Archive for 2014

Morten on festival concerts and meeting Jimmy Page

An unexpected meeting; Morten and Jimmy Page

An unexpected meeting; Morten and Jimmy Page

Budstikka had an interview with Morten yesterday, in connection with his upcoming concert at Hvalstrandfestivalen in August. Ten of the twelve concerts he’s doing in Norway this summer are festivals, which he feels is a healthy change:

“I like the idea of going on stage in front of a more general audience who haven’t necessarily come to see just me. It’ll be good for me to perform for an initially disinterested audience. There’s something healthy about it.”

He also tells the story of how he first met one of his teenage heroes:

“I was at a garden centre somewhere in England and was standing in line to pay. Suddenly I hear a voice saying “Hey Morten” and I’m thinking ‘oh great’, now I’ll have to turn around and face some guy I don’t recognize and that’s never any fun. Instead I’m staring straight at Jimmy Page, standing there with his hand stretched out and saying “Jimmy. Jimmy Page”. And I just say: “Yes you are, aren’t you”. It was quite unexpected”, he says with a laugh. Later they’ve met each other several times.

“He’s a really great guy. I was surprised by how well he knew a-ha’s music. And just like me he collected butterflies and insects, but he had a considerably larger guitar collection than me”, Harket says with a smile.

Berlin concert, May 8th

Columbiahalle, Berlin, May 8th. Per Lindvall, Morten, Lars Danielsson, Christer Karlsson and Peter Kvint. (Picture by Petra Zerbe)

Columbiahalle, Berlin, May 8th.
Per Lindvall, Morten, Lars Danielsson, Christer Karlsson and Peter Kvint.
(Picture by Petra Zerbe. Click to enlarge.)

The third concert of Morten’s Brother tour was held at the Columbiahalle in Berlin yesterday, with around 2000 people in the audience.

YouTube videos:
When I Reached The Moon   Oh What A Night   Safe With Me   End Of The Line
Lay Me Down Tonight   Did I Leave You Behind   Let It Be Me

Photo galleries:
Getty Images   berlin.de   sheila-wolf.de

Offenbach is the last stop in Germany tonight, before the tour moves on to Holland, Belgium, France and the UK.

Several fans have asked for details on new merchandise, but there doesn’t seem to be any merch for sale, at least not in Germany.

Cologne concert, May 6th

Cologne, May 6th (Picture from ruhrnachrichten.de)

Cologne, May 6th
(Picture from ruhrnachrichten.de)

The tour continued in Cologne yesterday, where Morten and his band played for around 1000 people at the E-Werk venue. The setlist appears to have been the same as in Hamburg.

YouTube live videos posted so far include Do You Remember Me, Oh What A Night, Darkspace, Whispering Heart and Let It Be Me.

If you look at the video of “Darkspace”, you’ll notice Morten has altered some of the lyrics since he last performed the song in 2008.

There is also a photo gallery from Cologne at ruhrnachrichten.de and review at rundschau-online.de.

Meanwhile, “Brother” climbs from #19 to #15 in its third week on the German album chart.

Brother tour opens in Hamburg

Morten on stage at Laeiszhalle last night, with Lars Danielsson (left). (Picture from oldie95.de)

Morten on stage at Laeiszhalle last night, with Lars Danielsson (left).
(Picture from oldie95.de)

Morten’s 2014 solo tour opened at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Germany last night. He was backed by Per Lindvall (drums), Christer Karlsson (keyboard), Peter Kvint (guitar) and Lars Danielsson (bass). “We had a great great time – thanks to all you wonderful fans!”, Peter Kvint said in an update on his website.

Update: A video of the whole concert has now been posted on Vimeo.

Here is the setlist, with links to live videos:

1. Do You Remember Me?
2. Oh What A Night
3. Spanish Steps
4. End Of The Line
5. Darkspace
6. Did I Leave You Behind
7. When I Reached The Moon
8. Lay Me Down Tonight
9. Should The Rain Fall
10. Shooting Star
11. Safe With Me
12. There Is A Place
13. Wild Seed
14. Los Angeles
15. Whispering Heart
—————–
16. Brother
17. A Kind Of Christmas Card
18. Let It Be Me (Everly Brothers cover, duet with Peter Kvint)

This means the setlist included 7 songs from Brother, 5 songs from Wild Seed, 3 songs from Letter From Egypt, 1 song from Out Of My Hands, 1 unreleased song (“Did I Leave You Behind”) and 1 cover version (“Let It Be Me”). No a-ha songs this time, thankfully!

Three of the songs had their live premieres last night; “Oh What A Night” and “End Of the Line” from Brother and “Should The Rain Fall” from Letter From Egypt. In addition, “Darkspace” and “Shooting Star” were played live for the first time since 2008.

