Roxette

Observations by Etoall – the exhibition opening at Hotel Tylösand

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The vernissage of photographer Fredrik Etoall’s exhibition at Hotel Tylösand was held today. 44 of his amazing photos of Roxette, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider are on display between 1st July and 31st August.

Tres Hombres Art organized a fab opening for the exhibition where Rosie Gottlander from THA asked him questions about how he got to work with Roxette and Fredrik talked about the sessions he had with Roxette, Marie, Per and GT. Rosie asked Fredrik to ask something from Per, so Per came up on stage and Fredrik asked him why he chose him to work together with. Mr. G talked very nicely about Fredrik and his art. The appreciation is mutual.

When we asked Fredrik about his photos and these sessions, he talked very enthusiastically about them. Especially about the session he did with Marie for the Nu! album and the one with Per for PG Roxette.

How he catches the inner essence of the artists he takes pictures of is really amazing. You as a fan already saw quite much of his work, but you have to get yourself his book, Observations by Etoall to see photos you have never seen before – from the Travelling session, from GT’s 2013 session or solo photos of Marie and Per in poses you never imagined your idols could strike. Wonderful job!

The books you could buy at Hotel Tylösand were signed. Both the limited editions in the box and the standard version as well. Fredrik kindly posed for pictures with the guests and appreciated all the nice words the visitors said to him. He deserves all the recognition. An awesome artist he is!

Per took his time and stayed for a while. He also talked to some guests, signed stuff the visitors asked him to sign and posed for pictures. Göran Fritzon was also there at the beginning, Anders Herrlin also appeared and Micke Syd attended the vernissage too. They all were very kind to the guests, having small talks, taking selfies and signing stuff.

If you are in Halmstad, make sure you visit the exhibition and don’t forget to buy the book. It’s really worth it!

All photos in the article by Patrícia Peres.

Observations by Fredrik Etoall – Roxette, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Gyllene Tider

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An art book including photos of Roxette, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider taken by the amazing photographer Fredrik Etoall will be published on 30th June. Observations by Fredrik Etoall – Roxette, Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Gyllene Tider comes in two versions, one standard textile bound book with 176 pages. The second version is the same book delivered in a nice box including a signed art print by both Fredrik Etoall and Per Gessle. The signed and numbered box set is a limited edition of 500 copies, covered with Fancy Linen.

Mr. G says:

I first met Fredrik during a photo session with Roxette at the Scandic Grand Central in Stockholm in January 2012. Marie understandably was very tired and impatient, but that didn’t stop Fredrik from taking some of the finest and most personal pictures ever taken of our band.

I’ve had the privilege to continue working with him on various projects, and nowadays regard him as a good friend. He’s the kind of guy who’s fun to bounce ideas with. And he always speaks his mind. A good quality.

During our two-day session to nail the visual identity for the PG Roxette album ”Pop-Up Dynamo!”, the idea of a photo book with Fredrik’s fabulous images of Roxette, Marie, Gyllene Tider, and myself took shape. I loved it immediately. Fredrik’s craftmanship, artistry, and sensibility hits you on every page. If I could only use two words to describe his work, it would be “timeless quality”. I’m pretty sure you’ll agree.

You can pre-order the book at Bengans. HERE you can see details of the standard book and HERE the box set. The weight is appr. 1 kg. Dimensions: 230 x 320 mm.

The book is published by Tres Hombres Art that will also organize an exhibition of Fredrik Etoall’s photos at Hotel Tylösand from 30th June.

Roxette, Per Gessle and Gyllene Tider are now represented by Monza Music Entertainment

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Monza Music Entertainment is now being launched – a merger of several of the Nordics’ leading management companies. Some of the Nordics’ top management joins the new music company Monza Music Entertainment. In its own three-storey farmhouse in Vasastan, Stockholm, the newly started company aims to help artists and producers in their careers – with long-termism as the main watchword. Behind the initiative are Andreas Håkansson (former A&R Director, Warner Music) and Tomas Jernberg (former partner, Dimberg Jernberg Management), a strong team and a number of external partners.

Monza Music Entertainment is a merger of the management companies Autonom Management, Dimberg Jernberg Management, Tiny Monsters and Monza Music Management, which will run publishing and management activities with the whole world as a market.

With both offices, social spaces and music studios under the same roof, Monza hopes to minimize the distance between the creative and operational work – and in that way create a more efficient collaboration model.

Tomas Jernberg, Managing Director says:

Monza wants to be the company that provides the conditions for artists, songwriters and producers to fulfill their visions all the way from creation to meeting their audience. We are a team consisting of management, A&R/Creative, Brand Partnerships, Digital Content Creation and project management. Our ambition is to establish a really strong alternative in the Nordic music industry, with the world as a market.

Niklas ‘Pankan’ Bergson, Manager & Partner says:

I started Autonom together with Per Hägglund 13 years ago because we felt that we wanted to be an independent management entirely on the artist’s terms. When Per decided to write and produce music full-time, I felt that I wanted to find a new context to take it further. When I met Andreas and Tomas, I felt that we had the same view on how to develop and build an interesting and modern management, where we can meet the challenges of the new era and have the opportunity to take advantage of and develop our artists without losing our basic idea.

Marie Dimberg, Manager & Partner says:

In an industry that has undergone enormous changes during the almost 40 years I have spent in it, the management role has been established, grown and greatly changed in recent years. The need for strong and professional management has never been greater as more and more artists and music creators become their own small labels and brands. To be able to grow and offer competence in all areas and bring in new people with new ideas, the idea of a management house like Monza felt obvious both to Tomas Jernberg and me. ‘Develop or die’, as it is called. Together with a number of competent people with varying experience, we see the future and intend to stick to the first mentioned – develop!

