Roxette are heading back to Australia for a series of shows in February 2015. Per Gessle, one half of the Swedish duo, caught up with our guest reporter Ben Preece to discuss the tour. Ben was in sunny Brisbane while Per was on the phone in Halmstad “watching the ocean roar”.

TOM: . You’re coming back to Australia. We’re absolutely stoked. You probably are talking to one of the largest fans from this part of the world. We felt like we weren’t going to see Roxette again, and all of a sudden you toured Australia, released an album and now you’re coming back again.

Per: Yeah, it’s crazy. Five or six years ago if you would’ve mentioned that we’re going to be on the road with Roxette, I wouldn’t have believed you. Everyone was really surprised that the first world tour would happen, and it just escalated all the time. Funnily, we’re doing another one. It’s really wonderful, especially knowing Marie’s [health] history the last decade. It’s just fantastic that she’s capable of doing this. I think it’s good for her. She gets so much energy from those positive vibes from the crowd. It’s great. I  say that it’s the craziest rehab in the world, but it really works for her. Roxette has become so much a part of her life. The first time we played together after she got ill was in 2009. I was touring Europe. I don’t know if you know this story. She came up to me on stage in Amsterdam. She was really scared of being in front of people again. She told me, “I don’t have the self-confidence anymore. I can’t be on stage.”

I tried to convince her to join me on stage to do some Roxette stuff. We did a couple of songs acoustically. And when she went up on stage, people weren’t expecting that. Of course, the crowd went berserk. People were crying everywhere. I think that changed her life forever, to feel that affection and positive vibrations from people. She missed that and she didn’t, in her wildest dreams, imagine that she means so much to a lot of people. That became the big turning point for her. Just a couple weeks after that show she called me up and said, “Per, why don’t you write a new album. I’m ready to go. Let’s do a Roxette record.” That became the Charm School album.

TOM: That’s incredible.  I’ve seen you four times. I saw you two times on the last tour but I saw you in ’95, the Crash! Boom! Bang! And the Joyride tour back down here in Australia. I must say there was absolutely ‑‑ I’ve never seen so much love at a show than I saw on this last tour. It was remarkable. I was sitting in the front row, in the center. You guys came out and I’ve never seen a crowd absolutely gobsmacked by a band in my life. And I’m not just saying this. It was remarkable. It was a real sense of celebration that you guys were even on the stage in front of us. You were clearly taken aback by it as well, Per. Is that something you get out every night with disbelief?

Per: There is something very special at a Roxette concert. It’s always been a bit like that, but since Marie got ill and we did this comeback thing, it’s become something special. It becomes ‑‑ the band and the crowd become like a big family. I shouldn’t use the word sect, but it becomes like a very big unit, and it’s very special. We feel that on stage as well, of course.

I had talked to some of my colleagues in the band who work with so many other artists, and they never experienced anything like it. It’s just this energy that happens. It brings out the best things in us. We try to give 110% in every inch of the way, so to speak. It’s just very special.

There’s so many factors that help. Who could ever imagine all these songs would survive? There’s so many songs out there and suddenly you have all these songs that still mean so much to people. You see kids doing all this X Factor and they’re doing Roxette songs… It’s just amazing.

TOM: What’s your favourite out of all of those, Per? You must be pretty proud of our catalogue by now. Obviously, you’ve got more than just Roxette of course, but out of all the Roxette tunes that you’ve got, what’s the one moment you really sort of sit back and think wow, I wrote that, that’s my song?

Per: One of the songs that came to life for me during the last tour was “Crash! Boom! Bang!” ‑‑ I think that’s a really beautiful song, and it’s very special with that sort of tempo that it has. Also since it didn’t become a big hit in the States, people don’t really talk about it that much, but when you play it and listen to it, and especially when you see the video clip for it, it’s a really beautiful song. For me it’s a classic one. Also I like ‑‑ we didn’t play it on the last tour ‑‑ “Queen of Rain” I think is really beautiful song as well.

TOM: You’ve written and recorded a new album, is that right?

Per: No, we haven’t. We are going to start recording some new tracks in late August, so hopefully we’re going to ‑‑ if we’re lucky, it will become an album. If we’re not that lucky, it will become an EP. Hopefully we’ll be done by the time we go to Australia. We’re doing some shows now in October in Russia and Finland, and then we’ll take a break over Christmas. Then we’ll head for the studio again and then go to your place.

TOM: You’re not going to do another tour/travelling where you just record in hotel rooms and whatnot?

Per: No, I think the band will kill me if I propose that once more. Please let us have our free days off.

TOM: How do you keep writing, Per? You’ve been writing for many years now. What keeps you going? I know you’re happily married, so you’re not writing about girls that have the look anymore, or all those things.

Per: Sometimes I do.

TOM:  I’ve watched you on stage and I’ve never seen such a driven fellow, but where does that drive come from?

Per: I don’t know, I just love to work with music. I’ve been working with some other artists as well, during this year. I’ve been working with David Guetta doing some dance stuff.  I’m just interested and every time you go to the studio, you learn something, and it changes your music a bit. I don’t know, I just love to work. I like to have projects going on.

The last couple of months I started writing for Roxette, and have a couple of songs I really enjoy, and I made some demos. It’s something you feel in your system. If you have something inside you, it has to come out. For me, it comes through lyrics and music. Some people write diaries or paint canvases or whatever. For me, it’s just music.

TOM: Understood. It’s pretty crazy. I manage bands down here in Australia, and I just baffle at these guys who relentlessly write music. It’s absolutely crazy. When someone’s been doing it as long as you ‑‑ have you ever had moments of a dry spell or writer’s block?

Per: No, not really. I hope it will never happen. There will come a time when you feel okay I don’t like the music industry anymore, I don’t like this or that. There is a difference. I was talking to another journalist earlier on that the music industry has changed too much. For us, it’s so liberating to do a world tour based on our own terms, so to speak. We’re not touring to promote a new album, or promote the third single off the new album. We’re playing our catalogue of songs for people who are interested and for people who grew up to our songs, songs that mean so much to them. It’s a different ballgame for us than it was 20 years ago. From that point of view, I feel like ‑‑ I hope the day will never come when I turn my back to everything. You never know.

For more information on Roxette’s tickets go here: www.livenation.com.au/artist/roxette-tickets