Interview with Sandra Knospe – ”I would rather get my ass burned before I would leave any of them behind in case of a fire.”

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00_coverFrom the title you might guess that the interview is about the plectrums. 😉

While we’ve been working on the PLECtionary, I did an interview with Sandra and she happily shared some more details about her passion, the guitar picks, as well as some further nice stories related to these precious little things. Enjoy!

 

Patrícia Peres: – First of all, huge thanx for your hard work with this PLECtionary. It’s awesome to have all plecs’ photos and knowledge at one place. How did it all start for you? Which is your first memory and which was your first plec?

Sandra Knospe: – You’re welcome. It was fun to do it.  I love going through the plecs once in a while. It all started in Helsingborg 1996 at the second Gyllene Tider concert from the Återtåget tour. That was also the day when I got my first plec. I found it after the show, somewhere on the dirty ground. I saw Per throwing the plecs away during the gigs and I was just curious if I could find one. I knew chances were low. It was like searching a needle in a haystack together with all the other fans who knew that there might be something to find on the floor that’s worth to pick up. And it felt like a triumph when I finally succeeded, it was kinda thrilling. I was surpised to see that it was customized. I didn’t know that before. That made it even more interesting, of course. But back then I did not really start collecting in the way I do it today. I was just happy that I found it. The wish to make my collection as complete as possible came later in 2003 when I received an envelope from Per with 10 different plecs including real rare ones from 1989 and 1991. So I had a few different ones thanks to him and also from the Rox tour 2001 and Mazarin tour 2003 which I attended as well. I liked the design and little phrases on them and I wondered how many customized plecs by Per exist at all and wanted to find out how they looked like and from which tours they were. So I started some investigations. From then on the hobby turned into a passion.

PP: – So the first plec you got 17 years ago. Wow! How many picks do you have actually? How many of them are Per’s plecs and to whom are the others related?

SK: – Oj, need to count… Without the doubles it’s 114 different plecs (and 3 of them in different gauges). 71 from Per plus 2 from him which are not customized, 17 from MP, 4 from Christoffer plus 1 from him which is not customized, 4 from Micke N-S, 1 from Jakob Johnzén, 12 T&A studio plecs and 2 plecs of which the origin I don’t really know. One of these two could be a tech plec as well and the other one is dedicated to someone whose name is Tedde. No idea about it really, but on the other side it says ”WITH LUV FROM THE GESSLES”. So I guess it comes from Per at least. All together (including the doubles) it’s 224.

PP: – Who would have thought that there are so many plecs related anyhow to the Rox World. I know the whole collection is very close to your heart, as one day when a friend asked what you would take with you in a hurry if there would be fire in the house, you replied: ”The plecs, the plecs!” But which is the most precious item if you can choose only one? What is your story behind it?

1_SK_300x170SK: – Urmmm… I would rather get my ass burned before I would leave any of them behind in case of a fire. A fav plec? Hard to say, it even changes from time to time. Maybe the ”LOOK SHARP! / IT’S ONLY PLAYBACK” plec, because it’s probably the oldest one. Even if mine is not in top condition. I got it from a friend with the right connections. But then again, it could also be one of the plecs that have a more sentimental value to me, like the plecs Per sent me in 2003 that made me start collecting more purposeful. They are indeed very special to me. Tough question. So many goodies, really can’t decide. Sorry.

PP: – I can totally understand you. I can’t choose any favourite either, as all of them are beauties. Is there a pick you don’t like at all? Maybe because of the design or anything else.

SK: – I wouldn’t say there is a pick that I don’t like at all. I’m maybe not so much into the latest GT picks with the record and the cassette on one side and the GT emblem on the other. That might be because I am not a fan of pictures on plecs. I like it simple. A cool phrase is better than anything else. The ”WOODY / VEM FAN ÄR VERA?” pick for example is a great one. Great colour of plec and print and a cool note on it. Simply perfect.

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Year 2013 in review: busy times for fans!

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Some time ago I started making a year-of-music summary for myself, go through memories of concerts I went to, albums I bought.

And doing that I just realised that this year was a busy one for Roxers, even more than 2011 and 2012 I would say. Did we ever have Gyllene Tider, Roxette, Per and Marie release something the same year before? And not to forget the books about Roxette and Gyllene Tider!

