Both Per and Marie were interviewed by quick-witted journalist Patricia Godes for the May, Spanish edition of the legendary rock magazine Rolling Stone. As this monthly publication does not have a website yet (although it has been around for 19 months already!), Roxette fans outside Spain will be pleased to read this translation of the interview:

  “They sell millions of records and earn millions of dollars, but they don’t have terrible pasts, emotional dramas or problems with drugs to speak of. Per and Marie, the members of the megapopular Roxette, spend most of their spare time sleeping instead of throwing TV sets through the window, experimenting with drugs or beating sexual prowess world records, as all big stars should do.

  Anyway, as we just can’t absorb the fact that some people don’t take advantage of their fame to indulge in the sort of debauchery we’d love to, we just maliciously try to make them talk.

RS: Have you got enough time to do sightseeing, meet people and so on when you’re on promotion?

PG: Not much, we just know a few good restaurants and some clubs. When you come back to the same place you ask them to take you to that restaurant you liked. It’s a shame, travelling this way. We can’t take a day off and see things.
Every time we go on tour we’ve got very tight schedules, so
whenever we get a day off we just spend it sleeping.

RS: Your songs are popular but you aren’t. Why?

PG: Because we’re not Americans - we’re just shy Northeners. We think music is the most important thing… but music comes from the people who makes it. Both things
are important.

RS: You seem to be very concerned about the way you look and
about your clothes. Is being so modern a way of putting on a
disguise, as you are ’shy Northeners’?

MF: No, ha ha… It’s not like that. We just like clothes, we like following the trends.

PG: We’re not the sort of people who will show their house - private things have to be kept private. The other day Robbie Williams was on MTV showing this castle and this car he had bought. I don’t know…those are beautiful things and you like to see them, but then they got to his bedroom and I thought “he’s not going to show them, that’s something private, I don’t want to see his bedroom, I’m not that kind of person.”

RS: Well, even though you may not like this, the moment has
come for you to tell us about your life. Are you married, have you got any kids?

MF: Ha ha. Well, I’m married, I’ve got two children and we live in Stockholm…

RS: Is it hard to bring your artistic life into line with the fact that you’re a mother?

MF: Yes, my daughter goes to school, so I can’t take her on tour with me as much as I’d love to. I hate being away from my family.

RS: What about your husband? Is he jealous of your popularity?

MF: No, he’s a great guy who understands my job. It’s very
important that our families understand it, and both my husband and Per’s wife do.

RS: Per, it’s your turn…
PG: I’ve got a son, Gabriel, who is almost four and… well, having a family has completely changed my life. It’s great, another chapter in my life.

RS: Let’s come back to musical issues…I can’t avoid mentioning the comparisons with ABBA. Why are always Swedish bands so successful?

PG: They ask us about this all the time…I think it’s because it’s easy for us to express ourselves in English.

RS: Do you think lyrics are that important? What makes bands
famous is melodies and sounds…

PG: Well, I’m convinced that our sound is really unique. The digital technology revolution that took place during the 80s was very important. Before that, you heard a Bruce Springsteen record, with that powerful sound and you knew that it was impossible to reproduce it in your country. Now you can achieve records with great sound quality in your basement. Current pop music – Britney, Backstreet Boys – they all have the same sound. That’s good for the bands coming from small countries. Even more in Sweden’s case, because we’ve got this big melodic folk tradition. As soon as you start playing an instrument, you learn those gorgeous 17th century songs.