BRAVO visited Per and Marie in their studio

Just outside Halmstad, on the country road towards Tylösand, there is a lonely red brick house surrounded by green meadows and fields. A hundred years ago, the farmhands of a nearby farm lived in the old building. Today, these walls house the recording studio of Per Gessle, the male half of the successful Swedish duo Roxette. The studio is well equipped with a mixing desk, tape machines, amplifiers, boxes, computers and many instruments. This is where the super hit “The Look” was written, which made Per and his partner Marie Fredriksson famous all over Europe overnight. Per is a jack of all trades. He not only composes and arranges the Roxette songs, he can also produce them himself in his studio! I have the best possible working conditions here, I can do a lot of musical experiments, always come up with new sounds,“ says the sound designer, “I’ve had the studio for many years. I rehearsed here with my band Gyllene Tider,” he recalls. “With songs such as “Flickorna På TV2” (The Girls from TV2), “När vi två blir en” (When Two Fall in Love) or “Sommartider” (Summertime) we had great success back then.” In the studio, in addition to the recording and control room, there is also a kitchen with a bar so that the musicians don’t have to starve and die of thirst. When the weather is nice, we often invite friends over and have open-air parties in front of the house. The great thing is that you can turn the sound system up full blast here. There are no neighbours who could be disturbed by the loud music,“ Per laughs. When Marie comes to Halmstad from time to time - she lives in Stockholm, after all - Roxette rehearse in Per’s studio. The idea for the next Roxette single, “Dressed for Success”, also came to Per in the small studio on the country road towards Tylösand. In the meantime, Per and Marie are still fully occupied with fulfilling all interview and autograph requests due to the worldwide success of “The Look”, a task that is also a pleasure.