Tider? – MovieZine asked the director

MovieZine did an interview with screenwriter and director Per Simonsson about the Gyllene Tider movie.

When Gyllene Tider broke through in Sweden in the early ’80s, director Per Simonsson was only a few years old. Nevertheless, he became the right person to bring their story to the big screen more than 40 years later. “Sommartider” is as summery, poppy and crowd-pleasing as the band’s hit songs.

MovieZine’s Alexander Kardelo caught up with the director ahead of the theatrical release, to talk about the extensive casting, music choices and how much of the story actually happened for real.

The film is great, a warm and humorous success story. Alexander is curious if it was always the idea to make it a feel-good movie.

Yes, that was the plan. I come from the countryside, from a similarly small place as Harplinge. I played in a rock band myself and dreamed the same dreams. When I was asked if I wanted to write the script and direct, it was hard to say no.

I went home and listened to the first three records on repeat, until my twelve-year-old daughter wanted to move away from home… Then I felt – this is how the tone should be! You could make a drama film, many biopics lean more towards drama, but what I wanted to capture was: what is Gyllene Tider, what are their songs and lyrics and the feeling in them?

Many of their songs are about finding love. They are about a person who is quite closed in on himself and doesn’t really dare to “live life”. It had to be the guiding star. There is subtlety and humor in everything that Per Gessle writes. I’ve tried to capture that in the film.

When you see the movie, you realize how many great songs they have made, which we all know. But at the same time, there are young generations now who don’t know these guys that well. The director’s challenge was also to find a story that could carry a feature film. Alexander asks Per where this research began.

I got access to the band. Above all Per, but also the others. I asked a lot of questions. I read through all the books and biographies about them. Then the story started to come.

On the surface, it’s an underdog story about a band from the countryside that becomes the biggest in Sweden. It’s fantastic in itself, but what I would also like to touch on is the coming-of-age story of Per Gessle. From when he realized that the meaning of life is to start a band, with all the resistance that entailed, to conquering Sweden. There I started digging. What did he go through? He is an iconic figure in Swedish music, but he is also quite secretive.

The next challenge was to find the band members. Not just one, but five talented actors who can also play music. MovieZine asks Per about the casting.

Mine and the producers’ dream from the beginning was to find five Halmstad locals who can play instruments and who look a lot like the band. Gyllene Tider said: “do you realize how small Halmstad is? It will never work!” But we had four open casting opportunities over the course of a year in Halmstad. Then we found two of our band members. Valdemar Wahlbeck, who plays Per Gessle, is a real Halmstad resident, and so is Xawier Kulas, who plays Göran Fritzon.

When I met Valdemar, I noticed that he has a star quality, a fine sensitivity, and is a genuine artist’s soul, just like Per is. And he sings everything for real in the film. A great singer.

Phoenix Parnevik, who plays Micke Syd Andersson, first applied for the role of Per. He did an imitation of Per in his first TV interview that was so spookily similar! We kept him in, and then on the same day I had my first meeting with Micke Syd. Then I met Phoenix and noticed that as a person he was a copy of Micke – he is Per’s opposite, outgoing and super social. He was right on target. The question was: could he learn to play the drums? He did, and it turned out amazingly well.

Then we met our guitarist, Ville Löfgren, who plays Mats “MP” Persson. It was just the jackpot. And Lancelot Hedman Graaf, who plays Anders Herrlin, is a musician himself. After all, Anders was twice voted Sweden’s most handsome pop star, so we had to find a real hottie… It was probably the most difficult casting process I’ve been part of, many boxes to tick. The dialect, the musicality… and they must work together as a band.

Alexander states that none of the guys had acted before and he wants to know how the director dealt with it.

It’s a challenge! It’s so much fun, because they’re malleable, young, and come in with so much energy. That’s why it was also one of my funniest shootings!

It is clearly stated at the beginning that this is an “almost true” story, among other things, Felix Sandman’s character Tobbe is made up for the film. Alexander is eager to know how much is true and what is false in this “almost” true story.

The film is loosely based on the band’s history. A lot of it is true, the rest is fiction. We didn’t want to make a documentary, of course. And it was absolutely not meant to be a Wikipedia article. I had to take a lot of creative liberties. Some characters are completely fictitious, others are a composite of several people. An obvious example is Annie, who is quite important in the film. She is a combination of all the girls that Per dreamed of at school, but with whom he never dared to take the plunge. Instead, he wrote the song “Sista gången jag såg Annie”, which is on the first record.

