EUROPE Singer Checks In

Singer Joey Tempest of the reactivated Swedish hard rockers EUROPE has issued the following update:

"Just got of the phone with John [Norum, EUROPE guitarist]. We don't speak that often but when we manage to get a hold of each other we can stay on the phone for hours. Just like we used to do back when we started FORCE together.

"John is in the middle of recording his solo album. Rehearsals are going well and he will start the actual recording any day now. He says this album will have a straight-forward feel with not so many overdubs. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

"We also had a chat about the New Year's gig in Romania which could be a lot of fun. We also talked about the semi-acoustic show on 26th of January at Nalen [in Stockholm]. We hope we can throw in a few surprises. Perhaps play a 'cover.'
It's amazing to think that this show can be viewed from anywhere in the world over the Internet. It will be a fun evening for sure.

"We've started work songs for the new EUROPE CD. The rest of the guys have been sending me ideas to work on here in London. There are some really cool songs coming out. We'll go into the studio after touring the summer next year.

"As I told you, 'One of these days this band is going to go places.'"

EUROPE's latest CD, "Secret Society", was released in the U.S. on November 7, 2006 via Sanctuary Records.

Although the band members chose to produce the album themselves, they relied on the support of highly experienced studio professionals. Lennart Östlund, longtime engineer at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, recorded the sessions in his new Stockholm studio, Kingside. Lennart has worked with countless international artists over the years, including LED ZEPPELIN, SCORPIONS, just to name a few. Mixing duties were handled by Stefan Glaumann while the mastering was taken care of by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York. The band didn't want to leave anything to chance, so they enlisted the legendary Storm Thorgerson to design the album's artwork.

EUROPE singer Joey Tempest (real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson) and his wife Lisa welcomed their first child, a boy named James Joakim, on October 12 at a hospital in London, England.