Chat with Joey Tempest
By:
Joey Tempest and visitors
From:
Torget - July 11, 1997 Translated by: Louise
Joey Tempest: Hi everybody! This is Joey Tempest here, this is the first time I do something like this.
JT: Doesn't anyone want to talk to me?
JT: *Waiting for the host*
Sprutt: Do you look like you do in the picture? (A small picture of Joey in the late 90s was put in front of every answer that he wrote.)
JT: I'm sitting in a hotel in Halmstad (Sweden) without Internet connection, so I don't know? You have telephone connection to me!
JT: I think Torget has some technical problems.
Nagano: Why did EUROPE split up?
JT: While we are waiting, I can tell you that I'm on a tour and playing at festivals in Sweden... it's going really well and I'll be playing on 50 festivals this summer, two of those as opening act for John Fogerty in Norway and Finland.
JT: It was the right time to take a long break. We split up in 1992 and it was supposed to be a long break, but we ended up going separate ways, and I can add that it isn't impossible that we'll get back together in the future.
Too-Tikki: How do you remember your 80s?
JT: BIG! And funny! Ehmm...many experiences. Mostly that I toured out in the world. The strongest memories are from when I lived in the Bahamas, on a little island in the Caribbean Sea.
Java: When you see pictures of yourself from the EUROPE time, what do you think then?
JT: I get a smile on my face! We looked right at that time, but I wouldn't want to look like that now - it isn't ME now. We did what we thought was right!
Oliver: Did you have many groupies in the time of EUROPE? Don't you get tired of ladies as a rock star?
JT: No, I had more girlfriends than groupies. During those years I always had relationships, actually. That's great to have in your life! The other thing gets so nasty!
Gunde: Boxers or thongs?
JT: The first thing!
Lucky Luke: Favorites in your CD cabinet?
JT: Right now it's Radiohead, "OK Computer", James Brown, it's called...ehh... I don't remember, it's a compilation I just got. I listen to a lot of stuff, so it's hard to just pick some... Prodigy's new one I just bought yesterday! "the fat of the land".
Jokum: Do the girls still stand screaming in front of the stage when you perform?
JT: It happens, but not as much any more. As long as they like the music, they can do what they want. Nowadays there are more boys in the audience. In the 80s it was different from country to country. In Europe it was almost 50 / 50.
Rojo: What did you learn during your time with EUROPE?
JT: *giggles* Don't know :) Hopefully a lot...That's a very tough question!
Mollberg: When you look back, don't you think John Norum did the right thing when he got out of EUROPE when you became so commercial?
JT: Ehh...I did understand him, but in the past few years he has said that he wishes he hadn't!
JT: We talk to each other quite often, he lives in Los Angeles and we meet from time to time. So there are no bad vibes...
Ullis: Do you ever meet nowadays and play old hits?
JT: Ha ha. It has happened that we've jammed in a garage, for fun's sake. Last time it was me, Ian and Mic in some garage outside Stockholm.
Feministen: Do you think that men should share the responsibility for the home?
JT: ABSOLUTELY! We are still progressing...it's not like before... Now women also work outside the home and so... I think it's natural that men help at home just like at work. Of course men are lazy, that's a known fact. Then there will be some arguing in the home, that's how it is.
Johan: What do you think about EUROPE's "The Final Countdown" still being popular?
JT: I think that's COOL! I'm proud of that song.
Anna: Which person / persons do you admire the most?
JT: That's hard to say...but I admire Ingrid Bergman a lot for what she did... that she moved to a foreign country and continued her career in America. I read her biography this year.
Nalle: What periods in your life do you consider the best?
JT: Hopefully I haven't lived them yet, but the early tours I did with EUROPE at amusement parks were very cool!
Johan: Has anyone wanted to do covers of EUROPE's songs?
JT: Yes, there has been done covers of a lot of them. I know that "The Final Countdown" has been done by some band from Eastern Europe, I don't remember the name of the band. (Laibach?) Some others too, but I don't remember any band names.
Musse P: In every other article I read about you, you are called "the former poodle rocker", "the old poodle king", etc. Isn't that annoying? If you could choose another nickname, what would it be?
JT: The Alsatian. Nahh! I don't know. They also call me that in the band. Yeah, it's annoying!
Wunderbar: Why do you live in Dublin? Have you totally skipped the birth land?
JT: No, I try to get home as soon as I can, but I'm going to live in Dublin for a while longer. Later I'll probably move back home again. I like Ireland, I've had my mind set on Ireland for many years, I want to live there. I'm traveling a lot all the time, I haven't really settled down yet.
Johan: Do you think the rock has changed in a positive way since the time you were popular?
JT: Yeahh. I think the 80s got a little too big and stately. Then bands like Nirvana and Guns 'n' Roses came along and changed all that... and now with bands like Blur and Radiohead and Oasis.. I think it has been a positive change.
Tjompen: Does your mom call you "Joey"?
JT: Only when for fun. Once in a while they do it at concerts, in front of people from the record company and so. But at home there's NO Joey!
Nikkotinn: Your best pick-up line?