In order for the truth to be assembled into a sensible film, I had to use the Gyllene Tider universe, i.e. the lyrics, as a bridge. For example, we have to have a fictional record company manager who is a little tougher than the real one, to create some resistance, and so on.

Some scenes are completely constructed, some are completely true. Like the scene with the coma patient, it actually happened! I don’t want to reveal more before you’ve seen the film… The sickest things are actually the ones that have happened. But in between, I’ve had to take some liberties as a creator.

Alexander thinks there are many good songs in the film, but also many good songs didn’t get a place. He is curious how Per Simonsson chose the music in “Sommartider”.

The story takes place during the time the first three records are made. We decided early on that they are only going to play songs from those records. But then we will build film music from the later songs as well. Sometimes it’s very clear, like when “Gå & fiska!” comes in as a punk version without vocals, just as soundtrack. And you hardly hear it, but many of the quiet songs that are scored are Gyllene Tider songs, but in new versions. It’s very fun and nicely done by our composers.

Some songs are obvious, like “Flickorna på TV2” which was their big breakthrough. “Leva livet” and “Sommartider”, that goes without saying. Many songs have love themes and I tried to weave them into the story. It was a fun puzzle to put together. Some songs will surely come as a surprise, lesser known songs that I felt fit into the film.

Gyllene Tider’s career did not end after three records. Alexander asks Per if he can imagine making a sequel or maybe a film about Roxette, now that they have already found the actors to play Per and Marie Fredriksson.

Haha, now that we have the cast ready, one is clearly very attracted. Then you get to go from cozy little Sweden out into the big world. That would be awesome. I think it depends a bit on how this film will be received. I’m not closing the door on more. I’ve had a lot of fun with these young people and it would be great fun to do more with them.

But Roxette is so big, there should be so many discussions. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see what happens with this movie first.

The premiere is in the middle of summer. Alexander is wondering if people go to the cinema.

It’s nerve-racking. But when else should you set it up – for Christmas? Swedish film is not doing so well. It is always difficult to predict. Of course you are nervous. If it’s a nice summer, will people go to the movies? At the same time, this is a summer movie. After a nice day at the beach, you can cool off in the cinema. We hope people are curious enough about Gyllene Tider.

Per Simonsson has now received a thorough course in Gyllene Tider. Alexander is curious what he would say characterizes the band and their music and what they meant for Sweden during the ’80s.

I was a bit too young, I missed the first three records. I was too small then. But I think they captured what it was like to be young in Sweden, to come from the countryside, to dream of love and girls and community. They captured something that many people felt. Per also has a feeling for very smart lyrics. The way he works with words, the way he works with the language… You take it in easily. And the combination of him and Mats “MP” Persson – they are pop geniuses. The songs are catchy as hell. They are part of Swedish music history.

Alexander, who had not really listened to Gyllene Tider’s music before, now has a completely new appreciation for the songs and for the lyrics.

What if you give some kids the feeling that “damn, we’re starting a band!” There is an incredible sense of fellowship in it. It would be the dream, if some people see the film and become inspired.

Photo of Valdemar Wahlbeck and Per Simonsson by Nordisk Film Sverige

MovieZine reviews Sommartider – the almost true story of Gyllene Tider

Annika Andersson at MovieZine reviews the Gyllene Tider movie and gives 4/5.

Beautiful tribute to a beloved boy band

Here we have a real happy pill! The film about Gyllene Tider is as happy and irresistible as the music. It twitches in the feet that want to stomp the beat and it’s hard not to sing along. A movie that makes you smile.

We seem to be riding a wave of biopics about famous artists right now, so it is perhaps not entirely unexpected that the time has also come for Swedish pop sensation Gyllene Tider to get their own film. And what a happy pill it is! The movie proves as irresistibly cheerful and inviting as the music.

The opening text tells us that we will see the (almost) true story of boy band Gyllene Tider. Per Gessle (Valdemar Wahlbeck) is the school’s ambitious outsider in the high school in Halmstad. He manages to get out of conscription, but doesn’t want to become a plumber like his father and grandfather. He is more like his mother, he tries to explain it to his father during the obligatory what-are-you-going-to-do-when-you-grow-up talk. What, are you going to be a housewife?

