Swedish Radio
Per Gessle and Micke Syd on Musikplats
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!
Pic is from Fredrik Eliasson's Instagram
Categories Gyllene Tider, Radio Tags Fredrik Eliasson, Micke Syd Andersson, Musikplats, Per Gessle, Samma skrot och korn, Swedish Radio
Per Gessle and Micke Syd Andersson on P4 Extra
May 30, 2019 by Patrícia Peres
Per and Micke Syd were guests on Swedish Radio P4 Extra. Listen HERE! Their part starts at 28:40 and lasts until 53:35.
Reporter Titti Schultz asks the guys how long they have known each other. They say too long. Titti asks Micke if he worked at a bar before and what he did there. Micke Syd says he did everything except for doing the washing up.
Titti is curious if it is really going to be the last tour and the guys confirm it is. She asks how many summer songs they promise to release on the new album. Per says he doesn't know, but there will be a lot of summer songs on tour.
Det är över nu is played and Titti shares with the listeners that Micke was air drumming in the studio during the song. Per says Det är över nu and also Sommartider, Det hjärta som brinner or Tylö sun for example are songs that can't be rehearsed, because it's a bit comic without an audience.
The guys say it's the '90s when they sounded the best. It was the period when they came back for the first time, with songs like Det är över nu, Kung av sand, Juni, juli, augusti, Gå & fiska!
Titti says one of her absolute favourite GT songs is Juni, juli, augusti and asks the guys if they have any favourite GT songs. Micke Syd says Juni, juli, augusti is much fun to play live. Per picks Faller ner på knä.
Talking about the new album, Samma skrot och korn, Per says it's a bit more adult, more thoughtful and also sentimental and sad vs. their previous albums. It's very nice pop music. The title refers to the band members. The guys recorded it in France and they went through a creative process that couldn't have happened in a studio in Stockholm.
Regarding the tour Per and Micke say there will be some unexpected happenings, surprises, but they can't tell anything about it yet. Micke Syd jokes there will be pole dance. Haha.
Titti asks if the guys are sentimental and feel nostalgic now that all this comes to an end. Micke Syd says he became sentimental already in France. At last there is a song again that HE sings, Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! Titti asks if she can get a little snippet a capella. Per jokes that then he has to go away.
To the question if they get together often, the guys replied that they didn't meet the five of them together since the last tour, but the recording sessions in France were fantastic and much fun.
About the new single, Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten, Per says there is a little Van Morrison turn in it, which is a little unexpected. Titti says this must be the very first song about a Fluortant. The song is played on the radio.
Titti asks Per if he could write a song like Flickorna på TV2 today and Mr. G replies he couldn't. Titti asks if they will play it this summer. Per says for sure, because it's great to play it. Regarding the setlist Per says they circulated a list of 51 songs that they will narrow down to 25-26 songs. There are 17-18 songs that they MUST play, but then they also want to include surprises and songs from the new album. The concerts are planned to be 2 hours long.
Titti thinks fans in the '80s were different than fans today. Per says they are not, it's juts that we live in a different era. It's just that there is social media and mobile phones nowadays. Titti asks if there are groupies around, Micke Syd says no, they never really had the talent for that, to have groupies waiting for them at the hotel.
Faller ner på knä is played, but cut short due to news.
Titti asks Micke Syd if he has become a better drummer over the years. Micke says he has, just not technically, but how he plays. When he plays elsewhere, even when he played for Roxette in June Afternoon or She Doesn't Live Here Anymore, it's different vs. when he plays in GT. In Gyllene Tider it's like coming home. In France for example the recordings went so fast, because they went with the flow.
Titti asks how they know a song is ready. Per says a song develops all the time. When they play it live it becomes different. He thinks sometimes it's a pity that one writes a song, they record it in the studio and take it to an audience only later. It could be the other way around, playing the song for an audience 20-30 times before recording it.
Categories Gyllene Tider, Interview, Radio Tags Interview, Micke Syd Andersson, P4, P4 Extra, Per Gessle, Samma skrot och korn, Swedish Radio, Titti Schultz
Per Gessle and Mats MP Persson on Kulturnytt – Swedish Radio P4
There was a 3-minute-long interview with Per Gessle and Mats MP Persson on Kulturnytt on Swedish Radio P4 today. The guys were talking about Gyllene Tider's latest single and the recording of their last album.
Per says Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten is about an absurd dream which is about a past time and romance. With the new album, one of their most important aims was to show that they are a mature pop band and this is how the guys sound at the age of 58-60. They recorded the album in France and decided that they would play as much live as possible in the studio, to have the eye contact with each other and the fusion of 5 guys who work together in real time, not to create the sounds on computer. The songs, the arrangements and the lyrics have perspective. Per says it would be impossible for him to write Flickorna på TV2, När vi två blir en or Sommartider today, but he can write another type of pop music. Mr. G didn't try to write classic single hits or very commercial songs, but wanted to show how GT sounds in 2019.
MP says in France they could take a little different turn in the arrangement and the whole recording session was much fun and very creative.
Per adds the biggest difference these days is that he mostly works acoustically. In the '90s MP and PG made very advanced demos. When you work in a band, it's good to leave the arrangement quite wide open. When Per plays a song on the acoustic guitar and sings, the melody and lyrics give an impression of what the song is about, so then it's up to Göran on keyboards and Anders on bass and Micke on drums and of course MP too to interpret it. It's a five-piece puzzle where everyone is important. It becomes a totally different song once Gyllene Tider plays it.
The album, Samma skrot och korn is out on June 14th, but you can already pre-order it (CD-hardbook, standard black gatefold 2LP, limited edition gatefold coloured 2LP) at the usual sites: Bengans, Ginza, CDON.
Categories Gyllene Tider, Interview Tags Album, Gyllene Tider, Interview, Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten, Kulturnytt, Mats MP Persson, P4, Per Gessle, Samma skrot och korn, Swedish Radio