Yet another Per Gessle related house music project

© Per Gessle
© Per Gessle

It’s still not the David Guetta cooperation, but after Heikki L’s ”You Don’t Want Love”, another house music related project of Per is out soon. Kill FM, a Swedish house duo (Kim Lindén and Jimmy Andersson) release their ”Don’t Go Dark” EP on 23rd June. This time it’s not Per who is singing, but Helena Josefsson. If you are following Helena on her social media sites, you know that she is now working as an optometrist besides taking part in several music projects and preparing her first jazz album. Some days ago she talked about the cooperation with Kill FM in an interview, but then it wasn’t known that the lyrics of ”Don’t Go Dark” are written by Per Gessle. Now the song had its premiere on Swedish Radio P3 and there they mentioned that the words are by Per.

The official preview of the song you can find on YouTube and on SoundCloud. Even David Guetta seems to like the track since he already used it in his latest DJ Mix 206 2014-06-08 (check it from 8:48). So step by step we are getting closer to that Guetta project it seems.

Update by Per:

YES, IT’S TRUE UPDATE! New track by Kill FM featuring Helena Josefsson who is in top shape and singing so well. I wrote the lyrics + the melody. It’s called “top line” in the Crazy World of Dance! Enjoy. /P.

 

Vote for Marie Fredriksson!

650x573_MF_tour_2014Voting period has started for this year’s Rockbjörnen (music prize awarded by Aftonbladet annually). Last year we summarized the achievements of Roxette, Marie, Per and Gyllene Tider in this article. Unfortunately, there was nothing to add to the list in 2013, but now here is the chance to vote again. Since Rockbjörnen is focusing on live acts and Marie Fredriksson had a fantastic solo tour this year, we can easily vote. So, please, fill in at least the female live artist of the year and concert of the year at the voting link. You can surely fill in other boxes, too. If you couldn’t attend Marie’s tour, check our concert reviews, so you can decide which one you would vote for.

 

Vote HERE each day until 28th July!

If you can’t speak Swedish, we help you to understand what the categories are and how you can proceed with your voting:

  • Årets kvinnliga liveartist = Female live artist of the year (it can only be Swedish)
  • Årets manliga liveartist = Male live artist of the year (it can only be Swedish)
  • Årets livegrupp = Live band of the year (it can only be Swedish)
  • Årets genombrott = Breakthrough artist of the year (it can only be Swedish)
  • Årets svenska låt = Swedish song of the year
  • Årets utländska låt = Foreign song of the year
  • Årets konsert (artist, plats) = Concert of the year (concerts only in Sweden are accepted)
  • Årets hårdrock / metal = Hard rock / metal artist of the year (either Swedish or foreign)
  • Årets bästa fans = Fans of the year (Swedish fan group)

After filling it in, click on ”Nästa” (= ”Next”) and fill in your name (first name & surname), e-mail address, year of birth (födelseår) and whether you are female (kvinna) or male (man), then reply to the control question (e.g. 5 + 5 = 10). If you want to receive info and offers from Aftonbladet, leave the tick in. ”Tillbaka” means ”Back”, ”Rösta” means ”Vote”. That’s it.

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.

 

Per starring in Linnea Henriksson’s Halmstad video

If you attended any of the concerts during the Gyllene Tider tour in 2013, you surely remember Linnea Henriksson. She was the support act at all concerts and she did a fantastic job. I think many GT fans became fans of Linnea as well during last summer.

She released her latest album ”Du söker bråk, jag kräver dans” in February and for the song ”Halmstad” she did a video. The video was shot on 15th May in Aleskogen and at Västra stranden in Halmstad.

As Linnea said to Hallandsposten: ”The song is a declaration of love to my hometown and I love Västra stranden. The view of the sea and the harbor are unbeatable and Aleskogen was a refuge to me when I was little. There is a mystery in the forest, you walk among the trees and suddenly, you are at the sea.”

Why we are writing about this video is that its premiere was today and Per Gessle appears in it for some seconds at the very beginning. After Mr G did his part in the video, he posted 2 pics of himself in the woods. The black & white one is close to what you can see in the video in color. (Photos taken from Roxette Official.)

PG_LH_20140515  PG_Aleskogen_20140515

 

THURSDAY UPDATE: Just did my part in Linnea Henriksson’s new video clip “Halmstad”. Fab song + outstanding video! Check it out! /P.

THURSDAY UPDATE #2: Out in the Halmstad woods w/ Linnea! Nice. /P.

 

It is indeed an outstanding video and it’s so colorful and cheerful as Linnea herself is. Congrats!

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOIXeGGFH0A

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