Because Per doesn’t really know what he wants – until the day he drives a group of musicians with (the fictitious) prog player Tobbe (Felix Sandman) in the lead and stops to listen to their rehearsal. A cataclysmic experience, because he already has a lot of lyrics in a box. He’s going to start a band!

He recruits “MP” (Ville Löfgren), and after advertising locally on his homemade radio channel, they find Micke (Phoenix Parnevik), Anders (Lancelot Hedman Graaf) and Göran (Xawier Kulas). The boys are young and happy and well-mannered, no drugs and rock’n’roll here. They succeed with cunning, enthusiasm and persistence in quickly getting a record deal with EMI. The rest is, as they say, history.

We see several new faces among the actors, who, however, may not always have similarities in appearance with the original band members. The classic male model beauty Wahlbeck, for example, doesn’t look like Gessle at all, nor does he have his manners or energy. When he refers to another band member as “the handsome one”, you have to use your imagination.

But all the movie band members convey the wonderful feeling of being young, having fun, and belonging together. Life is an adventure and the boys are invincible! It’s a real success story, even if Per is going through a family tragedy at the same time. But as a feel-good film, it doesn’t delve too deeply into any sorrows and worries. It’s a movie that makes you sit and smile. A movie that makes you happy.

Sure, it can feel a bit sugary sometimes, like when a young Marie Fredriksson Per doesn’t know yet puts her hand on his heart and sort of knows that he has already met his big love, if only he dares to seek her out. The story is well told without feeling artificial for that reason. It flows smoothly and nicely under the direction of Per Simonsson (“The Thieves’ Christmas” /Tjuvarnas jul/, “Selmas saga”, “Black Lake” /Svartsjön/). Johan Palm’s camera work is traditional and mostly static, but there are some emotional sequences here that are playfully emphasized by letting the electricity in the room crackle.

But mostly, the film leaves a sense of hilarity. You want to go home and continue to groove to the infectious melodies. One is happy that Gessle chose music, and that the film has been made. Because, as I said, it is as hard to resist as the music!

MovieZine interview with Phoenix Parnevik, Xawier Kulas and Lancelot Hedman Graaf, who play three Gyllene Tider band members

Alexander Kardelo from MovieZine met three young actors who play three band members of Gyllene Tider, the band that got whole Sweden rocking and singing along to some of the biggest pop hits of the ’80s. Lancelot Hedman Graaf plays Anders Herrlin (who was named the country’s most handsome pop star), Xawier Kulas is Göran Fritzon (whose Farfisa gave the songs a unique sound), and Phoenix Parnevik appears as the legendary drummer Micke Syd Andersson.

In this long interview, they talk about dialects, Halmstad hits and nervousness before the shooting, and you also get a bunch of film tips.

First of all, MovieZine asks the guys how their relationship with the band and their music was when they grew up, because they weren’t even born when GT was at their peak.

Lancelot says:

If you’ve lived in Sweden, you have a relationship with Gyllene Tider, whether you like them or not. You always dance to “Sommartider” at all summer parties over the years. Now that I know more about their history, I regret not having followed them earlier.

Xawier says:

I’m from Halmstad, where you can’t miss Gyllene Tider anywhere. You hear about them everywhere. They are somewhere in the heart, kind of.

Phoenix says:

I didn’t have a very strong relationship with them either. But before the shooting, when I was preparing, I realized that I had heard most of the songs. All their hits. So it was fun to investigate how they were created.

Phoenix has studied film in the US, and mostly made short films and music videos. But this is by far the biggest thing he has done. He thinks it feels great fun.

To the question how they got their roles Lancelot replies:

It was by accident. I sat with a friend who works in film. He was scrolling through Instagram and it came up that they were looking for someone for a film. “Damn, this is you!” He sent my name in, and suddenly I was going to have a casting. That’s how it happened. Suddenly, I got a role in the movie.

It was very nerve-racking. It felt very strange. You don’t really know what to expect. This is a big production, so everything turns into an incredible circus. There were many impressions. I barely had time to think during the shooting. Everything just flowed at full speed. Now that I look back on it, I am very proud.

