cinema

Per Gessle and Valdemar Wahlbeck on Swedish Radio

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Per Gessle and Valdemar Wahlbeck were guests on Studio Ett, Swedish Radio on 18th July. You can listen to the interview HERE!

The reporter welcomes the guys and asks them how it was when they met for the very first time and who was more nervous. Per can’t remember, so he turns to Valdemar and asks where they met. Valdemar says it was at Hotel Tylösand. Now Per remembers Valdemar came with his notebook and asked him a lot of questions. Valdemar says he had like 20 questions and thought they could go through them. It went well, the guys say. The reporter says it was a good starting point.

Valdemar is 21 years old. The reporter is curious what he knew about Gyllene Tider when he got involved with the film. Valdemar says that as a Halmstad local, you grow up with Gyllene Tider. His father has been playing a lot of Gyllene Tider at home, the records were either hanging on the wall or in the record box. And then you also sing Sommartider a number of times during summer breaks.

The reporter saw the movie a few weeks ago and she says the applause afterwards was massive. Here she plays music journalist Per Sinding-Larsen’s words, who says Gyllene Tider is part of music history and talks about the probable influences they had, e.g Sven-Ingvars and Owe Thörnqvist. The reporter asks Per what he thinks about it. PG thinks there might be some truth in that, but they didn’t listen very much to Sven-Ingvars or Owe Thörnqvist. For Per, it was rather Povel Ramel who was very influential. Valdemar thinks he was fantastic. Then it was ’60s pop that Per grew up with and when Gyllene Tider started, it was exactly the end of the ’70s. It was just when punk and new wave music started happening. The Ramones, Blondie, Buzzcocks and all that. So they gained some kind of self-confidence that it was OK not to be terribly good. It was different a few years earlier with progressive music, e.g. Emerson, Laker & Palmer and Yes. Everyone could play punk music and it suited Per very well, as he couldn’t play. The reporter is surprised, but PG says he learned along the way. He learned to play acoustic guitar to Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne and such songs on nylon string guitar. Then he changed to electric guitar and learned The Kinks’ riffs.

Valdemar says the movie itself is very much about music and together with Clarence Öfwerman and Christoffer Lundquist they dove themselves deep into Gyllene Tider songs. They geeked out on all the songs and Valdemar geeked out on Per’s voice. There is this genuine tightness and fantastic feeling which is not found in much other music.

The reporter remembers listening to Per’s solo debut album in the ’80s, before Gyllene Tider and she wants to know what Per’s ambitions were back then. Per corrects the reporter and says that his first solo album came out in 1983 and by then they had already made three Gyllene Tider LPs. 1981 was their biggest year. In 1982 came Sommartider and in 1983 Per’s first solo record came out. He made that record because everyone else in the band did the compulsory military service. He had a year off since he didn’t do the service, because he looked terrible in green. Valdemar laughs. Per simply made a singer-songwriter record, a more grown-up album. He was 24 years old, he was an old man already then. Haha. Marie Fredriksson also sang some songs on that album.

According to the reporter it’s funny that Per says he didn’t look good in green. She doesn’t know if Per was just joking, but that part was also fun in the movie. There it felt like Per was a pretty vain guy at that point, so it made her wonder how much of the film is true. Per must say it’s very realistic. There are characters that didn’t exist or things that didn’t happen the same way they are in the movie, but the story, the anecdotes and the events that are in the film actually happened. Almost all of them. What doesn’t quite match the chronology, for example, is a love story when Per meets his girlfriend who is now his wife. In real life it happened in 1984, but the movie ended in 1982. But all the tough, positive and fun things that are in the movie, they happened in real life too.

This is Valdemar’s breakthrough and the reporter is curious how he has found Per Gessle in himself. Valdemar says he listened to Gyllene Tider a lot and to start with, both he and Per are smalltown people, so they have a lot in common. Especially when you come from the same city and have the same dialect. He has some older friends through his father, a few people who were there around in Halmstad at that time. So he carried a lot of things already. Then he talked a little with Per. For Valdemar it feels a bit like they have done it together in a way. He received a little help and he has been able to ask. The whole thing started by recording the songs. There you find much more feeling already in the music. Then, a few months later, it was shooting the movie. By then you would have read all the biographies, listened to even more songs, checked out that era and different clothes and influences that they had.

Per says he was quite negative that there would be a film made about Gyllene Tider. When he was contacted, he thought they were going to make a film about Gyllene Tider’s 40-year career. A great tribute to what they have achieved. But the movie is not about that. The film ends in 1982 when Sommartider was released. Per told Per Simonsson, the director, that he should try to capture this Life on Seacrow Island (Vi på Saltkråkan) feeling. By that PG meant that they should gain empathy and become positive, so those who watch the movie would like these guys in the band. Then it could be an awesome movie. The film starts with Per doing the tests for military service. It is very much his childhood and his teenage years that is reflected. Then the film ends in 1982. So it’s a different kind of film than what people might think. Per finds it exciting and says that the guys who play Gyllene Tider are magically good. It’s incredible. Valdemar says it’s a fun cast, they got on well very quickly. Per says it looks like they had so much fun. Valdemar confirms it was much fun to stand there together and play these songs that you have been singing since you were little. And that it worked and fit. It was really fun.