Monza Music Entertainment currently represents the following artists, songwriters and producers:

Management: Love Antell, Christopher (Dk), Peder Elias (No), Florence Valentin, Per Gessle, Gyllene Tider, Molly Hammar, Hederos & Hellberg, Maia Hirasawa, Hurula, Peter Jöback, Elias Kapari, Loney Dear, Nause, Roxette, Nicole Sabouné, Sakarias, Thåström, Titiyo, Bruno K. Öijer.

Publishing: John Alexis, A36, Cherrie, Harm Brothers, KJ, Pontus Persson, Ricky Rich & Dani M

More names are expected to be added shortly.

Photos by Fredrik Etoall.

Read the press release in Swedish HERE!

APRIL FOOLS’ DAY! – Per Gessle to appear on stage in the Roxette musical!

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APRIL FOOLS’ DAY – There is still quite some time left until the Roxette musical hits the theatres in autumn 2024, but it has just been confirmed in a recent interview that besides taking huge part of the job in matching Roxette’s music with the play, Per will also appear on stage each night the musical is on. Well, not exactly on stage, but in the orchestra. Actually, in front of the orchestra, because he accepted the challenge to be the conductor. This way he can make sure everything sounds exactly how he imagines it, so the audience will have an extraordinary experience each night. This is going to be a very new role for Mr. G, of course, but the more he dives into this project, the more his curiosity about theatre life is growing. Who knows, maybe one day we even see his name in the cast of some play. Haha.

The script of the musical is not yet ready, but as you already know, it will be based on Got You Back, a book by Jane Fallon and is being written by Swedish playwright and director Klas Abrahamsson. The premiere will happen in Malmö Opera in autumn 2024.

Dates will be out and tickets for the musical will go on sale in autumn 2023. Until then, you can always read the book. HERE you can find the first chapter.

Conductor Gessle stills are from PG Roxette’s Nothing Else Matters cover video.

Roxette on MTV Unplugged – 30th anniversary

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MTV’s acclaimed music series, MTV Unplugged premiered in 1989 and it showcased top artists in the industry performing acoustic versions of their songs. Roxette was the first non-native English speaker band invited. It was a fantastic opportunity for Roxette to show their qualities as a live band to a large audience worldwide. They recorded their show live at Cirkus in Stockholm, Sweden on 9th January 1993 and it was broadcast during MTV’s Roxette Weekend on 20th and 21st February, then on Swedish TV a week later.

Per says in the Att vara Per Gessle book:

It was good for our self-confidence to do the songs acoustically. The sound on the studio versions was based almost exclusively on production technology, but it was still quite easy to strip the songs down and play them in a natural way. And that probably affected the way we approached the new record [Crash! Boom! Bang!]. We wanted to tone down some of the technical stuff and find a more organic sound.

The gang

Lead vocals: Marie Fredriksson
Acoustic guitar & lead vocals: Per Gessle
Drums, percussion & Samsonite suitcase: Pelle Alsing
Backing vocals, accordion & mandolin: Vicki Benckert
Acoustic bass: Anders Herrlin
Acoustic guitar: Jonas Isacsson
Piano & pump organ: Clarence Öfwerman
Backing vocals, percussion & glockenspiel: Staffan Öfwerman

3 songs from the set – Joyride, The Look and Dangerous – were released on Roxette’s Rarities album in 1995, but for the rest we had to wait until their 20th anniversary in 2006 when they released the entire performance on a DVD in The RoxBox / Roxette 86–06 box set.

The 53-minute-long concert – 12 tracks + 3 short interview parts – on the DVD was what anyone could watch on MTV. The 8 bonus tracks weren’t on TV, they saw the light of day only on the 2006 release.

Setlist (they played the songs in this order originally)

  1. Dangerous
  2. Hotblooded
  3. Spending My Time
  4. The Heart Shaped Sea
  5. Fingertips
  6. Cry
  7. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (Aretha Franklin cover)
  8. Heart Of Gold (Neil Young cover)
  9. Surrender
  10. It Must Have Been Love
  11. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (The Byrds cover)
  12. Watercolours In The Rain
  13. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
  14. Here Comes The Weekend
  15. The Look
  16. Perfect Day

ENCORE

  1. Listen To Your Heart
  2. Church Of Your Heart
  3. Joyride
  4. Queen Of Rain

There would have been a second encore with Things Will Never Be The Same, The Big L. and So Far Away, but unfortunately, it never happened.

DVD setlist on the RoxBox

  1. The Look
  2. Queen Of Rain
  3. Hotblooded
  4. Interview
  5. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) (Aretha Franklin cover)
  6. It Must Have Been Love
  7. Fingertips
  8. Interview
  9. Heart Of Gold (Neil Young cover)
  10. Church Of Your Heart
  11. Listen To Your Heart
  12. Interview
  13. Here Comes The Weekend
  14. Joyride
  15. So You Wanna Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star (The Byrds cover)

BONUS TRACKS

  1. Dangerous
  2. Spending My Time
  3. The Heart Shaped Sea
  4. Cry
  5. Watercolours In The Rain
  6. Surrender
  7. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
  8. Perfect Day

Now, 30 years later, it would just be amazing to have this gem on streaming services. Both as audio and video. Maybe one day?

Stills are from the DVD.

Photo from the press conference shows Brian Diamond, MTV Europe Executive Producer and Monica Eek, Head of Entertainment at Swedish TV next to Marie and Per.