Xawier was in Halmstad city, and then Per Gessle had just posted info about a casting that day. “I’ll go over there and check,” he thought. It went great. They got in touch after just two days and said he was going up to Stockholm. From there it went really fast.

In Phoenix’s case it was actually his aunt who told him that they are doing an open casting call for the movie. Phoenix had never done an audition in Swedish, so he saw it as a fun challenge. As soon as he did his first audition, he really liked the whole story. Then it took almost two years until he actually got the role. He thought they had already shot the movie, but they got in touch and wanted him back in. It took time, but he is very glad he tried.

Alexander saw on IMDb that Phoenix is in an American movie. He is listed as “Partygoer” in “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” with Nicole Richie.

Phoenix explains:

It was actually during this shoot that I got it. It’s the smallest role in the whole movie… But I got a line! And in the US it means that you get your SAG Card (from the Screen Actors Guild), then it becomes much easier to get bigger auditions. So I flew back to LA for four days, recorded my line and went home. I’m doing a lot of things in LA, I have a manager there and he was the one who fixed it.

The guys play real characters that at least a certain generation knows quite well. Alexander is curious how much they got to hang out with the real band members and how much they got to create their own interpretations of who they are.

Lancelot says:

At first I thought I would study Anders, almost stalking him. That was my plan. But after a while I felt that I should just go by the first impression. And I did. I didn’t want to study him too much, because then I start thinking too much. And when I think too much, it doesn’t turn out well, haha.

The guys play the band members’ 20-year-old selves, now the original band members are 60+ and not the same people. Lancelot says that at least there was some material from the past to look at.

Phoenix says:

I felt very lucky with Micke. He wanted to be involved as much as possible, so I went to his house and played the drums. He was on set the whole time. He thought it was as much fun as we did. I was very happy that he helped so much.

Xawier remembers meeting Göran Fritzon and MP together with Ville Löfgren in a café. He thought he would analyze Göran for the role and see what he is like, but Göran was only 16 at the time, so he has obviously changed since then.

Alexander wants to know what felt the scariest, what was the biggest challenge when the guys not only had to act in a film for the first time, but also sing, play instruments and portray real people.

For Phoenix it was the drums and the dialect. He shouldn’t have been so nervous about the drums, but he was. And of course they didn’t want those from Halmstad to criticize the dialect. They fought very hard and Phoenix thinks they succeeded. He is proud.

Xawier was most stressed about learning to play a new instrument in such a short time. He is glad he didn’t get the drums. And then Göran is a person who is jumping and is so present on stage. Xawier thought it would be difficult to get that energy.

Xawier thinks that both Lancelot and Phoenix solved the Halmstad dialect with flying colors. He was completely shocked.

Lancelot says:

When I sat with the dialect coach I almost panicked. “How the hell am I going to handle this…?” And it was quite close to the shooting. So the dialect gave me many sleepless nights, but we did our best.

Phoenix says Lance is actually the one who got the most praise from Halmstad when the trailer came out, for his dialect.

Alexander thinks the guys all have fantastic energy and personal chemistry, they feel like a real band. He is wondering if it came naturally.

Phoenix says:

One of the first things we did was Lance and I flew to Halmstad and visited Valdemar (Wahlbeck) before the shooting. The point of the trip was that they wanted us to go there and hang out for three days, and be able to create chemistry and become real friends. After that, everything became much easier. And as soon as Ville and Xawier came in, we all got so tight.

Lance adds laughing:

Five young guys who go on a trip to Halmstad on company card. Can you imagine what a trip it was?

Lancelot has released music himself, so Alexander is curious what he would most like to focus on in the future.

Lancelot replies:

My goal in life is peace of mind. I get peace of mind from doing things that I find fun and things that challenge me. I compete in Thai boxing, I make music and I act. I do what feels good for the day. I don’t want to regret anything on my deathbed.

Xawier about his future:

I want to put all my efforts into acting. It has always been a dream.

For Phoenix, it has always been a dream to become an actor, since he was little. He was just very shy as a child, so it was hard to bring it out. But that’s what he is doing full-time now in Sweden and in LA, so it feels great.

Now that they know everything about Gyllene Tider and their music, Alexander asks the guys how they would describe what GT meant to Sweden in the ’80s, what a new generation that may not have a clue should know about them.

