P, C & C order room service (VII): Chris Lundquist with Roxette in Finland

Per and Marie have been in Helsinki, Finland, today to promote their new album, Room Service.

Marie and Per have been backed by Clarence Öfwerman on keyboards, Pelle Alsing on drums and Christoffer Lundquist on the bass. Per has played the guitar. They also have had a Finnish string section of four people. They played “The Centre Of The Heart” (twice), “Milk And Toast And Honey”, “Wish I Could Fly” and “Real Sugar”.

Maybe the forthcoming Room Service Tour band could include:

Per Pelle Alsing (drums). Jonas Isacsson (electric guitars). Christoffer Lundquist (bass). Clarence Öfwerman (keyboards).

Christoffer Lundquist has been interviewed by The Daily Roxette and also aswered some quick questions to the Swedish band The April Tears. The April Tears will release a new album in January 2002, produced by Christoffer Lundquist.

Chris is an all-around musician on Roxette’s two latest albums and in the band Brainpool (“discovered” by Per’s company Jimmy Fun Music). He speaks about Roxette and Brainpool. Brainpool's last album, “You Are Here” (1999), was their first without Janne Kask, who left the band’s lead singer position in 1997. The album was a flop, but Brainpool are working in a new project.

LJdM

I have enjoyed working with Per and Marie. They are really nice people. It doesn’t bother me that Per and Marie grab all the attention of fans. I have been able to walk out from the studios without being surrounded by autograph hunters. That’s the way it is. The decision to mount another major Tour has already been reached. Per and Marie want to have a proper tour, and I’m in the band.

And Brainpool is working on a new album. It’s a rock opera and it will sound something like our previous album. Kask back in the band? We don't want to work with him anymore.

• Born: January 16, 1970
• Lives: In the countryside in southern Sweden.
• Favourite April Tears songs: All Good Things, Hong Kong and Model, Actress, Whatever.
• Favourite Songs: Beach Boys - Surf's Up, Scott Walker - No Regrets, The Who - Getting In Tune, Yes - Awaken, Van Der Graaf Generator - Man-Erg (including Cog), The Beatles - Rain, Genesis - In The Cage, George Harrison - I'd Have You Anytime
• Favourite cities: None. I don't like cities.
• Favourite Drink: Guinness
• Favourite Food: At the moment pancakes with strawberry jam.
• Christoffer's favourite link: http://brianwilson.cjb.net

Christoffer Lundquist
- Junk Musik

P, C & C order room service (VI): RS is out and it's time for promo

These weeks, the new album of Roxette, Room Service, is being released nearly worldwide (excluding the USA). The album has 13 songs and was recorded last year at Atlantis Studio and at Polar Studios, both in Stockholm.

The production, recording and mixing were made by Per, Marie, Clarence Öfwerman (keyboards) and Ronny Lahti. Christoffer Lundquist, backing vocals, also played the bass, Per, MP Persson, Micke Syd Andersson and Jonas Isaacson the guitars, Christer Jansson the percussion and Mats Holmquist the string arrangements. The "newbies" in the team are the programmer Jimmy Monell (aka Shooting Star, from The April Tears) and the guitarist David Birde (from Brainpool). We can see the presence of two members of Brainpool (Lunquist and Birde) with Per and Clarence in a new challenge for this "team".



Per Gessle speaks about the album below. Since February, Roxette has performed in Promo Gigs around Europe:

• Sweden: Malmö (Feb.23), Stockholm (Mar.22 and 23, April 1)
• Germany: Cologne (Mar.26)
• Spain: Barcelona (Mar.27) - A marvelous live show in Sala Bikini.

This time, many of the gigs have been performed live and it seems the band is ready for the Room Service Tour (next automn).

LJdM

Well, when you start out as a young musician, everything is very romantic, y'Know, the whole industry, going into a studio, whatever., of course, things change after a while and there'S... nothing that... romantic left (laughs) in the music industry for us and so, of course, it turns out to be a professional thing in the end. But still it's important to maintain the love affair you have with music, I mean you have to be interested in music. You have to be interested in what you do. In that sense I don't want to be a professional, I still want to be a fan. and that approach is crucial, actually, to having success in the end. I mean you can always go to the 'How to Write a Hit Song' book and have a hit, but at the end of the day, it won't last. To have a career that goes on for a couple of decades, I mean, you have to be true to yourself. So... We just sat down and wanted to make something that was... classic Roxette, what we're really good at, doing pop. A pop record. It's disco but still fresh... The album has got 12 songs, all of them quite short... There are some really fab songs which I consider to be some of our best... Marie is in top shape and myself... I even managed to sing a ballad this time.

'It feel fucking great that both the single and the album have been received so well. Each time you release a record it's waiting on how it will be received. and I really think that this one is the best and greatest album we've done. Abroad we've received fantastic review, so the bad reviews in Sweden are a truly local phenomenon.

Per Gessle

All the bad records I’ve heard, or those which didn’t turn out that great, are the ones where someone had a real fix plan. “This is like it’s going to sound like”. This prevents creative things from happening. So for me my only idea about producing is just being open to whatever might happen. If something feels good, that’s it. Be it a synth or a drum kit or retro sounds, more modern. What feels right at that moment, that’s what you must do, go for. That’s the only way to make good music.

We had a bit more a restrained idea in “Have a nice day” and “Room Service”. For me, when I listen to those records now, they aren’t as good as they could have been. There are some really nice songs, but the records could have been better. “Beautiful Things” is one of the simplest songs on the album, without many things going on in it. I wasn’t much involved with “Room Service”, except for playing bass, some guitar and backing vocals with Marie. But I might guess the reason is it wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. I guess that’s what you hear. I think that’s more important than which instruments you are using. You should have fun when recording an album, then it’s surely going to be good.

Christoffer Lundquist

Helena Josefsson, backing singer at Tambourine Studios and Gula Studion (II): The Ark - Joy Surrender

The Ark, the Swedish glam rock band from Malmö, has unleashed a new single from their first album, "We are The Ark" (2000), "Joy Surrender".

Recorded by Marco Manieri at Gula Studion in Malmö, Helena Josefsson (Plastic Soul) and Sara Svensson feature as background singers in two songs of the single: Joy Surrender and Topsy Kaiser.

LJdM