But let’s go step by step.

Gyllene Tider announced the release of a new album and summer tour in January, so they got us planning our summer holidays already early in the year. Some months later, in April, the album “Dags att tänka på refrängen” was released and reached #1 in Sweden. The singles off this album were “Man blir yr” and “Dags att tänka på refrängen / Singel”.

The summer tour comprised 19 concerts and was a success, which was documented in the book “Alla tiders Gyllene Tider” by Jan-Owe Wikström and Anders Roos. The book hit the stores in November. We could also watch a teaser of the upcoming GT DVD on TV4 in December. The compilation album “Soldans på din grammofon” was released just on time to warm-up for the tour and for people to go through the not-forgotten songs and lyrics. At least we got some nice extras with it!

For the first time, queuing and getting to front row for hardcore fans was uncomplicated thanks to the security guys at Show Security Sweden.

Per released the “Small Apartments” soundtrack in March/April both on CD and vinyl. Three more wines were added to the Per Gessle Selection: a Sommartider rosé and white wine that made the Gyllene Tider tour evenings funnier and Kurt&Lisa bottles were redesigned and filled in with wine from a new year.2013_2

Roxette released their very first live DVD and Blu-ray “Live – Travelling the world” in December. Fans could see a kind of preview already in December 2012 on Swedish TV. Sven Lindström released his book “Roxette – Den osannolika resan tur och retur” about Roxette’s journey in August. Roxette also gave the only concert of this year on 6th of April in Switzerland.

“Look Sharp!” turned 25 years old, SR radio celebrated that with a documentary full of interesting stories told by Per, Marie, Marie Dimberg, Clarence, Anders and some more Roxette related names.

Marie surprised us with a new album in Swedish: “Nu!” which was released in November. But that’s not all. Besides releasing the first single “Kom vila hos mig” in September, a tour for 2014 was announced in October. In August Marie recorded “Tack för musiken” – which could be seen on SVT in December. The second single “Sista sommarens vals” was released in November together with a very nice video directed by Emil Jonsvik.

The album “Souls” by Magnus Lindgren also features a song by Marie: “On a Sunday“.

And last but not least, Marie sang for Princess Madeleine on her wedding! Millions of people around the world could see the performance which was aired all around the globe.

Rox&Co related friends were busy too: Martin Sternhufvud released “Från ingenting till någonting” in March, Sandy Mouche released “Glory and Grace” in April and Brainpool released the single “The Last Christmas” in November and Marie Dimberg was chosen the most influential woman in Swedish music industry by MusikIndustrin.

On the social media/internet front we got three new official pages on Facebook: The Per Gessle Selection, Gyllene Tider and Marie Fredriksson. Per kept us very busy with many comments about his songs and old demos on Roxette Official as well as with videos and everything possible about the GT tour, wine and the studio sessions that started in October. Roxette Official reached 900.000 likes as well.

For RXB it was a year to be proud again. We interviewed the following nice girl and guys: Marie, Micke Bolyos, Micke Syd, Micke N-S, Martin Sternhufvud, Emil Jonsvik, Sven Lindström, Favela team (Blu-ray) and we made 14 fans happy with meet & greets and other contests. Our busiest month was November with 26 articles, we wrote 206 articles in total. And once again we broke our own number of visitors record and we reached no less than 26.000 likes and we wrote 766 posts on our FB page.

And last but not least, we shared beautiful memories of fans about the Roxette concert in Switzerland, meeting GT in summer and the GT book release party, as well as showed how the magic friend power works when it comes to do something together: the thank you messages to GT from all over the world after the tour and the Roxette poster flashmob in December.

Thank you for reading us one more year! We will be celebrating our 5th anniversary next year and we already have many ideas how we can celebrate this big time!

And with this said there is just one last thing to mention: cheers to a wonderful 2014!

RXB Team

Photos: Per drinking wine: Anders Mellden. Marie and Emil Jonsvik: Pernilla Pettersson. Marie Dimberg: Jonas Ekströmer. Meet & Greet in Gävle: Thomas Evensson.

