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Kee Marcello

Europe

Article from Phaze 1, November 1988



"it was a huge hit all over the world and you feel the pressure - you've gotta have something strong for the next album..."

Kee Marcello, lead guitarist with Europe, Sweden's biggest and prettiest musical export since Abba, explains the problem of living in the wake of a monster hit. "We tried really hard not to copy the concept of 'The Final Countdown' - that would have been terrible and I don't think we'd have got away with it. We tried to do something new; we tried to just relax and come up with ideas that would fit the record."

It's been two years since the release of 'The Final Countdown', but it hasn't been time idly spent. Europe have been busy on the non-stop rock 'n' roll promotion circuit, with tours of their home continent, Japan, and America being followed by a five-month songwriting stint and another four months to record their new long player, 'Out Of This World'.

"We've been working all the time", says Kee. "And I think we have a better album now. Five hit singles - that's what the record company says should come out."

Having just finished an extensive and exhausting tour of America as support act to Def Leppard, Marcello is quick to point out the importance of taking rock to the people, and the added bonus of doing it with Leppard.

"We feel that last year on the world tour we gained a lot of experience and the band became much tighter and then came up with better ideas for the record. The best thing you can do as a band is play live.

"It's very important to tour in America, and the Def Leppard tour is a short cut that's worked for us. I mean, this is the first and last time that we're not headlining. We're really not big enough to headline stadiums ourselves just yet; we could have done another theatre tour but this way we've been seen by about 20 times as many people."

Although Kee Marcello is probably the man you've seen burning through the solo on 'The Final Countdown', he didn't feature in the Europe line-up when the single was recorded, and solo honours go to the band's original guitarist, John Norum. On the eve of the record's worldwide success, Norum left the band to pursue a solo career and a replacement had to be found urgently. There wasn't really any choice. Kee was already a respected producer and session guitarist in Sweden - as well as being lead member of his own band, Easy Action - and had worked with members of Europe on the Swedish Metal Aid charity record: "Joey Tempest wrote the song ('Together We Can Save The World') and I produced it. Then when John Norum left the band and they wanted a new guitar player, everyone suggested my name. They just phoned me and that was that..."

But it couldn't have been an easy decision: whether to join an established band as just the guitarist, after being so involved in the creative process of his own band.

"Easy Action had problems with line-up. We split up a couple of times and new people came in. When Europe phoned me, I like to think at that moment it was the best thing I could do. I felt that Europe stood the bigger chance of making it. And I knew how they worked personally, so I knew I could work my way into the band.



"ON THE WORLD TOUR WE GAINED A LOT OF EXPERIENCE AND THE BAND BECAME MUCH TIGHTER... THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO AS A BAND IS PLAY LIVE."


"What really made up my mind was that the band were so together. I mean, you could see the determination in their eyes, they all had the same goals."

Kee picked up the guitar for the first time at the age of 13, inspired by the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Carlos Santana. At the age of 18, he left the "small country town" where he had been brought up and moved to Stockholm, where a succession of events led to work first as a session guitarist and then as a producer.

"It's difficult to decide what made me produce albums and become a session musician", recalls Marcello. "It was a series of things that happened that made me do that. I met the right people... Someone told me that everybody in this business thinks it's a matter of who you know, but actually the thing is to be able to put yourself in the position to meet the ones you should know."

With considerable production experience under his belt, hasn't there ever been the temptation for Marcello to take over the reins of a Europe recording?

"No. I experienced it before. It's really hard to get away with producing and performing an album. It's a lot of work just doing the guitar parts. You'd think it would make things easy but it's really much harder work and I'll never do it again."

So working with a producer who is detached from the band is a definite advantage?

"They say 'I'll keep this one' and 'What do you think about this sound?' - that sort of thing. It's great. It helps to have somebody objective to come up with ideas."

To play the kind of lead guitar expected of a band like Europe, Kee keeps himself in trim, picking up a guitar every day and running through a series of licks or scales. Before a concert, the preparation is more intense: "About one hour before the concert, I get dressed and then I lock myself in a room with an amplifier and I play the guitar for about 40 minutes. I start with just slow scales... then eventually I'm really warmed up for the evening. About five minutes before the gig we all sing harmonies together to warm our voices up."

And who said rock bands weren't professional?



Previous Article in this issue

DJ Jazzy Jeff

Next article in this issue

James Taylor Quartet


Publisher: Phaze 1 - Phaze 1 Publishing

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Phaze 1 - Nov 1988

ChitChat

Artist:

Europe


Role:

Band/Group

Interview by Chris Hunt

Previous article in this issue:

> DJ Jazzy Jeff

Next article in this issue:

> James Taylor Quartet


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