The reporter says both Per and Valdemar are from Halmstad and while she is sitting here listening to and looking at them, she feels they have many similarities. Per says Valdemar is his avatar. They are laughing.

The reporter says, for those who are not from Halmstad, it seems that their voices are quite similar. She is curious if this is how Valdemar talks anyway. Valdemar says he hasn’t made anything up. He turns to Per and says Per is from Söndrum, so he has the Söndrum dialect. Per says he doesn’t have that at all, he comes from Furet. Haha. Valdemar is a bit more from the countryside, Holm.

The reporter asks Per if the film brings a comeback as well. Per asks if she thinks he needs to come back. The reporter says she meant Gyllene Tider. PG says that Gyllene Tider actually toured last year, so they have absolutely no plans. This autumn he releases a Swedish solo record and next year it’s Roxette with Lena Philipsson. The tour premieres in South Africa on 26th February, then they go to Australia and probably to more countries. Valdemar asks Per if there are any tickets left. Per says Valdemar can come along. Haha.

Valdemar sings in the movie. He says it took a long time for him to find this voice. The reporter asks him if there will be more singing by him. Valdemar laughs and says if it goes well on Spotify, we will see. Per says that the entire soundtrack record is available on Spotify. Valdemar thinks it’s amazing. It’s almost unreal to listen to yourself, your own voice on Spotify. He says it’s almost his own voice, it’s a mix of Per’s and his. Per says it’s Valdemar who sings. The reporter asks PG if Valdemar can sing. Mr. G thinks Valdemar sings really great. Sometimes he tries to sing a little too much like Per in Gyllene Tider. Valdemar agrees. Per says Valdemar has a very good singing voice and he is such a modern artist. He goes to the Ballet Academy, he is a musical singer, he is amazing at it and he knows everything. Per knew absolutely nothing when he started.

The reporter asks the guys what they hope the film will lead to. PG thinks the best scenario is if young people watch it and get the feeling and understand that it’s really cool to start a band and play music and do stuff together, and not just sit and stare at their iPhones all the time. Valdemar thinks it would be much fun if a band culture would grow out of this. The guys say the movie has received a fantastic response so far, a lot of people who see it think it’s fantastic. Valdemar says it really makes him happy to hear that.

The reporter thanks both to the real and to the movie screen Per Gessle for coming to the show.

HERE you can see some more photos by Henrik Martinell / Swedish Radio

Valdemar Wahlbeck was approved by Per Gessle – “Do your thing and it will be fine”

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TT News Agency did an interview with Valdemar Wahlbeck before the Sommartider movie premiere.

Sommartider premiered in theatres on 17th July. It depicts Gyllene Tider’s path from young clumsy guys from Halmstad to pop stars after the breakthrough in the late 1970s. But it is not a documentary portrayal. Director Per Simonsson’s film is a romantic depiction of pop life, as if it were a lyric to a Gyllene Tider song:

This rollercoaster of emotions, longing for love, heart and pain. It was a great inspiration.

Valdemar Wahlbeck plays Per Gessle and recognized himself in a lot of things, because he himself is from Gyllene Tider’s hometown Halmstad. But playing an icon, who is also very much alive, is not easy.

I didn’t really know what to do. So I asked Per and he said “do your thing and it will be fine”. And I did that.

Per Simonsson says that Per Gessle was a little skeptical at first:

I noticed that he was wary until he read the first version of the script. Then he understood that it isn’t a documentary.

When Valdemar Wahlbeck compares today’s world to the 1970s, he sees it as a time where there was not much to do, which was good for creativity. You had to come up with something other than scrolling.

It has inspired me a lot, to go out and do things. The first thing I did was to delete Instagram and Facebook. We’ll see if I get them again. I have nothing against social media, but the way I want to live my lifestyle, I just thought it took a lot of time.

Valdemar Wahlbeck has grown up in the world of entertainment, as the son of comedian Peter Wahlbeck. Other celebrity children are also in the film, such as Jesper Parnevik’s son Phoenix and Lancelot Hedman Graaf, son of entertainer Magdalena Graaf and soccer player Magnus Hedman.

Lancelot Hedman Graaf has his own music career, but did not back down to be associated with Gyllene Tider as well.

I thought like that before, but then I’m such an incredibly manic jumping person. So I can’t keep thinking like that. I’m doing music, I’m competing in Thai boxing and then suddenly I’m sitting here and I’m an actor.

