Le Journal des Mouches

26 Jan 2004

P, C & C back in the AGM office (VI): Gyllene Tider's recordings begin

I am surprised: I was nominated as the Halland Resident of All Times. It’s like trying to compare Picasso to the painters a long time before him. You can’t really do that.

I isolated myself for a couple of days and wrote four songs in Mauritius. But on my birthday we went out on a catamaran ride. It was a huge difference compared to the cold weather of Halmstad!

Currently, I am working in the studio with Gyllene Tider. We have been here for two days. We are still trying to find the sweet and airy sound. We just played a song, but it sounded too good. It can’t sound like that with Gyllene Tider! I have written a lot of songs and we’ll see what happens. Our goal is to accomplish a single or – if we’re extra lucky – an EP. An album is still a dream, although we do have enough material. If we are to record a full album it needs to follow a red line at least. I don't know the exact dates for the Gyllene Tider summer tour yet. It’s EMA that sets up the tour plan, but of course we’ll be performing here in Halmstad and along the west coast. The premiere will be in the middle of July and then we’ll keep going until the middle of August.

Per Gessle

Interview from: Hallands Nyheter; Source: TDR

12 Jan 2004

P, C & C back in the AGM office (V): Per turns 45 - Gyllene Tider’s comeback planned for eight years

Per Gessle turns 45 today. And 2003 has been a great, special, amazing year for him. TDR remembers other special moments in Per’s life.

January 12, 1959 Per is born.
1978 First record ever - The “Billy” EP.
1979 Gyllene Tider’s first single on EMI - “Flickorna på TV2”.
1979 First #1 on the Swedish charts - “Flickorna på TV2”.
1983 Per’s first solo album, “Per Gessle” is released.
1986 Roxette is born, first single “Neverending Love” is released.
March 28, 1989 “The Look” goes #1 on Billboard and breaks Roxette worldwide.
1993 Roxette plays MTV Unplugged at Cirkus in Stockholm.
August 21, 1993 Per marries Åsa.
1996 Gyllene Tider reunites for Scandinavia’s biggest tour ever.
1997 Per’s first solo album in English, “The World According To…” is released.
August 5, 1997 Per and Åsa’s son, Screamin’ Lord G (Gabriel) is born.
June 16, 2003 Per releases “Mazarin” and creates a mass hysteria in Sweden.
2004 Gyllene Tider turns 25 years, a new album and a tour is in the pipeline.

The year of 2003 was a huge success for Per Gessle. The hit single “Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)” was the most played song on Swedish radio stations, both on SR (Sveriges Radio) and commercial stations, during 2003. It’s the first time since Music Control started this list in 1996 that a Swedish artist is #1 on that year list. At second place came Robbie Williams with his song “Feel”, and at #3 Blue and Elton John’s hit song “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word”. All in all four Swedish songs were on the top ten.

According to Expressen, after having spent Christmas with his family in Halmstad, Per Gessle says it’s now time for him to work on the new Gyllene Tider record that will be released to coincide with this summer’s upcoming 25th Anniversary tour. The article claims that the comeback was planned – or at least considered – as early as 1996, during Återtåget. The tour will start in July, local venues are being booked now, and the only worries are that they might not sound good or that it will rain.

LJdM

My receding hairline tells me taht I have reached middle age. I thought this was something that only happened to one’s father. It’s important so that the tour with Gyllene Tider isn’t only a retro thing, even if we will be playing the old hits. How far along the process is? I won't comment it. Then you won’t have anything to write about the next time.

Per Gessle

21 Dec 2003

P, C & C back in the AGM office (IV): From Roxette to Mazarin, from Mazarin to Gyllene Tider

Roxette’s most recent single, “Opportunity Nox,” scored big in Germany. On 20th December, the song came in as #3 on the Jump Radio Charts of the Year. The station is generally considered to be the second largest in Germany. Also this weekend, on the biggest radio station of Germany, SWR3, “Opportunity Nox” also showed up as #3 on their year-end chart. It was on the charts for 12 weeks and made it to #1 nine times.