 

Look Sharp! 25

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RXB_radio_docu_04As we already informed you about it earlier, Tara Moshizi and Tove Meyer – who are also Roxers –did a documentary on Look Sharp!’s 25th anniversary for Swedish Radio. This great docu ”Look Sharp 25 år – Så tog Roxette över världen” (= Look Sharp! 25 – This is how Roxette took over the world) was broadcasted today, but interviews with Clarence and Anders were done in September, with Per in October and with Marie and Ms Dimberg in November.

Actually, most of the stories we already heard during all these years, but it was still really nice to listen to all of them again. In the documentary they are talking about the times before Look Sharp!, the breakthrough, the success of The Look and other singles off the album.

 

Per explains he was already a pop star in Gyllene Tider before Roxette was established and Marie had a great solo career and worked closely together with Lasse Lindbom. When they asked Marie about how she remembers Per from those times, she said he was an unbelievably nice person and easy to work with, they had fun together and had a big dream.

Clarence thought Marie was a great singer, but he wasn’t really fond of Per’s style. Anders told he didn’t like Neverending Love, he thought it was ridiculous. How he is humming it in the docu is priceless (check it out at 11:19).

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Emil Jonsvik: “I wanted to bring out Marie’s enormous energy”

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We had the chance to interview Emil Jonsvik, the director of Marie’s latest video “Sista sommarens vals”, taken from her latest album “Nu!”. Emil told us about his career and the shooting of the video with Marie.

Judith: To start with, could you tell us about you? When and how did you get into filming and directing films?

Emil_Jonsvik_01_Emil: I was born in Gothenburg, Hisingen 1978. I started producing my first films at the age of 12. This was for Swedish television (ZTV) and the film was “Gold”, which was a skateboard movie. When I look back on it I see that I already then wanted to create drama in film. I used scenes with actors walking through smoke in slow motion with strong cinematic music. After that I produced the Award winning break dance documentary “Shindig” and two other dance movies, “The Book” and “No One Knows Our Thoughts”. They were about winning over your inner fears. In 1998 I went to a film school, “Film I Väst” (Trollywood), and started working with blockbusters as “Santa is the father of all the children” and “A Witch in the Family” as a lighting designer and set lights along with being the cinematographer on location. I met the director Daniel Fridell which started a long cooperation, among others I became a cinematographer on his award winning TV series “A Class Apart” as well as the movies “Sökarna 2” and “Blood Brothers”. After that I directed the very popular television program (with over 1.5 million downloads on YouTube) “Late Night with Pierre” with little Al-Fadji for Swedish television (SVT). After that came my debut as a feature film director with “7X / Seven Bullets”. This movie was about seven kids that find a gun with seven bullets. This is a multiple award winning film including awards for “Best film” and “Best director”. Now I’m in the final cut with my new feature film “Krigarnas ö” (The Name of the Game) with the great actor Kim Bodnia known from TV series “The Bridge / Bron”. An exciting drama / thriller.

J: What do you like about being a director?

E: I love the creating process. To take a idea, put it down on paper and then manage to make these scenes come alive, that’s where my drive comes from. I get inspired by many different kinds of films in different ways. I love movies like “City of God” and “La haine” but I can also find inspiration in films like “The Last Samurai” and “The Driver”.

Emil_Jonsvik_02_J: You started mentioning inspiration, but what do you want to tell with your videos? what do you think is your “trademark” and what makes you different from other directors ?

E: I get inspiration from people’s energy, music and films. In meetings with actors and artists, I often feel what they want to create together, it is important that I together with the team create the best energy on location for the shoot. Because of my broad experience with film production it’s easier for me to decide what to focus my energy on which makes my work very efficient.

This ultimately results in me laying my energy on the right stuff. I want to get the artist and the actors to have trust and feel secure with me in order to create magic together. That’s what makes every difference, and that’s my “trademark”.

 

 

Emil_Jonsvik_03_J: Now about the video you did for Marie:  how come you ended up doing the video? Did Marie or her management ask you?

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Roxette LIVE – Travelling The World

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I never thought I would buy something what is able to play a Blu-ray because of Roxette and not because of my fave actors. I also never thought I would buy it earlier than an LP player… But it just happened. And it was all worth it. Actually, the long long long long long waiting for the DVD / Blu-ray / CD was worth it, too.