JT: Ojojoj! I had a good one just now. Ehm, I have to get back to you on that.
JT: *thinking*
JT: No, I can't remember just now.
Stay true to the hood: Do you still keep in touch with your old pals from Upplands Väsby?
JT: Yes, I do. A couple of them. Two of my old schoolmates. One lives in Väsby and one in Halmstad. I'm going to meet the last mentioned later today. My family also still lives in Väsby. My brother and his family. My sister, though, lives in Germany with her family. So she's also out traveling.
Johan: Do you think it's annoying when people think about you as EUROPE-Joey and not solo-Joey?
JT: No, I knew that it would take two or three albums before people would accept me more as solo-Joey. But it isn't annoying. I knew it would be like that.
Johan: What do you think about movie and computer violence?
JT: It's very hard to control, especially on the Internet. I think it should be more controlled.
Johan: What did you listen to when you were young?
JT: Elvis and Elton John were the first ones I heard on the radio.
Klabbarparen: Since you moved away from Sweden, the welfare society almost disappeared! What do you think about that?
JT: In the years we lived outside the country, a whole lot changed in the world economy, not only in Sweden, and it's a bit different from what it was like when we grew up. My generation lived well when we were young. It's bad when it's hard to get a job, absolutely. In Sweden it's still like that, that we are taking care of each other, it's not like that in all countries. I don't think you should complain when you are Swedish.
Jockum: Why did you keep your old artist name?
JT: I thought about taking my old name back (Joakim Larsson) - it might have worked in Sweden - but abroad it would have been a bad idea. There they know me as the guy who sang "The Final Countdown".
Anna: Don't you have a mailing-list on the net?
JT: He he. Not now, no. I'm thinking about making one next year. I was online before, but now when I've been traveling so much, there hasn't been a point to it. But from next year on there will be a website and all.
Ouzo: Is it true that you were the one who sang in the Gillette commercial: Gillette - the best a man can get!
JT: No, but there have been several people who thought that it was a EUROPE song. Not strange, because they stole some notes from a EUROPE song, but we can't sue them because it isn't exactly the same.
Kee Marcello: Is there anything you regret about the EUROPE time, purely artistic that is.
JT: No, that won't work. I don't think you should regret anything that you do spontaneously. Of course you do some stupid things when you are young, but don't regret it. Just move on. I think you should look forward. If you go around and regret stuff, you'll get bitter.
Anna: Next year hmm.. And a tour plan wasn't the easiest thing to find... when will you be at the "Vattenfestival"? (Water Festival)
JT: Yeah (talking to my tour manager) Sundsvall: July 12, Svedala: July 19, Helsinki: July 26, Oslo: July 27, Laxå: August 2, Gävle: August 9, I'm coming to the "Vattenfestival" on August 12, and Liseberg: August 15. That will be all for this time, later there will be five club gigs in Europe in the fall.
Johan: Why the name Joey Tempest?
JT: When I was in school, I read a play by Shakespeare called "The Tempest", and I thought that it sounded great. Later Joey was more of a nickname for Joakim, because when I was 12, I was in the USA, and there they called me Joey.
Mr Bobba Do Fish: Have EUROPE had any thoughts about reuniting, now when all bands are doing it (like Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe, etc!?) or would it be too pathetic?
JT: We are not going to do it just because everyone else is doing it. I'm not into all that nostalgic stuff. The only possibility is getting back together to do some new stuff. Not going out to play the old songs.
...: Hi Joey. Now when you're having your own career...why not use your real name?
JT: I already answered that. Check out the answer to that!
Tjompen: Is it true that your pants burst during a live concert?
JT: Yes, they actually did. In Gävle, they burst in the front, and it was really embarrassing because I was wearing light underwear. It was in 1987 or so. All the newspapers were there too cause it was a first concert. The girls from the wardrobe came and taped me up, and it was all written in the newspapers later... it was a bit embarrassing, but it's part of it, a little extra show.
Anna: Then I have to go to Stockholm! I have to kiss up a little now and talk about your lyrics being exceptional. Is it OK to use a part of one of your songs as a quote on my homepage? Or do I need a license to do that?
JT: That's a good question. Tell me what it is you want to use?
Johan: Did you hire anyone to do your homepage?
JT: Ehmm....no, but I will... I haven't started it yet!
ÂÂ: Do you like the X-files?
JT: Yes, I like that show.
Anna: OK *If you're leaving me, can I come too? I don't know what I want, but I want it with you* It says a whole lot, doesn't it?
Mr Bobba Do Fish: What do you personally listen to of music / bands? Favorites?
JT: Like said before, right now it's Radiohead. I don't remember everything I buy.
HOST: Okay, now it's time for the last question!
Matrosen & stjärnan: What would you do if you were president for a day?
JT: I'd like to have more art and music education in the higher grades in school. When I was in school we only had education in the 7th and 9th grade and I thought that was bad.
Host: Thanks, Joey, it was so cool that you'd be here and talk a little at Torget. Thank you!
JT: OK. Maybe I'll talk with all of you again later, when I get my homepage. Be well, see you on the tour!