The third single off “Mazarin”, “Tycker om när du tar på mej”, was released on 10th December. Mazarin is still selling and the chart also confirms that “Mazarin” now has sold four times platinum (240,000 copies).

As widely expected, Aftonbladet published on 16th December that Gyllene Tider has indeed decided to tour Sweden next summer to celebrate their 25th Anniversary. Members of the group met over the weekend to make the final decision.

According to The Daily Roxette, it is expected that the tour will be preceded by some new material, perhaps an entire new album. Per and MP Persson will start recording demos after Christmas. Some are already done, Per says in Aftonbladet, where he also answered some questions about the best of 2003.

LJdM

After all, 25 years are really quite a lot, and that has to be celebrated. It’ll be cool to bring Gyllene Tider into the 21st century, and I hope the Summer Swedes would like to join us in our celebration. One summer is enough for god’s sake! Gyllene Tider doesn’t exist anymore, we only put it together again for this project. We live under enormous expectations, but I think we can live up to them.

Best CD: The Cardigans “Long Gone Before Daylight”. Should’ve been number 1 all over the world… why wasn’t it?
Best song: Outkast “Hey Ya!” Although one’s getting tired of it now….
Best concert: The Stones at the Cirkus. Can anyone beat this?
Best retro: Polanski on DVD. Plus the fact that the 60s more and more seem like, believe it or not, UNDERESTIMATED….. art… literature… music… film….design…. cars…. clothes…. etc., etc., etc.!!!
Worst: The Britney-Madonna single will probably not be historic. But if you mean something that isn’t really a “musical” experience one can mention that one gets terrified of that Michael Jackson district attorney…..help!
Best pastry: Muffins are nice too.

Per Gessle

29 Nov 2003

Helena Josefsson, backing singer at Tambourine Studios and Gula Studion (VII): The Margarets in Malmö

After their first album, What kept you (2002), The Margarets are now at Tambourine Studios, Malmö, recording their second album. They have been for two weeks of November at this Swedish studio with the producer Rune Berg and the engineer Herman Söderström (Tambourine Studios). Helena Josefsson takes part as background singer in some songs.

The recordings will continue at three different studios: Athletic Sound (Halden, Norway - December 2003 - January 2004, with Kai Ø. Andersen), Lydlab (Oslo, Norway, March 2004, with Ulf Holand) and Quad Recording Studios (New York, USA, September 2004, with Michael H. Brauer).

The Margarets is a Norwegian pop-group inspired by the Beatles. They're from Giske (a tiny island in the west coast of Norway) and play guitar-pop. They also have the musical influence of The Cure, Nick Drake, The Sundays, The Holllies, Led Zeppelin, Los Lobos, Astroburger and The Smiths.

The Margarets are:
* Alex Rinde - vocals
* Ante Giskeødegård - guitar
* Lars Berg - bass
* Rune Berg - guitar
* Ronnie Larsen - percussion

LJdM

15 Nov 2003

P, C & C back in the AGM office (III): Per's painting ... and 2004 projects

According to The Daily Roxette, Per is in the process of writing new material. Per Gessle visited the morning show “Nyhetsmorgon” (News Morning) on Swedish TV4 today. After showing a full song (Sommartider), Per’s interview revealed not so much new.

Otherwise, he has also painted a painting for Art Against AIDS. The new Roxette DVD called “Ballad & Pop Hits - The Complete Video Collection” will be out on 18th November.

LJdM

Roxette will not do anything actively during 2004, we’ll wait to see how Marie feels. Gyllene Tider’s possible tour will be decided during December. What speaks against a tour is that ’Återtåget’ still is the biggest tour in Sweden ever, so it’s a big fall for us…. I very much would like to tour with GT, there won't be another solo tour next year at any rate.

Per Gessle