Lancelot’s thoughts:

I would say that they were sort of a foundation for Swedish pop. Everything you hear today comes somewhere from that era. It was something new. A new sound. They created something magical, those old guys.

Phoenix thinks:

Lance is right! It was a breaking point. Everyone played rock and the same shit. Then they came and just stirred things up.

Phoenix’s favourite song is “Min tjej och jag”, because that’s the only song that Micke sings on.

Xawier thinks it’s really hard to choose a favourite, because Gyllene Tider has a lot of really good songs. But if he has to pick one, it’s “Kung av sand”. He was lying there on Tylösand beach a few weeks ago and listened to it.

Lancelot about his favourite:

What’s the name of the one we played at Liseberg…? “När alla vännerna gått hem”. I like it, it’s one of their darkest songs.

Alexander asks the guys what the funniest memory is that they carry with themselves from the shooting.

Phoenix replies:

It all has been an amazing journey. You can’t say one day that has been better than another. All the days have been amazing. The first day set the bar. We were at Tylösand, everyone was swimming and having fun. It was a good start. Then we felt that this was going to be fun.

Alexander’s last question is about movies the guys prefer to see when they go to the cinema.

Phoenix goes to the movies all the time. He has to check what he saw last. Lancelot laughs and says, talking about movies with Phoenix is not possible. He is artistic and watches French, homemade movies… Lancelot would rather watch a Kevin Hart reel. He likes “Rocky Balboa” though. He has seen it 150 times. He thinks “Green Street Hooligans” is also one of the better movies ever made. Xawier loves all Tarantino movies. He thinks they are just amazing. But he also likes classics, e.g. “Scarface” or “The Wolf of Wall Street”. A bit of everything. Phoenix adds, “The Banshees of Inisherin” was very good.

Photo by Nordisk Film Sverige

MovieZine about the Gyllene Tider movie before its premiere and their interview with Valdemar Wahlbeck and Ville Löfgren

MovieZine had the chance to watch Sommartider long before its premiere. Alexander Kardelo wrote an article in the beginning of July. Even if he wanted to leave the real review to another colleague of his, he still wanted to take the opportunity to give a little love to a happy and invigorating feelgood film, because good Swedish films always deserve to be highlighted a little extra, he says.

Sweden’s answer to “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a very kind music film about a very kind band. No sex, drugs & rock’n’roll, just five happy guys whose energy rubs off on the audience, and whose songs we can all immediately hum along to.

The film is described as “the almost true story of Gyllene Tider”, so director Per Simonsson has been given a lot of creative freedom. With the band’s approval, humor, drama and a touch of magical realism have been added in well-chosen places.

Per Simonsson says:

The producers asked me: “Would you like to make a feelgood story about Gyllene Tider?” I come from the countryside, from a similarly small place as Harplinge. I played in a rock band myself and dreamed the same dreams. So, it would have been difficult for me to say no.

Many biopics lean more towards drama, but what I wanted to capture was the feeling in Gyllene Tider’s music and lyrics. There is subtlety and humor in everything that Per Gessle writes.

21-year-old film debutante Valdemar Wahlbeck takes on music icon Per Gessle, and sings all the songs himself. He tells MovieZine it was a long, but fun journey trying to find the right voice:

It’s a kind of ’70s rock… a slightly sexy voice with a rasp, close to the mic and a lot of emotion… A young and almost naive voice. At least in the late ’70s. Since then, his voice has developed, but then it was a voice with a hell of a drive and a will that is absolutely crazy.”

Alexander left the cinema with a smile, and a newfound respect for Gyllene Tider and their music. The songs that long ago burned themselves into the brain and Swedish people’s souls. Earworm hits about love and summer, about sailors and about going fishing. About being young, silly, naive, enchanted and in love. Funny rhymes and catchy melodies make you immediately open Spotify for another dose.

MovieZine met Valdemar Wahlbeck who plays Per Gessle and Ville Löfgren who plays Mats MP Persson. They asked the guys about their relation to Gyllene Tider, since they weren’t even born when GT was at their peak.

Ville says:

One had heard the biggest hits like “Sommartider” and “Flickorna på TV2”. But I had no idea of the huge song catalogue they actually represent. There are a lot of great songs. Especially now that you’ve become a bit of a nerd, you appreciate it in a completely different way.

