Joey Tempest – Europe – Uber Rock Interview Exclusive
Written by Steve Beebee
Saturday, 19 April 2014 03:30
In two years time, it will be 30 years (yes, 30) since the instantly recognisable signature sound of ‘The Final Countdown’ stormed pop charts around the world. Remarkably, Europe’s present line-up is exactly the same as the one that recorded that iconic tune, and the very successful album that accompanied it. It’s equally eye-opening to realise that the second phase of the band’s recording career (since getting back together in 2003) has now been as long-lived as its first. Europe frontman Joey Tempest is preparing himself for “a crazy few years”.
A new studio album, the band’s tenth overall and fifth since the reunion, should be out next year, but before that Europe have a rather significant appointment in Wales. They’ll be closing the show at this year’s Steelhouse Festival near Ebbw Vale on July 20. With a number one single under their belts, the Swedish stars are arguably the biggest band to have ever played the fast-rising classic rock event. We caught up with Joey backstage at the Nottingham Royal Centre, during the band’s April tour with fellow hard rock legends Foreigner.
You’ve often cited the classic rock acts of the 1970s as lasting influences on the Europe sound. What’s it like to tour with one of them?
It’s been great. We first hooked up with Foreigner when we both played at the iTunes Festival in 2010. Our first reaction was: ‘where have these guys been?’, and then our second reaction was: ‘wow, that’s a really good rock band.’ We were very impressed. From what I heard, Mick Jones (Foreigner guitarist and founder member) said similarly complimentary things about us, and our next contact was when they asked us to come and tour with them. It was an easy decision to make.
I grew up in Sweden and was listening to mostly British bands, and it was only later that I discovered people like Kansas, Journey etc. The first thing I remember really liking was ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin which I heard on the radio when I was a kid. Robert Plant’s voice was what got to me. Much later I became a fan of his solo career too, especially ‘Manic Nirvana’. Michael Schenker was a particular influence on the first two Europe albums. I remember we were listening to ‘Assault Attack’ all the time while we were recording (second album) ‘Wings of Tomorrow’, and it really rubbed off. We even told the engineer that that was the sound we wanted to go after.
It’s fairly unusual for you to perform as a support act. Does that bring its own pressures?
It’s more relaxing in a way, because we only play for one hour, and then we can choose to take off and go out if we want. Playing as support, our set is more of a power packing thing, and not all the pressure is on us. It is great to headline, but it’s also a lot of fun to do things this way. It also means that we get to play some slightly bigger venues. We’ve been hammering our way around the O2 Academy circuit for years, so it’s nice to go to some different places.
Other than the two albums you made with Kee Marcello playing guitar, you’ve maintained exactly the same line-up since 1986’s ‘The Final Countdown’. That’s a pretty rare thing for a band that’s been around for so long. How have you managed it?
We’re just very lucky. We met as teenagers and immediately bonded over music. We’d go out together to see the Scorpions or Deep Purple on their ‘Perfect Strangers’ comeback tour. We were all friends who were drinking together and dreaming hard, and playing in a band together, and we’ve pretty much remained that way ever since – it has been amazing. John (Norum) and I did go through some tough times, but then we started talking again and since then we’ve realised how important it is to communicate properly. These little breakdowns can happen when you’re basically young kids, but we all feel like brothers now. We’re eternally grateful, because there are so many bands out there making comebacks with only one or two original members – and I have to say that Foreigner are one of the ones that have done it really well – but for me, it’s great to tour with my old friends. I did a couple of solo albums and toured with various musicians, and it was good, but it wasn’t the same as being out with the old guys.
Given that, and your success since coming back, do you have any regrets about splitting the band in 1992?
No, I think it was good for us. The business was changing. Seattle and grunge had to happen, because this is what happens in music. It had its turn, it had its decade, and in fact produced some good stuff. We realised the game was up when we started hearing Pearl Jam all the time – not so much ‘Prisoners In Paradise’ (Europe’s last album prior to the band’s hiatus). So off we went and did our own thing. Some of the guys toured with Glenn Hughes, John Norum went off to L.A. and performed with Dokken, we did solo albums, and so on. On one level it would have been great to have continued with Europe, but to be honest we all came back feeling stronger after that period away from it, and we are a much better band as a result.
You seem to have a lot more freedom now. Could the younger version of Europe ever have made an album like 2012’s ‘Bag Of Bones’?
There’s no way we could, certainly not ‘Bag Of Bones’. A bunch of Scandinavian guys doing rock with a pinch of soul and blues, and doing it convincingly? We could not have done that after, say, ‘Wings Of Tomorrow’, because it would not have been rooted in anything. ‘Bag Of Bones’ is derived from a whole world of influences that we’ve picked up since then, and from our own extensive experiences as musicians and people. We managed to record a real rock album. I rented a place in Shepherds Bush and was writing all the time, and we recorded it really quickly. It was a very natural process and it came together in no time. No demos, we just brought it all to the studio. We could never have done that earlier on. Even from a language perspective it’s easier, because before I used to think in Swedish and then write in English. The Swedish language is actually quite narrow – there are four times as many words in English. Swedish lyrics are usually quite straightforward, and charming in a way, but with English words you can paint more. More nuance, more depth. Now that I’ve spent half of my life living outside of Sweden, I have finally started to think in English!