Five of the songs (“Spanish Steps”, “When I Reached The Moon”, “Lay Me Down Tonight”, “Wild Seed” and “A Kind Of Christmas Card”) were also performed on the 2012 tour.

There is a photo gallery from the concert at oldie95.de.

Morten on Lindmo and Geht’s noch

Morten, Karl Oluf and Dan on Lindmo, May 3rd.

Morten, Karl Oluf and Dan on Lindmo, May 3rd.

Morten was a guest on the NRK1 talkshow Lindmo yesterday. The show was taped in Oslo on Friday. In addition to being interviewed, he did an acoustic version of “Do You Remember Me” with Dan Sunhordvik and Karl Oluf Wennerberg. The show can be viewed at tv.nrk.no.

There is also a photo gallery and a backstage clip from the taping on Facebook.

Morten was also a guest on the German talkshow Geht’s noch?! Kayas Woche, hosted by comedian Kaya Yanar, on Friday. The RTL show, which was taped in Cologne on Thursday, is available here – but can’t be viewed outside of Germany.

There is also a bonus clip at rtl.de and a video greeting from Morten at kaya.tv.

On the Norwegian album chart, Brother is down to #2 in its third week, after spending two weeks at #1. In Germany the album fell from #11 to #19 in its second week, while it disappeared from the Top 100 in both UK and Switzerland after only one week.

BTW, Dan Sunhordvik has posted a photo gallery from his promo work with Morten this spring on Facebook.

Paul: “I loved her voice from the first moment”

Album cover

Album cover

Although the CD release seems to have been delayed until May 9th, Linnea Dale‘s new album Good Goodbyes was released digitally last Friday, April 25th, and is now available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and Wimp.

The album includes three songs produced and co-written by Paul: “Better Without You”, “Sweet Life” and “With Eyes Closed”. Paul is also credited with keyboards, bass, drums, programming and guitar on all three songs.

“I loved her voice from the first moment. It doesn’t matter what kind of microphone or filters you use. It’s all there from the get-go”, Paul tells VG in an interview today.

“She has her own knack for melodies, and an atypical way of using words. It flows beautifully”, he says.

“This is the first time I’ve done something like this, and I liked it. It felt good; a different perspective. But I was under the impression I wouldn’t have to do any promo work, so this is a bit of a downer”, Paul jokes.

VG also asks him which other Norwegian artists he’d be interested in producing:

“There are constantly new and cool artists emerging back home in Norway. I’d need to look into that. But I really loved Susanne Sundfør’s “White Foxes”.

Morten on Tørnquist Show

Morten on Tørnquist Show

Morten on Tørnquist Show

Morten is the main guest on this week’s episode of VGTV’s online talkshow Tørnquist Show, which can be viewed at vgtv.no.

Host Einar Tørnquist had talked to some Harket family members in preparation for the interview, which resulted in some unusual questions about Morten’s teenage interests; the caiman he kept in a bathtub, the orchidarium he had in his bedroom and the butterflies he imported from abroad.

He was also asked about the Rock in Rio concert and the hilarious megaphone incident in Salem, 2010.

Meanwhile, the Brother album has entered the German album chart at #11 in its first week, while it’s #62 in Switzerland. And details of the next single “Do You Remember Me?” has been posted on the French site qobuz.com. Apparently it’s released on May 12th, with the same cover image as the UK promo CD.

Update (25/4): Morten was a guest on Kveldsåpent on NRK P1 tonight. The interview can be heard at radio.nrk.no.

Update II (26/4): There is a new interview with Morten at side2.no today.

Brother enters at #1 in Norway

Straight in at number 1

Straight in at number 1

Morten’s new album Brother has entered the Norwegian album chart VG Lista Topp 40 at number 1 today.

This is his fourth solo album to reach number 1 in Norway, following Wild Seed (1995), Letter From Egypt (2008) and Out Of My Hands (2012).

In the UK, the album initially appeared on the midweek chart at #23, but has since fallen down to #32 and then #39.

Update: Brother enters the UK album chart at #56, with first-week sales of 1,461 copies. In comparison, Out Of My Hands sold 3,454 copies in its first week two years ago.

Update II: Brother is “album of the week” on the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2, from 21 – 25 April.

Morten interviewed by Vårt Land and NTB

"This album is a tribute to the diversity among us", Morten tells Vårt Land.

“This album is a tribute to the diversity among us”, Morten tells Vårt Land.

A few additional interviews with Morten have appeared in the Norwegian press today.

In its album review on Friday, the Christian newspaper Vårt Land wrote that “Brother is without a doubt his most existential, wonderingly, even sacral and religious album that he’s made on his own”.

