At the time, I knew Abba wasn’t necessarily cool, but it was also sweet because I was with my mom, and it was something we were enjoying together.
I was bringing those influences into the electroclash world; we started making a more theatrical rock, and taking it into full on dance clubs.
I had a boyfriend of three years; we broke up in the middle of Covid, and I listened to “Knowing Me, Knowing You” probably about a million times.
Abba was such a big part of pop culture in my youth; not knowing it, I would think I was in a movie about their life, because I was just constantly hearing the soundtrack.
When I saw “Mamma Mia!” on Broadway, everybody’s just so filled with that joy, and I couldn’t wait to be a part of that.
I was at a party on the Fourth of July, where it was 15 gay men and me, and it got to the point in the night where we were inside rather than outside, where everybody wanted to dance.
Growing up in the ’70s, there was such a weird amalgam of music all over the place.
I love the juxtaposition; the beginning sets the whole tone for the song, with this weird Gregorian monk-like chant going on, and all of a sudden the crazy European production kicks in.
If you’re a real lover of music — not just somebody who subscribes to one genre — then you have a great appreciation for songs.
When they did “Waterloo” on Eurovision, I remember enjoying that and thinking they were fun, but I didn’t buy the records; I sort of went along with the snobs who were saying they weren’t any good, for some stupid reason.
He came to the studio, and I was completely star-struck — almost crying with excitement, which happens quite rarely.
I was working for the lyricist Tim Rice as his production assistant, and the first project of his that I worked on was with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, writing “Chess.” Meeting Benny and Bjorn was an inspiration in itself.
We’re moving on.” But you don’t have to love Abba to love “Mamma Mia!”; there’s a much younger audience that didn’t know Abba as pop stars, or performers.
It’s a big celebration that they have another album because I met them when they’d split up, and it’s a wonderful circle of life that they’ve come back together again.