Q&A with Per at Live Nation – The answers!

roxetteloveAs we informed you some days ago, you could tweet your questions to Per on Live Nation Australia & New Zealand’s Twitter account. Per replied to 14 questions so far.

It’s not yet known if he continues to answer the remaining Qs or if new ones are coming, but we will keep our eyes open and let you know if he does so. Article will be updated then.

 

 

 

Q: – Per, how do you deliver a song like I’m Glad You Called? I mean clearly it was an emotional hell that break up!

Per: – There are of course bits & pieces of me in those lyrics. But I’m a writer, I make things up.

 

Q: – Per is there any song from a previous album that you regret not choosing as a single?

Per: – LS, Joyride & CBB had lots of potentials. Sleeping single. Paint. WSL? & more. Tough competition.

 

Q: – What makes a crowd exceptional to you?

Per: – Every crowd is great. Rox-fans are glowing with positive energy. How could you not love that?

 

Q: – Hello! Will Roxette be re-releasing any rare songs like “I Want You” in the near future?

Per: – Not IWY. It was made with other artists & belongs to another rec. company. But other fun stuff might pop up.

 

Q: – 24 years wondering what will be the perfume that he uses? Time flies.

Per: – Perfume is good for you. I change a bit. Bottega Veneta got some nice ones for guys like me.

 

Q: – U talked about re-release old roxette’s vhs and DVDs. It will happen? When?! Looks promising!

Per: – Hope so. Everything is kinda upside down at the moment with the EMI/Warner-merger. One of these years.

 

Q: – Can you please do that epic mashup of ‘crash boom bang’/’anyone’ again please?

Per: – Yea, that was cool. No promises though…

 

Q: – Are there songs that are tricky to do live? Have u ever tried 1 that u couldn’t make work live? If so, which?

Per: – Most early ones are tricky because they were made for the studio, not necessarily to be played live… You have to re-think some songs to make them work live w/ a band w/o using computers & other devices.

 

Q: – Can we expect high-tech lighting or any mind blowing, dramatic stage production changes in 2015?

Per: – Cirque de Soleil here we come!

 

Q: – When you tour do you find it hard to adjust to the different timezones?

Per: – No, it’s fine. As long as you get some sleep you’ll adjust pretty easy.

 

Q: – Per! Do you plan to tour for many more years? Will Roxette be neverending?

Per: – Yes, both Marie and myself love to tour and perform so I’m pretty sure we will continue.

 

Q: – Do you ever see photos uploaded to social media of yourself with fans and wish you could have a retake?

Per: – Every day!!!

 

Q: – So glad you are coming back to Oz! Can we expect some surprises like maybe some unreleased songs in your shows?

Per: – We start rehearsing in September so until then I don’t know. But we’ll try out some different stuff for sure.

 

Q: – Per, what out of all the Roxette albums is your favourite one?

Per: – LS! is cool because it just came down from the sky. It was created without fame, fortune & expectations.

 

Some more answers were added on 25th June:

Q: – Does it blow your mind that there are so many hard-core fans in distant lands (New Zee) after all these years?

Per: – Yes, never take it for granted.This biz eats acts for bfast=to have global fans after all these years is fab!

 

Q: – Tell me your favorite Roxette lyrics, the ones that mean the most. I need ideas for a tattoo!!!

Per: – I’m living in a box but I’m out when opportunity nox!

 

Q: – G’day from Oz Per! With all your frequent F.L.Y.I.N.G, have you ever thought of buying your own private Jet?

Per: – Hahaha. Good one. Of course. Per Air!

 

Q: – When you sit down to write, do you write both melody & lyrics or does one come first (usually)?

Per: – Both work for me. I usually start with music but sometimes a phrase or an idea for a title makes me tick.

 

Q: – What is the biggest advantage of playing live? Are there also disadvantages?

Per: – Live = very different from being in the studio. All songs are written for the studio so you have to make them work live, which can be tuff.

 

Q: – Per, what song took the longest to piece together (vocals, music etc)?

Per: – Most of In My Own Way was written in 84 but only finished in 2010. Very unusual=I’m fast when writing.

 

Q: – Per do you like the You don´t want love production? You think in the next Rox album will inc a song like this?

Per: – I really enjoy some EDM music. Definitely you’ll hear those influences in the future. But in our special way.

 

Ask Per a question!

Live Nation Australia & New Zealand posted a video with Per Gessle promoting the upcoming Roxette world tour’s Oz & NZ leg. If you ever wanted to know anything about Roxette, now here is your great chance to ask Per anything you want! He’ll be choosing his favourite questions to answer personally. So be creative and try to ask him something else than when they will come to your country! There are already some questions to him on Twitter.

Tweet your questions to @livenationoznz and don’t forget to use the hashtag #ROXETTELOVE!

It’s not yet known until when you can tweet your questions and when and how Per will answer them. Once we get to know it, we will update this article. Good luck, Roxers!

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeC4LrE3_0w

Aftonbladet: Per Gessle on social media websites

Jens Peterson, Aftonbladet’s journalist, did an extensive report from the Warsaw concert on 19th June this year. He has also interviewed Per Gessle about his plans around the current World Tour and attitude to social media websites like Facebook or Twitter. Here are the most interesting quotes:

Response from fans is huge. The films are viewed by between 70,000 and 100,000 people. We get 500-600 new friends on Facebook every day.

[Band and crew have wondered whether there is a risk to put out too much on Facebook, but] this fear I can give a shit about. If you like Roxette, you get information every day. And it’s fun to do it. I wonder what it would’ve been like if this was when I was growing up. When I loved David Bowie over everything else – just imagine I would have gotten so much information. Or Lennon.

Yes, I do [Facebook & Twitter] almost exclusively on computer. I have an iPhone at home. In Sweden, I use my iPhone and I surf on the net on the way from the airport. I spend quite a lot of time on computer every day.

[Being active in social media] is really unlike me, because I’m not super technical and not much interested in the web. I’m not interested in the media itself. But one must applaud YouTube.

It’s so easy [to film everything with an iPhone]. I film a lot and choose the best clips. There may be two or twenty movies a day.

I do not think so [I use Facebook and Twitter more than traditional media], but I’m doing as little press as possible. I have seen how journalists in the Czech Republic and Spain built articles they write on the facts from our Facebook page.

The successes of the first half of the tour means that Roxette will be travelling with a larger stage and more equipment. We need to improve it a bit for the autumn tour.

Source: Aftonbladet

Gessle’s new Roxette album’s recording diary

February 4th, 2010:
The very first pictures and clips from Chris’ studio in Scania were presented.

February 3rd, 2010:

Grtgs fr ze studio. Day and nite #3! Just had a grt dinner by ze fire in Chris’s hse. His wife shd open a Michelin-rest! Back to work y’all!

This morning we could hardly find the studio. Serious amount of snow in the south of Sweden, folks. Are we human or are we dancer?

Had to take a 45 min walk w/ Clarence last nite, In 10 in of snow! At 3AM in the morning! I had a flashlight. Clare had a smile on his face.


February 2nd, 2010:

Just spent an hour listening to old demos. Hallelujah. So much rubbish, a few candybars…

Someone just sent me a link to Tapefly’s new single Sheela. Great stuff, wonderful guitar hook. We all love it in the studio

Greetings from The Studio. We’re making things happen here!!

January 26th, 2010:

Did some recordings at MP’s brand new Tits&Ass studio. Very cozy, great vocal-sound, nice coffee.

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