We interviewed Maria Sörgjerd, the author of “I en underbar ballong”, the book about Roxette fans. So here you can read the “behind the scenes” of the book.
RXB: Maria, could you tell us about you? how long have you been a Roxette fan?
As a Swedish girl, born in the mid 1970s, I couldn’t avoid Roxette when I was growing up. I have many positive memories connected to Roxette. When I was 16, I went to my first big concert: Roxette in ”Globen” 1991, the Joyride Tour. But I can’t say that I was a devoted Roxette fan back then, even though I liked their music. I became a real fan much later in life. When I was growing up I listed to all sorts of music, Neil Young, The Beatles, Abba, just to mention a few.
In the beginning of the twenty-first century, I rediscovered and upgraded music that I had listened to as a teenager, a time in life which is of great importance for one’s identity. At the same time, Marie fell ill and this affected me strongly on a personal level. I was trying to get pregnant by means of medically assisted reproduction and a test indicated that I might have problems with fertility because of a brain tumour. Fortunately, this was not the case, but I was really scared during a couple of weeks, while waiting for the test results. During this time, I listened more and more to Marie’s music and I felt that I could on some level relate to what she was going through. Small coincidences in life can make you discover new paths… My fertility issues could be solved and I am now mother of two wonderful girls, six and seven years old.
RXB: We understood that you studied (music) psychology, could you explain why and how you got the idea to write the book?
I studied psychology for two years, 1998-2000 and I wrote a major essay on the topic of music psychology. The essay was called “Auditory and visual recognition of emotional expression in performances of music”. I came up with the idea to write the book “I en underbar ballong” two and a half years ago, in the summer of 2010 when I was at a Roxette concert in Halmstad. That was when I got to know many international fans in real life, and not just over the Internet.
From my Swedish perspective, it was fascinating that people had travelled so far, from different corners of the world, from Europe, Argentina, Brazil and Russia, just to see Roxette. I had a great experience in Halmstad and it felt so huge that Roxette was back on stage again. It gave me a real energy boost.
RXB: When did you start writing the book then?
During the fall of 2010, after the concert in Halmstad, the idea to write something about Roxette grew stronger. I found inspiration through talking to my friends. At first, I aimed at writing an essay, but then the project grew bigger. I had made friends with a fan from Argentina (her name is Paula), she told me what it means to be a real Roxer.
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