Per and Micke were Fredrik Eliasson’s guests on Musikplats on Swedish Radio P4 Stockholm the other day. They talked about Gyllene Tider’s new album and their feelings before the band’s farewell.
Micke Syd says it’s a 40-year-long love story between them and their audience and now that both the audience and the band know it’s the last time, they will make the best out of it this summer.
Per talks about GT as a five-piece puzzle where everyone is important. It’s a kind of magic when them 5 play together it sounds totally different when they play their songs with other musicians. Fredrik asks what’s that Gyllene touch in their songs. Per says there are a lot of things that make their unique sound, but one of them is definitely the Farfisa, which became their trademark. It sets a special tone for the songs.
Fredrik remembers he was sitting in the living room in the ’80s with a cassette and recorded songs from the radio when När vi två blir en came with 40 seconds of Farfisa intro and a little from the first verse. He was stuck in the rhythm and feelings. Per says that’s the fantastic power of music. Certain music and songs are just magnetic, but they are not magnetic to all at the same level and not the same music is magnetic to everyone. Mr. G says he also has songs that turned his own world upside down. There aren’t many forms of art that can do this to you.
The guys are talking a bit more about pop organs. Micke Syd says they were not the first to use this instrument. Per mentions that e.g. in the ’70s Elvis Costello & The Attractions also played something on Vox organ.
Per, Micke and Fredrik talk about the new album. Micke Syd says they recorded 15 songs in 17 days in France. Fredrik mentions that over the years the guys went into different directions. Micke Syd says they all have their own inspirations. Anders works a lot with soundstracks, for example. Per says Göran doesn’t really play music outside GT, but he had a lot of great ideas in France. It seems that everyone is standing on their toes now and it feels wonderful before the tour.
Per says the idea was to write a pop album for GT, but it should sound like the band has become a little older, but kept their roots of course, to keep the Gyllene Tider touch. Fredrik asks Per if he feels it when he writes whether it’s a Gyllene song or not. Per says that with certain songs he felt shit, it’s not really GT, maybe it could be PG solo. He also says that when you have 5-6 midtempo songs of the same style, you need nice ballads too. And there is a song he wrote for Micke to sing, because he sang Min tjej och jag so fine in 1981 on Moderna Tider. Per says they weren’t inside when Micke sang Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! in the studio. Micke says it was challenging for him to sing this song, but it’s nice he had the chance to sing on the last album and he likes it a lot.
Fredrik asks the guys about the cover of Sven-Ingvars’ Någon att hålla i hand. Per had this song on an EP when he was a kid. He recorded an acoustic demo and thought GT could Gyllenefy the song.
About the studio in France Per says Anders went there in autumn to check if it suits them. It’s a spacious studio, great for bands. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Morrissey and Rammstein recorded there too, for example. At this point, a mobile rings and it turns out that Anders calls the guys. They pick up the phone saying he is live on radio. Fredrik asks Anders how it was in France and he says it was awesome, creative and overwhelming. They had a blast.
Regarding the tour Per says it’s going to be huge. They are playing big venues, Ullevi and Stockholms Stadion among them. They have a lot to organize, because it’s a huge production. At the same time they are aware of the fact that the audiences are coming for the songs, so it will be more about the communication between the band and the audience than a lot of technical stuff. Both the audience and the band will enjoy this last, special tour. Per says they are super happy that they are still there and can look back on such a fantastic journey.
Fredrik asks the guys which song they think could summarize the Gyllene feeling, production and sound. Per says it would be Det är över nu. He says it’s funny that when they came back in the ’90s they were actually better than when they finished with GT in 1985.
Listen to Musikplats HERE!
