I N T E R V I E W (Joey TEMPEST - EUROPE's singer)

Hi Joey, Thanks a lot for accepting this interview for http://www.auxportesdumetal.com/
What feeling do you keep of your reformation tour in 2004 ?

The great welcome from our fans. We did not know what to expect. Thanks

Do you think that it was a successful reformation ? Do you enjoy today being together as much as in the 80s-90s ?

For us it has been a succesful reformation. We decided to do this for the long run. We are better friends now than ever.

Don't you feel too much nostalgic from the 80s, glory period of "The Final Countdown" ?

It was a big period in our lives. We carry it with us always.

What do you think of your "Start From The Dark" album ? Are you still satisfied with it 2 years later ?

It was like a debut album for us. It's raw and straightforward. It lead us to this moment and was meant to be the way it is a raw diamond.

Let's now talk about your new release "Secret Society" :
How did you proceed for the recording : who composes what ? what is your process of composition and recording ?

Me and Mic wrote 4 songs. Me and John wrote 3 songs. John Leven helped me with one of the tracks. Ian had great ideas for drums and loops...It took about 60 days (and nights) to record. We had about 17 demos and recorded 11. We did the first demos for the album in november 2005. We were lucky. Everything fell into place.

What themes did you choose to develop in the lyrics of this new release ?

Just things that happened to me, the band or our familys and friends during the writing and recording of the album. I think we're getting better at reflecting to the world around us and puting into words.

Contrarily to your "Start From The Dark" release, this new album "Secret Society" seems to be more melodic and more accessible thanks to its great and powerful chorus. We feel the old Europe influences from "Prisoners Of Paradise" of the 90s but also some external influences from melodic hard-rock bands like Bon Jovi or Fair Warning. Was it your will to go back to your melodic hard-rock roots ?

This CD sounds better and is more varied musically. We just let thing happen naturally when we do a new Cd. And we take care to work with talented people to record and mix our songs. To us this album is fresh and interesting.

How did you get the idea to compose the beautiful "Let the children play" ? This track is a complex melodic hard-rock song that even integrates children vocals. During one minute, it even sounds progressive what may surprise people who know Europe's music.

Me and Mic wrote the song. It has turned out to be one of the more exiting songs on the Cd. The choir makes it special and it has some interesting bits in it. It's hard to explain how it came to be. We were lucky I guess.

Can we expect to see you in France for the "Secret Society" promotion ? Can you please tell us more about the upcoming tour ?

We play Scandinavia before christmas and the rest of europe after christmas. After that we're looking at Japan US and then summer festivals. We'll be touring for a year before we will start on the next record.

Have you already some tracks written for the successor of "Secret Society" ? Do you already know how it will sound ?

It's a bit early, but I'm sure it will be full of surprises...