Whatever has happened to our Swedish Rock 'n' Roll heroes, Roxette? (Australia 1991)

Word is, they've hung up their leather leggings for floral attire and turned into daisy wielding hippies. Trish Pavone called up Marie to find out exactly what has happened to the "dangerous duo"...

What have you and old Per been up to lately?
Well, we worked on promoting "Look Sharp" and we've been travelling all over the world. The last tour we did was our European tour in August 89. So, once that was all done with, in January we went back into the studio to start work on "Joyride." A holiday? Hahaha! We only had a very very little break! I just relaxed and spent time with my family. So did Per. It's so seldom that we see them so we try, when we have days off, to spend with them.

Were flowing floral garments and love beads a major inspiration for this LP?
Both Per and myself really like music from the 60s. We've been listening to lots of different styles lately because we both have wide music tastes. There's a bit of David Bowie, you know, all the old guys haha! I'm also listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell, Victor Jones, a variety of people. Per is into Tom Petty, more Rock 'n' Roll so I think it's a mix between a lot of music. It's a little 60s sounding, you know there's a little of the Beatles in there and a bit of Joni Mitchell, it's really hard to describe cause it sounds very special. It's very much us, very personal, and you hear when you listen to the album that we've had a lot of fun making it and that we really mean what we are doing.

So we can expect to see both your smiling faces Down Under pretty soon?
Hopefully we'll be in Australia by December to play live. We are starting our tour in the US summer then we'll go to Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and then Australia.
We got a very special feeling the first time we came to Australia. We both really loved the atmosphere there. I really liked the people - everyone we met was very friendly. We are really looking forward to playing live there. Per and I saw U2 perform in Melbourne and the audience was just wonderful. Everyone was really excited, it was just fantastic. I like touring very much, in fact that's the best thing about being in Roxette. Why? Because then you communicate with people. You see people's eyes when you're singing, they love it. There's none of that playback!

What's a typical Roxette fan like?
They are all very loyal. We have lots of fans that follow us around, some from country to country even, haha! They are all very nice when they see us. They send us so many letters, even presents. Yes, we have great fans. What do they send us? Well we get lots of cuddly toys, haha! Earrings, um...just about everything, lots of dolls. As soon as we walk out in the streets here in Stockholm, they recognise us straight away. I think it's more here cause we are based here but people everywhere come up to us and ask for autographs.

Tell us your earliest memory.
Earliest memory...well I think it would have to be...that's a tough one let me think....I think it was when I was when I had my fifth birthday. When I was five years old I got a really nice doll from my sister as a birthday present. I thought it was the most beautiful doll in the world. She had white long hair, it was one of my first and my favourite. Unfortunately I don't have her anymore, it just disappeared somewhere, I have no idea where it is.

What did you do before you got involved in all this pop star malarkey then?
The first job I ever had was a gardener. I just loved flowers - I still do - especially the way that you can work outside in the fresh air or in the fields. That's the best thing. In the summertime it's just wonderful to work outside. I don't have a garden where I'm living now because I live in an apartment but when I have time I want to buy me a house with a big garden so I can work on it myself.

Is Roxette the one and only band you've been in?
Oh no, Roxette was only born in 1986, I've been with Per since then, but the first band I was in was a great Rock 'n' Roll band, it was four guys and me haha! It was more experimental music than anything else. We were called Ma's Children (MaMas Barn). We were very 70s and I was a bit of a hippy at that stage, I was cool though haha! The band isn't together anymore, no!

Don't you ever just feel like having a break - you know, just putting your feet up and watching TV?
Yes, of course, but I hardly ever get the chance when I'm working. Have I seen anything good lately? Well, I've been watching Twin Peaks. It's really good, I just love it. It's so weird though - there are so many people in it and you have to take so much in. They are looking for a killer and you think everyone is the killer, it's really cool haha! It's great just to sit down and watch cause you have to think all the time and you have to remember everything and everyone.

Do you think that you'll ever take a break from Roxette and venture into the mystical world of television?
I don't know about television but I'm very interested in theatre. When I was a teenager I worked in the theatre but you can't do everything at once. You have to concentrate on one thing to give it your best and that's Roxette for me right now. Maybe in the future, you never know what'll happen in the future. I really enjoy making video clips cause you never know how they're going to turn out but it's always a lot of fun. We've actually just finished making our second clip for our next single after "Joyride", "Fading like a Flower." We did that in Stockholm and it was absolutely fantastic. Right now it's my favourite clip out of the one's we've done. It's filmed in the streets - it's Winter here now and there's a great atmosphere even though it's freezing cold. There are so many nice buildings here and the streets are very nice. There's a lot of Stockholm in it and we are very proud of that cause we really want to show our roots.