We would have been making Bag Of Bones at that point – Lisa always says that my life is measured in my albums. My wife Lisa had a party for me in Sweden, just close friends and family. Some people get hung up over it because it’s quite a milestone, but it didn’t bother me. And six albums on, that’s what we’re still doing. The bottom line was that we committed to do this long term, almost as a brand new career. But we’d all become much better as writers and since we got back together, everyone has had songs on the albums. After the millennium reunion show, we had a meeting at the flat of Mic. He’s an amazing guy to be in a band with, so positive and brighter than sunshine. Ian was very instrumental in the reunion. It was a whole different journey, but I kept in contact with John, who sent me his solo albums and I felt that one day it would happen again. It was a bittersweet time but it had to happen.Īs a solo artist I won a Swedish Grammy but it was still pretty hard to escape the shadow of Europe. I needed to refuel with something that was different. I felt as though hard rock had run its course and developed into a production line. Spending time in LA, I began to appreciate the Eagles, Randy Newman, Boz Scaggs and Jackson Browne. I had started listening to other styles of music. But music took over, and when I met John Norum, that was it – there was only one path for me.Įurope went on hiatus in 1992, and looking back at it now the timing was pretty good. My dad was my mechanic and we won lots of competitions. Between the ages of eight and twelve I competed in go-cart racing. Even now we still watch Formula One together. He’s eighty-six now but my dad has always been very interested in motorsports. In a parallel life I’d be wearing a crash helmet Also, I don’t like the way that dreams are so ruthlessly crushed. I’d be much happier if there were more shows like that – where actually created something, as opposed to just showing up and looking good. It was quite different to The X Factor and Pop Idol because we wrote our own songs. We were a rock band up against two thousand others, mostly pop bands. Reality TV competitions? It’s a ‘no’ from meĮurope won our first record deal by entering a talent contest called Rock-SM. We need our leaders to bring us together, and right now we have the opposite of that. The song asks the question of who’s shouting out for all of us. That’s why the lyrics of our new single Walk The Earth talk about being ‘ caught in the middle of a lightning strike’. I think of myself as an observer, but I really like my mum’s viewpoint because she believes that everyone deserves a chance.Īs a dad I do fear for the futures of my two sons. My dad was, to use an English term, a Tory and my mum came from the left, and believe me, they were very keen on discussing it. Growing up, politics was a very big thing in my household. At this point in my life I’m leaning towards the belief that there probably is. It would be an awfully lonely existence if there was nothing. There have been times when I’ve felt the need to pray for certain things, including the safety of my family. I suppose that I’m a little religious in my own way. The only awards on display are the one we won from Classic Rock and another of the recent ones from Sweden. I’ve also collected wine, but it’s much more fun to drink than collect.Įurope 2017: (l-r) John Levén, Mic Michaeli, Joey Tempest, John Norum, Ian HauglandĪlthough Europe have won so many of those, you won’t find them on the wall at my house – it’s for family. To relax, I’ve started collecting vinyl again. Everyone in the band helps out but a lot of ends up on my plate. I tried the whole golf thing but would always be thinking about being in the studio. It’s an amazing change from the eighties and nineties when we would be told: “Come into the office, there are thousands of letters for you to reply to.” Now it’s so instant and much more personal. ![]() I regularly check in to read what the fans are saying. However, I’ve always been very interested in social media and I’m extremely involved with Europe’s Facebook presence. I’m not comfortable sharing details of my family life, so I don’t have a personal Facebook page. I love the English sense of humour, and it’s wonderful to live in the cradle of rock – The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles… just about all of the real greats. I don’t have a British passport but I’m thinking of getting one. It took a long time for me to stop waking up in the middle of the night with bouts of homesickness. I’m married to an English woman and have been settled in London since 2001, so I feel less and less Swedish. I’ve lived abroad for about twenty-five or thirty years.
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