Joey Tempest: We Don’t Want to Stay an Eighties Band (2007)

 

Aleš: “How are things in the Europe camp, how’s the tour going, how are you feeling about it?”

Joey: “Great! The tour’s going according to plan and we’re very happy. A few days ago we played for crazy fans in Italy and Spain. We’re really glad the response has been so wild so far. Today we’re playing here in Graz, we absolutely love this hall, and I’m looking forward to tonight’s show.”

Aleš: “You started over from the dark (“Start From The Dark”)! Describe the change you’re going through for me: what kind of music do Europe play today, and what do you look like?”
Joey: “We’ve gone “progressive”. We try out things we develop in the studio, because a lot of people expect us to deliver another eighties album, but today we’re striving to develop new stuff in the studio. We can always play the old songs live, so why write in the old style when we’ve already developed it? In the studio we do exactly what we want. We want to keep moving forward and prove that Europe isn’t just an eighties band, that this is a band that wants to belong to today as well, so we definitely don’t want to stay in the eighties.”

Aleš: “Do you feel any weight from your former status as eighties superstars? Even today, people hear the word Europe and immediately think of the song The Final Countodwn, and basically link you to it automatically, in the very same moment. They kind of automatically expect you to sound today the way you sounded back then. Is that maybe a burden for Europe now?”
Joey: “Absolutely. It’s true. We’re constantly exposed to that association in people’s minds. We love playing The Final Countdown, there’s no problem with that, but we’ve outgrown its legacy, we’re moving forward, we want to keep pace with the times.”

Aleš: “What can you tell me about the current rock scene, through your own personal lens? What new stuff grabs you?”
Joey: “I like rock bands that carry a classic influence in them, like Audioslave, Velvet Revolver or the English band Muse. These bands are rooted in the past, but at the same time they sound modern. They carry a touch of the past with them! That’s what Europe want too. To make a kind of pleasing mix of the two. As for heavier stuff, like thrash metal or death metal, I have to say I don’t listen to that, but there are lots of bands coming out of Norway, Sweden and Finland that play extremely heavy stuff and they’re first-rate at it.”

Aleš: “There are quite a few new bands on the melodic rock scene who take their style from Europe, especially Scandinavian ones, like House Of Shakira, for example. Have you heard of them?”
Joey: “I have, but I don’t know their music.”

Aleš: “Europe have been hugely influential on younger melodic hard rock acts, and they like to point that out themselves. What do you say to that?”
Joey: “Maybe…. Lots of people really do come up to us and say: “We like your first and second album.” That’s flattering. We were just kids. We were influenced by British hard rock: UFO, Rainbow, MSG, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and to a lesser extent, say, bands like Journey and maybe Kansas.”

Aleš: “I came across a source that said you’re supposedly heading out on tour with Journey in the US this summer. How much truth is there in that?”
Joey: “That’s not true. They toured last year, they won’t be playing in the US this year. Journey and Europe have the same guy who handles the booking for both bands, his name is Kevin Elson. It was just an idea. You know, we try to take every opportunity, but unfortunately Journey don’t plan to tour America this year.”

Aleš: “Can you tell me something about the beginning of your music career, about your musical role models?”
Joey: “I started playing guitar and piano very early, because my sister had those two instruments at home, that was before I turned 10. Elvis Presley made the first impression on me, later David Bowie. “Space Oditiy” was the first single I ever bought in my life. Then I started playing in bands very quickly. I joined my first one at eleven. Even back then we looked up to English bands like Deep Purple and so on… we were also really drawn to the glam scene, like Slade and Mott The Hoople. And that soon turned into listening to Thin Lizzy and UFO for me. At sixteen I joined the band Force!”

Aleš: “How do you guys in Europe feel about your status today? The halls are smaller, the crowds are smaller,…”
Joey: “We can count ourselves lucky to be playing venues like tonight’s (Orpheum Graz, editor’s note). Even though the room is smaller today, it’s really lovely to play. You know, we play for different numbers of people and in halls of all sizes. At home in Stockholm we also play for 10,000 people, when we’re in Italy we pull in 4,000 or 5,000, in Germany and Austria from 1,000 to 3,000. That’s part of who we are. We’re used to it. We’re a live band. The third album changed us, though, and we found ourselves in pop waters, we were all over MTV, for example. We didn’t feel all that relaxed there. We write songs that represent a particular album that belongs to us, that’s a reflection of who we are and what we ourselves want. Even The Final Countdown was just a song that was born to be part of a whole album. It was never meant to become a hit. We were just looking for a song to open our live shows with and to kick off our album. I wrote the song back when I was still going to college and brought it into the band from there. We were always focused on making albums as a whole rather than writing hits, but with our third album a change came and we jumped into the pop world…we lost touch with reality. It took us a very long road to get back to the point where we are now. In other words, really back to our original starting point, where we’re independent and have artistic freedom. Here we don’t depend on MTV or on how well our songs chart. One day, not long ago, Ian Haugland, our drummer, and I were talking and he said to me: “This is fantastic. We do our own tours, write our own music, release our own albums, and that’s the work we make our living from!” Okay, maybe we really aren’t the biggest band in the world, but we’re happy that our work can be like this. If we happen to get a commercial breakthrough, we’ll write a song again that could go for the top of the charts, a hit, that is, but we’re not looking for that right now. We just want to write good albums.”

Aleš: “What are you going to play tonight here in Graz?”
Joey: “A mix of everything. We’ll play songs from all seven albums. Most likely 6 new songs, 3 or 4 from the album “Start From The Dark” and of course the older stuff, no question.”