To the question if all the guys aren’t too good-looking to play Gyllene Tider Valdemar replies laughing:

Lol! Yes, maybe. But we had stylists and they didn’t.

Jan-Olov Andersson from Aftonbladet asked Valdemar (21) about how it was playing Per Gessle. Valdemar laughs and says:

I thought I would play the most handsome, Anders. It didn’t even occur to me that I would play Per.

Valdemar Wahlbeck explains why he took the chance when the film company in Gyllene Tider’s hometown of Halmstad was looking for young potential actors for the film.

I have been involved in theatre all my life and studied film in high school. I had already applied and got into the Ballet Academy in Gothenburg. It felt like everyone was applying, so you couldn’t help but do it too. It was the big chance.

After many casting rounds and test filmings, Valdemar got a role in the film, but not as bassist Anders Herrlin, but the main role, as Per Gessle, Gyllene Tider’s frontman.

Jan-Olov asks Valdemar about his own musical background.

You learn to play the piano at the Ballet Academy. On guitar, I can only play chords. But I have always sung, at the Cultural School in Halmstad and in choirs. Then I studied film in high school. When the pandemic came, we made even more films. Singing, theatre, film, it has been a hobby, but now it can become a profession.

When I got the role, I had to take a break from school. So now I’m starting a new class at the Ballet Academy. It’s three years, then I’m a musical artist. After all, it’s several art forms in one.

Valdemar met Per Gessle several times before the shooting.

Both in Halmstad and Stockholm. I expected a “rock star”, but he is a Halmstad dude, very nice. There is a small-town feel around him. If you are from there, you know what it is. Per only said “do your thing” about how I should interpret him.

Valdemar sings a lot of Gyllene Tider songs in the movie, so Jan-Olov is curious how it was.

I have always liked Per Gessle’s voice, now I love it. We could do an entire interview just on how to find the Gessle voice. It’s difficult, genuine, one of a kind. Imitating it is impossible. There is a raspiness in it and it is at once sexy, naive and propulsive. It’s about embracing it, landing it in your own body and… then something that sounds like me comes along.

Three out of five of the young actors in the film are considered as nepo babies, children of famous parents. In Valdemar’s case, his father is Peter Wahlbeck, sometimes controversial stand-up comedian, actor and artist.

I have never seen dad as a public figure. I don’t know “Peter Wahlbeck”, but I know my father. For me, he is the one who cooked our meals or with whom I took a walk in the forest with the dog.

To the question what he thinks about Valdemar playing Per Gessle Valdemar replies:

He loves Per, he is the pride of Halmstad. At the same time, dad is a comedian, so he has joked quite a bit about Per. When the family sat at the dinner table and I told them that I was going to play Per, dad got a little tear in his eye.

Photo by Fredrik Etoall

Per Gessle about ”Per Gessle” – ”He is fantastic”

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TT News Agency published a short interview with Per Gessle before the Gyllene Tider movie premiere.

Per Gessle was initially skeptical of a film about Gyllene Tider. He says:

It felt like there was no reason to make a film about the four decades of Gyllene Tider. You can do that when we have stopped.

But Per Gessle was convinced by director Per Simonsson, whose film “Sommartider”, released in theatres on 17th July, focuses on the road to the big breakthrough.

It captures the feeling of this youthful euphoria that we had when we started the band. When everything is possible while everything is impossible. That’s exactly how it was. I think it turned out great.

The film is not a documentary, but is about him. It was hard to grasp.

I thought I would be very emotionally affected. But I wasn’t. It was hard for me to feel that it was about me. When you watch it, it’s like in a dream. That you suddenly dream about yourself. You don’t realize it’s you. But now that time has passed and I’ve seen it a few times, I’ve taken it in in a different way.

Per Gessle has been a support for director Per Simonsson and also helped with the script work. The pop star is known for his need for control, but not this time.

I’m very fussy when it comes to my own projects. So if someone else is going to do something about us or about me, I think it’s better to let them do it their way. But of course I shout when I think something is wrong.

Valdemar Wahlbeck stars as the young pop nerd Gessle. Per praises him:

I think he is fantastic. I had never met him before, but I think he is an absolutely wonderful person. He is wonderful.

Per Gessle moved on to Roxette after Gyllene Tider. After Marie Fredriksson’s passing, Roxette has lived on in new constellations, next time with Lena Philipsson. On 6th September, there will also be a premiere in Malmö for “Joyride – The Musical” based on Roxette’s music.

Gyllene Tider has also made a comeback from time to time. Most recently last year with a tour and recently a live album was released. But the attention surrounding the new film doesn’t open for more Gyllene Tider.

No, we have no plans. Gyllene Tider is very far down on my list right now. I’m working on my solo record and then it’s Roxette with Lena all next year. And the musical will soon premiere. I’m busy with other things.

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

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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

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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!