Valdemar says:

Yes, I really agree with you. I think you make a mistake if you only listen to the hits of a band on Spotify. When you do that, you miss out on a hell of a lot of good music. As I’ve started listening more to Gyllene Tider and the songs I’ve never heard, I’ve gained a different understanding of both bands and records – the importance of a good album.

Ville majored in music in high school where he acted in a couple of musicals, but this is his first role in a movie. Valdemar was twelve when he started at the Cultural School in Halmstad. He has been doing various plays at amateur level, then he sang in a choir. In high school they wrote and recorded their own films. Then he got a car, and he could go to different locations with his team and camera equipment. It was great fun. Now he goes to the Ballet Academy in Gothenburg to become a musical artist. So it started as a hobby for him, and then he got a job like this.

MovieZine is curious how the guys got their roles.

Ville says:

It was through the school I went to. The casting company had heard that people speak quite similar to the Halmstad dialect in Karlshamn, where I come from. Then one day there was an advertisement in the school that they were looking for actors for a film about Gyllene Tider. I never thought it would go well. But it did, and I am incredibly grateful and proud of this opportunity.

Valdemar says:

I went to an open casting in Halmstad. Then there was a year of various casting processes, and you had to go up to Stockholm and meet the others… It was completely crazy. And after a year – “you get the role!” It was actually fun.

Alexander Kardelo from MovieZine asks Valdemar how it was for him to play Per Gessle and to meet him for the first time.

Valdemar says:

It was a little nerve-racking. I met him for the first time at Hotel Tylösand together with Per, the director, and our photographer. Meeting the king in Halmstad, it was quite special. He’s a rock star. But when you meet him a few times, you notice that he is a regular Halmstad guy, he has a Halmstad sense of humor and likes Halmstad. I’m from Halmstad myself, so it’s fun.

MovieZine wants to know if PG gave any hints on how to play him. Valdemar asked Per if he had any idea how he wanted Valdemar to portray him, but Per only said “it will be fine, do your thing and it will work out”. Valdemar has followed that advice.

Ville also met MP and says he is an incredibly nice man. Ville didn’t really dare to ask for tips. They mostly talked about music stuff, that’s what MP is most passionate about. He is a music nerd. A gadget nerd. Ville can recognize himself in that.

To MovieZine’s question regarding what the biggest challenge has been for the guys, Ville replies:

I haven’t had any major problems with the music, rather with the practical things. When you come to a film shoot for the first time and don’t really know where to go or who to ask. That was mostly what I found complicated. Keeping track of everything.

Valdemar says:

The challenge? Probably that it was such a big role. I knew it was Per Gessle and that it was the main role, but there was a lot of preparation. Everything from wearing a pair of shoes to singing like Gessle, learning lines from a thick booklet… It was a lot of work, although it has been incredibly fun. I walked around in cowboy boots for six months.

Alexander thinks that all five of the guys have a wonderful energy in the film. They really feel like a band, the interplay is clear and believable. He is curious about how the guys found this personal chemistry.

Ville says:

It came almost immediately. We got on very well with each other. We practiced quite a bit during pre-production, to get this band feel and the jargon between the members. Now I feel that we are good friends also in retrospect.

Valdemar says:

That was a good casting! It was lucky that they have cast everyone in Gyllene Tider as they are. There are slightly different basic features, but the basis is the same, I think.

“Sommartider” follows Gyllene Tider during the work on the first three records. MovieZine thinks there might be more to tell and Alexander asks the guys if they would come back for a sequel.

Ville:

It’s clear that a lot of things happened after, they split up and everything. But it’s hard for me to say, I’m just acting.

Valdemar:

It would be fun to play Per again! You have now settled into the role, the hard work is done. Now you can go back and take out your notes if a sequel comes up, so absolutely.

To the question what they think they will be doing in five years, Ville replies:

I’m really interested in music, guitar and hard rock. I would loved to start a band, play music and sing.

Valdemar says:

I educate myself to be an actor. So I hope I can work with that and earn a living. But you never know, there is strong competition. There are a lot of good Swedish actors, so let’s see how it goes. But it has always been one of my dreams to become an actor.