Aleš: “A nice number of people from Slovenia are coming to your show tonight too. Three full buses in total. And definitely still plenty of girls.”
Joey: “Really? Wow… that’s great, wonderful! So we’re still on fire! In Germany it’s mostly the male part of the population that comes to see us, in Italy the gender split is half and half. But that’s lovely news, hearing that girls are coming tonight!”

Aleš: “What are Europe’s goals for the future?”
Joey: “We’d like to build the Europe name up again, the way it used to be. We were off the scene for a long time. You know, when you take a long break and then come back, people don’t feel that at all. Take the Rolling Stones, for example! Between 1982 and 1991 they took a long break. We took a similar break. When the Rolling Stones came back after that break, it was like they’d played just yesterday and not 9 years ago. I’d like us in Europe to put out lots of albums and bring good music to the masses for so long that people get the feeling we’ve been here forever, that we’re somehow eternal!”

Aleš: “So you want to bring the Europe name back to the people?”
Joey: “Yes. And that’s really hard. People moved on while we were off the scene, and we missed a lot of things while we were gone.”

Aleš: “Will you stay true in the future to the musical direction your latest album “Secret Society” brought?
Joey: “Yes. “Start Form The Dark” was a lot more direct, a real rock album, very heavy, very melodic, and on “Secret Society” we wanted something different, we wanted to widen the sound of the album, to take in a broader musical range. We’re very happy with both albums and we like our new songs. We’ll follow this style in the future too.”

Aleš: “How do your songs develop in the studio, who brings the ideas, how do you work as a unit in the studio and while writing material?”
Joey: “We collaborate on writing music much more than we used to. In the beginning I was really the one in Europe most interested in songwriting. John Norum, for example, was busy back then with figuring out how he was going to play things. Today it’s different. Playing has become routine, we’re experienced, our foundation is shaped. John Norum has improved even more after his solo albums, and Ian is involved in programming during recording. Our big advantage is that we’ve known each other for a very long time. We go back to our teenage days, so we get along great.”

Aleš: “In the song Hero you sing about Phil Lynott?”
Joey: “Thin Lizzy influenced us hugely. And yet, basically, John Norum is the guy who widened my horizons even more….
(at this moment a phone rings)
Joey: “Sorry, just a moment.”
(picks up his cell phone and…)
Joey: “Hello, sweetheart (Hello, sweetheart)! I’m in the middle of an interview, can I call you back later? Do you have your cell? I’ll call you soon. Bye love!”
Joey (continuing his answer to the question): “I saw Thin Lizzy when I was 17 or 18. I went to their show by ship from Sweden to England. And after that my life was never the same again. Thin Lizzy are a great band, a band of great melodies, excellent hard rock. I met Phil Lynott too. He was really nice when we talked. From him I learned that rock stars can be kind, perfectly normal people too. That was an important lesson for me.”

Aleš: “There were rumors going around that Europe would enter the Eurovision Song Contest for 2007?”
Joey: “That’s true. They always ask us that, every year. And we always say: “No.” So those are just rumors. Of course they’d love to see us go for it, otherwise they wouldn’t be asking us. And then they blow the whole thing up, claiming they’re in the middle of negotiations with us about our participation and so on. But we always turn that offer down.”

Aleš: “But it does benefit you, since you show up in the press, right?”
Joey: “Absolutely. Let the rumors spread in the press, whatever they are, we don’t pay any attention to them anyway.”

Aleš: “Maybe Eurovision would bring you a nice chunk of change though, Lordi broke the ice last year, maybe heavier rock is catching fire again now, like in the eighties?”
Joey: “Well, maybe so,…. But they’ve been asking us the same thing for 20 years and inviting us, especially at home in Sweden, but like I say, forget it, forget the whole thing.”

Aleš: “How would you connect the really interesting cover of the new album “Secret Society” with the album’s title?”
Joey: “The cover was made by a very well-known Englishman who also did covers for Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.”

Aleš: “From the firm Hipgnosis?”
Joey: “Exactly. We sent him the lyrics and song titles. The guy came up with 10 different covers tied to 10 different song titles. The name “Secret Society” was just one of the motifs. The band members voted and, interestingly, we all voted for the same cover. The name and the motif are a really great fit, they match each other perfectly.”

Aleš: “One last thing. What are you going to do when you get back to Sweden from this tour?”
Joey: “Go to my wife first. After that there’s no time for Europe to stand around twiddling our thumbs for too long. We’re heading back into the studio to record new material.”

Aleš: “Ohoho! So your new album is on the way?”
Joey: “Yep.”

Aleš: “Can we expect anything special on it?”
Joey: “It’s still hard to talk about anything right now, we already have a few ideas, but it’s too early to comment on anything. In any case, the new album will definitely be different and fresh again.”

Aleš: “So Europe are really experiencing a new spring today?”
Joey: “That’s right. For us it’s a new spring, a rebirth. We band members are working together more than ever, there are tons of ideas, and we absolutely don’t lack energy or work drive, so I’m looking forward to new challenges.”

Aleš: “Joey! Thanks for your valuable time and the friendly chat. I wish you lots of fun on stage here tonight in Graz and that you pull off the tour successfully, all the way to the end!”
Joey: “Thanks. Will you be at the show tonight?”

Aleš: “Yep.”
Joey: “Great! Then I wish you lots of enjoyment at our gig too!”