As per the Blu-ray, I like how it looks like. I mean not the front cover, but how it is structured, the way the CD and the Blu-ray disc are placed in the case. Well, too bad that all the DVDs and Blu-rays seem to be produced in Germany (or at least most of them), since now we are all having this unnecessary and not too sexy stamp on the front cover. When I first saw it, I hoped it was a sticker which I could easily remove, but unfortunately, it’s printed as part of the design…

blu-ray_00_  blu-ray_01_

I started with watching the Gessle cam stuff & the guitar tech’s secret life from the Blu-ray as I thought most of the other 2 parts I already saw on TV last year.

The Gessle cam videos are still fun. What I like the most is that on the Blu-ray they, of course, have much higher quality than what we can see on Facebook. Even if you already saw most of them (yes, there ARE new ones), you can smile and laugh at what the guys & ladies are doing in the studio or backstage. Per was wrong when he corrected us that the ”So, Christoffer?” part is not 3 minutes, but 30. It’s really ”only” 3 minutes, but it’s a hilarious mix! 🙂

Then comes 12 minutes of ”Studio Work” from the recordings of ”Travelling”, the album. Scenes are from AGM and Atlantis studios with Clarence, Christoffer, Magnus, Pelle, Marie and Helena. Oh, and of course, Per. But you can mainly hear his voice and see him not too often. We got used to this during all these years.

The 3rd Gessle cam video, ”Travelling” is the longest, almost 30 minutes. It’s from several countries: backstage, soundcheck, food, some ”Jesus loves you!” and some more ”So, Christoffer?”, Clarence & Pelle & Magnus ice skating, band, Marie & Per, crew, etc.

The 4th extra is a 5-minute-long video of ”Mikael Nogueira-Svensson – The secret life of a guitar tech”. Micke N-S took care of the gear of Per, Pelle and Magnus during the tour. He’s talking about his job and shows interesting things backstage, like the Blue Swede Sex Machine is having problems all the time. He says he’s like a nanny for the musicians. 🙂 While talking, he is restringing a guitar.

Roxette_It_All_Begins_Where_It_Ends

 

 

After these videos I watched the documentary, ”It All Begins Where It Ends – The Incredible Story Of Roxette”. Most of it we could already see last year, but finally, Helena and Dea got their well-deserved part in the docu. Actually, this is the only difference I could notice. And it’s great as it is. No changes were needed besides the backing vocalists’ part. Oh, yes! Another important change is the subtitles. The English subtitles work well.

 

 

 

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”Roxette LIVE – Travelling The World” I saved for last. Chris did an awesome job with the live mix, but we already said that when we saw it on TV. At the same time, I still get dizzy from the constant cuts and I thought a year should have been enough to change them, but Favela kept them as we saw it in the TV cut of the live stuff. No clue why. Whatever. Crowd scenes are still mixed, but at least those confusing titles with mentioning cities and countries are gone. There are now more relevant scenes between the songs than what we saw on TV: backstage moments, fans running to the front row, the drum kit getting dressed for success, etc. Besides these, now it’s more like a real complete show. Awesome to see those 9 songs too, which were not in the TV cut, but made it to the DVD. This way we can enjoy e.g. Marie’s touching performance of ”Perfect Day”, some more of Per’s left leg dance in ”How Do You Do!” and their lovely moments in ”Things Will Never Be The Same”. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are cut out from the final ”It Must Have Been Love” part, however, Marie and Per are still cut in from the video clip twice. But that’s fine. Getting this front row feeling and reliving the moments of the tour, one starts / continues longing for a new tour.

 

Last but not least, I love having the songs on a live CD, too. Some fans hear Marie from far away or have other problems with the sound on the CD, but my ears are not too sharp for that I assume, since I’m fine with the sound itself. One funny thing is that the preview pic of the live CD is not the final cover, but another sleeve we saw when we were guessing which the final design could be. If I have to choose between the physical release and the digital one, I go for the digital because of having ”Silver Blue” and ”Church Of Your Heart” as bonus tracks there.

All in all, if you ask me what took a year to release this material after we could see most of it already in December 2012, I’m not sure I could tell you. Maybe choosing what to include in the extras from the tremendous amount of Gessle cam videos was a bit time-consuming or doing the subtitles. No clue. But it doesn’t really matter now that it’s in my hands and I could watch it and listen to it. I could do it 24/7. More than that, I want a Roxette tour! NOW!