Tempest (Europe): “We follow Deep Purple’s philosophy: evolve, tour, and have fun.”

There was a time when Joey Tempest, lead singer of the Swedish band Europe, competed with Jon Bon Jovi to see who could accumulate the most curls per square inch of hair. This was back when The Final Countdown was always playing, and in thousands upon thousands of homes, the iconic melody, emanating from keyboardist Mic Michaeli's synthesizer, was imitated on Casio organs given for Christmas. It was the 1980s, and Europe captured an audience that in Spain, through a homophonic phenomenon, transformed the "the final countdown" of the song's chorus into a screaming "salsa stew."

Europe split in 1992 with the emergence of grunge, but its members reunited in 2004. Since then, they've released several albums and toured regularly. COVID halted their production, but Joey Tempest, John Norum (guitars), Mic Michaeli (keyboards), John Leven (bass), and Ian Haugland (drums) continue to give it their all. Without curls—straightened in favor of a mid-length bob—but with the baggage not only of that hit that resonated from the bumper cars at 1980s fairs to some of the most sold-out stadiums, but also of the eleven albums they've released so far. And there's another one brewing in the oven. There's a lot of power in all these latest albums, aimed at a knowledgeable and musically mature audience.

New album "The songs will be quite melodic and at the same time very powerful and heavy. We'll record in the fall, and it will be released in 2026."

They'll make five stops in Spain. One of them is at the Porta Ferrada Festival in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, where they'll unleash their rock/metal performances starting at 10 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday. The Swedish band is opening the concert schedule in the Girona city.

You've released more albums since your comeback than you did in the '80s. Is Europe more of a contemporary rock/metal band today than a band tied to its past?

We were young in the '80s... We did a lot. We were just musicians, a rock band that wasn't trying to do anything special. We followed our intuition. Our mentors are Deep Purple, because they were always changing and wanted to tour and have fun.

Would you say it sounds more like Deep Purple than ever?

Maybe. I don't know if we sound like them, but we have the same philosophy: trying to evolve and try different things, and keep touring, keep working hard.

But their sound is now more powerful, harder, and more organic than it was in the 80s...

Yes. We went back to the recording techniques of the 1970s, which we consider the best. In the 1980s, there were digital reverbs, triggered drums, lots of limiters and compressors... It was crazy. And that's why the production sounds a little different. So we wanted to bring back a little bit more to more natural recording techniques.

They have also left behind the ballads, in the style of Carrie .

Thank you! (Laughs) That's a good observation.

Have you ever thought about removing The Final Countdown from your concert playlist?

Not much. We were planning to do it at one point, but the concert was canceled, so we took it as an omen. But maybe we should stop playing it today...

'The final countdown' “We were planning to remove the song at some point, but the concert was canceled, so we took it as an omen.”

Because?

It would make a lot of headlines!

Is the rock/metal scene gaining strength from Sweden with bands like Ghost, Opeth and Europe at the forefront?

We're friends with both Ghost and Opeth. We met Opeth in South America a few months ago. We were on tour with them, along with Scorpions and Judas Priest. They also come to see us play, so it's cool.

This tour includes five concerts in Spain, more than in any other country. Is there a special connection with the Spanish audience?

Yes, we've noticed something has been growing over the last five years. We were here last year and are getting good vibes from the Spanish public.

Can you still reach the same vocal range you had when you were younger?

I've been very lucky. I've managed to sing most of it, but I don't sing all the high-pitched songs. But yes, I'm lucky. So far, it's going well.

Are you afraid that something similar to what happened to Axl Rose will happen to you?

Not much. I haven't seen them [Guns 'n' Roses] play in a while... but I know it's difficult for any singer. Being a singer isn't easy when you're touring a lot.

It's been a year since your last album. Why this long studio break?

We worked a lot with Bag of Bones, War of Kings and Walk the Earth. After that, we took a break. But then COVID hit, and I was in England, the other guys were in Sweden. We didn't see each other for a long time, but we all started writing music. In a way, this long break has led us to write some really interesting things. I think it'll feel like a new debut album. It'll be amazing. The songs are fantastic. Sometimes it's good to take a long break, but we don't want to make it a habit. We don't want to do it again.

Documentary “We found an old box of VHS tapes with a lot of stuff from the 1980s, from hotel rooms, rehearsal spaces from when we were kids.”

And how will it sound?

We don't know exactly. It'll be a really good songwriting project because we had time to write it. They'll be quite melodic and at the same time very powerful, heavy. We'll record in the fall, and it'll be out next year.

A documentary is also in the works. How is the production process going?

Long, about six or seven years. A video crew started filming us in Australia, also in South America, and following us everywhere. We didn't know we were making the documentary. We only knew they were filming us on tour. Then, during COVID, we thought maybe we should make the official documentary. We found an old box of VHS tapes with a lot of stuff from the '80s, from hotel rooms, rehearsal spaces from when we were very young. Then there were the '90s... they were difficult for us, but you can see how we came back together... We hope to be able to release it next year as well.