The second phase of your career now virtually matches the first in terms of length and recorded output. Did you think it would carry on this long when you got back together?
It was the goal. We met in 2003 in Mic’s apartment as we were finishing up various other projects. We decided that we wanted to do it not just as a one-off reunion thing, but to plan for the long-term. We knew that it would take around three albums just to establish the foundations, and sure enough it was ‘Last Look At Eden’ (the third album since the reunion) that opened things up for the band. That album was very important, and ‘Bag Of Bones’ cemented it.
You’ve got a major date in Wales on July 20. Are you looking forward to the Steelhouse Festival and what do you know about it?
We are very much looking forward to it. Although the two festivals are quite different in many ways, I see some similarities to when we headlined Bloodstock Open Air in 2009. It was quite controversial – nobody knew why we were there, or what was going to happen. Cradle Of Filth headlined on the Saturday and we headlined on the Sunday. Actually, Dani Filth came to watch our set, and a lot of people who we didn’t think would know about us wanted to come up and say hello. A lot of press were there too, and it was a really big turning point for us in the UK, because the press were telling other press and people in general that we were actually pretty good and deserved our slot. In that sense, I feel the same way about Steelhouse – meaning that it’s a big thing for us to headline a festival like that. It’s going to be great to come to Wales in those circumstances. We’ve played a few places in Wales over the years, but this is going to reach out to a big rock audience and is going to be a lot of fun.
You know it’s on the top of a big hill, right?
Yes, and I’ve heard lots of great things about the event. Positive things about the people there and the people that run it. We’ve already been made to feel very welcome, and I’m glad that we did everything we could to get on there. It wasn’t easy, because the night before we play at Steelhouse we have a special homecoming show in Upplands Väsby (near Stockholm, Sweden), the first time we’ve played there in 30 years. So, we certainly knew there’d be logistical problems getting to Wales, but we were determined to work it out. The Steelhouse Festival is something that we all wanted to do.
One great thing about the festival is that it is run by fans for fans, so for you to have been asked means not just that they think you’re a suitable headline band, but that people genuinely want you there…
Yes, that often works, and festivals with that kind of vibe have the potential to really grow. The agenda is being built on genuine desires and feelings from real people. Unlike Bloodstock, this is a bill full of classic rock acts like Black Star Riders the day before, and The Answer and Bernie Marsden on the day that we’re playing. It’s very much our kind of crowd. It’s all rooted in the music that we love, and we certainly won’t be feeling the kind of pressure or uncertainty that we had going into Bloodstock and Hellfest. We just want to go there, have a good time and show people that we are a proper rock band.
How difficult will it be to compile a setlist for Steelhouse?
It’s gonna be a challenge. When we did Sweden Rock last year, it took us a couple of months to finalise the set. That ended up being 28 songs, and two-and-a-half hours, the longest we’ve ever played. In actual fact we are not that good at changing setlists, though we do have a pool of songs that we all agree on. Everything else is up for debate, and sometimes we take chances. We recently played the entire ‘Wings Of Tomorrow’ album at a special series of shows, which is something we’d never done before. So that means we’ve extended the available pool of songs, and a few extra tracks from that album might possibly creep in at Steelhouse. We do sometimes disagree about songs, and in those cases we always take a vote and go with the majority view. I really like ‘The Beast’ (from ‘Last Look At Eden’) for example; it really wakes people up. On our way to Download in 2012, we actually discussed the possibility of not playing ‘The Final Countdown’. I suggested that not playing it might be more exciting than playing it, what with the world’s press watching and so on. John Norum wasn’t convinced at all. We ended up not making it to Download that year (due to the weather and travel delays), so we took that as a sign that dropping ‘The Final Countdown’ would be a very bad idea!
What’s next for you after the festival? Is a new Europe album imminent?
We want to record the next album in the autumn in a residential studio somewhere, shortly after the Steelhouse Festival, and then release it next year, backed up by more touring. I don’t think we’re going to dive any deeper into blues and soul with this one. We like the influences we have, so it will be more in the style of ‘Last Look At Eden’, which we were very happy with, but with a nod to ‘Bag Of Bones’. We will just go back to our original influences – bands like Whitesnake, and guitarists like Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody – hard rock, with a touch of blues. We’ve got new management and we’re in the process of planning everything right now. In 2016, we’ve got the 30th anniversary of ‘The Final Countdown’, so naturally we’ll be doing some stuff around that. I can tell you that there’s lots to come and it’s gonna be a crazy few years!
* The Steelhouse Festival takes place on July 19 and 20 at Hafod-y-Dafal Farm, near Ebbw Vale, Wales. Get more info and tickets at: www.steelhousefestival.com
[Photos by Denis O’Regan]
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