Cosmos Sangma
Tura, Dec 2: Four decades in the world of rock music, legendary Swedish group Europe has announced that it plans to come out with a new record (read album) and a documentary on its formation and years in the music circle, as early as next year.
In one of the first and only media interactions in India, this year, courtesy the Me’gong Festival of Garo Hills, Europe’s lead vocalist for over 40 long years, Joey Tempest revealed to The Meghalayan Express that the band plans to come up with a new record and documentary in which the whole story of the group will be revealed to its fans. He also mentioned how the song Final Countdown came into being.
“I came up with the song (Final Countdown) one night. It’s in the documentary about the whole story of the band. We found a lot of old tapes when we were partying in our room and when we were just teenagers,” reveals Joey.
He said that some of Sweden’s best known stars in the music world would be part of the documentary.
“Tobias Forge from Swedish rock band Ghost, Michael from Opus and Benny Andersson from ABBA talking about Europe, about us. We are so humbled. A new album, there’s some great songs and we’re gonna keep going, as long as we stand,” assures Europe vocalist Joey.
He dismisses calls and claims about rock music dying a slow death.
“The records at the top of the charts may not be rock music, but on the live scene, rock music is still very vivid,” says Mic Machaeli on the keyboards.
Joey spoke of the great time they had when they first landed in India in 1988 to perform at Mumbai saying, “We had a great memory from1988 when we went to Bombay to perform a show. It’s amazing that we have made it this far in the world and we have been looking forward to being back in India,” said Joey.
“I can’t be humble anymore. This is one of the best bands on the planet and we can’t hide the truth anymore,” says Joey on the iconic status of Europe.
“There is great passion out there, great musicians, music will never die. Rock music leves under everything, forever,” signs off Joey Tempest from Europe.