Valdemar describes Gyllene Tider and what made their songs so big:

First of all, it’s very good music. Then I think it’s a very good band. If you see them on YouTube, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. They are the band from Halmstad, they are a bit country folk and I think people appreciate something so different. They stood out with their clothes, style and music. And as I understand it, it was precisely that Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider liked the music they played. It was different from others at the time. Back then it was a lot of prog, but they played a bit more commercially. And they are nice guys. I think people like it. They are nice and genuine and have good songs. It’s been great fun to play such a role, which isn’t so tough all the time. They want to be tough, but they can’t, haha. I like that about them.

Ville’s favourite GT songs:

I like their slightly rockier songs, like “Marie i växeln” and “(Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän”… “Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly”. They are a bit more uptempo, with long guitar solos.

To the question what they carry with them as the funniest memory from the shooting, Valdemar replies:

The concert scenes.

Ville says:

We recorded several live shows, with 200 extras screaming their heads off.

Valdemar confirms they had amazing extras at all the gigs they had. Especially at Liseberg and at Annexet in Stockholm. They gave it their all, so the guys felt like rock stars.

When the guys are asked about what they prefer to see when they go to the cinema, Ville says:

It’s a bit mixed. The movies I watched when I was a kid I can rewatch as many times as I want, like “Star Wars” and Disney cartoons. But also “Inglourious Basterds” and stuff like that. There are very good movies.

Valdemar says:

It’s just like with songs. What am I craving for today? It is very entertaining to watch “Iron Man” or “Avatar” with cool effects and worlds. But with the film school I have seen many classics. “The Seventh Seal” is a movie I really like. I don’t know why, but I’ve seen it 4-5 times. One of my absolute favourite films is “The Big Blue”. I don’t know why. It’s kind of spiritual in a way. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Photo: Nordisk Film Sverige

CONTEST: Win a Per Gessle’s Roxette tour photo book!

Anders Roos, photographer and publisher of the Per Gessle’s Roxette tour photo book was kind enough to offer us 1 copy for a contest. As you know, the book contains quotes + pics around Europe in 2018 on 144 pages and a DVD of the last show of the tour. The copy you can win is signed by Mr. G! So here is your great chance to get hold of it if you don’t have it yet!

In order to participate, answer the following questions correctly:

  1. How many gigs were there on the Per Gessle’s Roxette tour? – 20
  2. Name the opening and closing songs on the setlist one could hear at each concert on tour! – The Look; The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye
  3. Name the female members of the band on tour! – Helena Josefsson, Malin-My Wall
  4. Which gig was recorded for the DVD? – Gothenburg, Sweden, 16th November 2018

Send an e-mail with your name, address and the correct answers to the questions to rxbcontests@gmail.com until 23:59 CET, 7th July 2019. The lucky winner will be announced shortly after. Answers to all questions can be found on RoxetteBlog. 😉 Good luck!

Contest terms and conditions:
– In order to participate, you have to send an e-mail to rxbcontests@gmail.com with name, address and correct answers to the
4 questions. We will consider all e-mails we receive until 23:59 CET on 7th July 2019.
– 1
winner will be picked randomly among those who have participated and sent the correct answers.
– You can only participate once, any attempt to participate twice or more times will lead to your disqualification.
– Prizes won’t be paid out in cash. Prizes will be sent by registered
mail only once.
– The winner will be announced on this website, on our Facebook page and will also be notified per e-mail. You’ll be required to answer the e-mail confirming your address.
– RoxetteBlog.com will not enter into any correspondence regarding the result of the contest and is not liable for any damages, loss or expenses that may result in connection to the prizes.
– By taking part in the contest, personal data (first name, surname, e-mail address and address) will be collected. These data are needed in order to run the contest, particularly in order to match participation applications to their entries as well as to identify and notify the winners. This method of processing data is therefore required pursuant to Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit b of the GDPR to fulfil contractual obligations. The personal data collected will be processed and used by RoxetteBlog.com only to the extent that is required in order to run the contest. The personal data will be stored for the duration of the contest and – in order to process any claims relating to winnings and damages – for a maximum of 6 months afterwards and they will then be deleted. By participating you agree to all above mentioned and your name being published on this website as well as on social media channels in case you win the contest.

 

UPDATE on 8th July 2019: since we got hold of another book too, we picked 2 winners instead of 1. The winners are: Alejandro Molina, Argentina and Marcela Molcakova, Slovakia. The winners are informed via e-mail too.