Today’s interview follows up on that notion. Here is one quote:

“Our reviewer feels that the lyrics on this album are deeper than in a long time. Is it your Christian background that shines through?

– Absolutely. I still have the same Christian faith that I grew up with, but I can’t use that as a starting point, because I wish to communicate with people who don’t share the same faith. That means my starting point can’t be that God created us, that Jesus is his son and that he gave his life for us. If I am to communicate, I need to start somewhere else and trust that these things will get across on their own, which I believe they will. I strongly believe that the search process in itself is valuable. It’s the questions that make us spiritual people, not the answers. There are no eternal answers, only eternal questions. Christians will also benefit from questioning everything. Including the scriptures and the history. That will make you a true child of God”, Morten says.

In an interview with NTB, available at dt.no, Morten talks about the upcoming festival tour in the summer and how it turned into more than he first imagined:

“I agreed to do a few, and then it turned into a lot. (…) It will be interesting. I haven’t done many festivals before. And we mostly did our own concerts with a-ha. I said I wanted to give it a try, and now I’m suddenly staring at this really long list”, Morten says with a slightly self-deprecating grin.”

In other news, Morten will be a guest on Sounds of the 80s on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday, April 19th. And a-ha.com has announced plans for a 2014 fan weekend in Oslo on November 14-15, which would include “a fan party on November 14 and an ‘intimate’ concert with Morten”.

New Morten Harket biography in the works

A new biography about Morten is currently in the works, an interview in UK’s Sunday Mercury newspaper revealed today:

Morten is currently working with writer Tom Bromley on his biography and says “It’s been very good, he’s a really nice guy and we have had some interesting sessions. He makes me remember things, makes me see things again”.

He chuckles: “I then read his interpretation of me and attack that and then resurrect it.”

The book does not have a title as yet, although Morten laughingly promises it will have one.

Tom Bromley has previously written books like The Encyclopeadia of Guilty Pleasures and The Weird and Wonderful World of One Hit Wonders, which makes him seem like an odd choice if this is supposed to be a serious biography. He has also written about a-ha in a chapter of his 2012 book Wired for Sound: Now That’s What I Call an Eighties Music Childhood.

On the other hand, Bromley was the one who gave Morten his copy of Maajid Nawaz’ Radical, which resulted in “Brother” being written. “It triggered something in me. It touched me. The guts that guy has, the balls of steel and capacity for depth. It spoke to me”, Morten says of Nawaz’ book.

The Sunday Mercury interview is not available online, but pictures of it have been posted on Twitter: Page 1    Page 2

Also, if you missed yesterday’s interview with Morten on BBC Radio Devon, it’s available on bbc.co.uk (starts at 23:10 mins) until April 19th.

Brother album available now

The CD features cover design by Jeri Heiden and photos by Just Loomis

The CD features cover design by Jeri Heiden and photos by Just Loomis

Morten’s new album Brother is released in Norway, Germany, Austria and Switzerland today. The UK release is on Monday.

Morten spent yesterday meeting the Norwegian press at The Thief hotel in Oslo, which has resulted in interviews in Aftenposten, Dagbladet, Dagsavisen, Adresseavisen and Budstikka today.

There is also a 7-page interview in Dagens Næringsliv’s weekend magazine. It has been posted online at dn.no as well.

Today he’s done more radio promo, starting with Nitimen on NRK P1, where he did an acoustic version of “Do You Remember Me” with Dan Sunhordvik. The interview and performance can be heard on nrk.no. There is also a picture and a video clip from the rehearsals on Nitimen’s Facebook page. Later on he was a guest on Michael Direkte on P4, a few audio clips have been posted on p4.no.

Morten and Dan have also done a live session for VGTV. The performances of “Do You Remember Me” and “There Is A Place” can be viewed at vgtv.no.

Some of the coverage in today's newspapers

Some of the coverage in today’s newspapers

The album reviews are generally favorable, with Aftenposten (5/6) being the most positive so far. “The title track’s longing melancholy, naked sensitivity and timeless reflection on the term identity, sets the standard”, Aftenposten’s reviewer writes. He also mentions the “believable intensity of the songs” and how Morten “has let the music develop naturally and harmonically” this time.

Vårt Land’s reviewer feels it’s “without a doubt his most existential, wonderingly, even sacral and religious album that he’s made on his own”.

Bergens Tidende feels the album is “a step in the right direction”, compared to “the forgettable Out Of My Hands”. Drammens Tidende expects the album to be a commercial success, “because of the many catchy, radio-friendly songs”. Bergensavisen highlights the songs “Whispering Heart”, “Brother” and “There Is A Place”, but feels “the album is a little uneven as a whole”, partly because of the lyrics.

Both VG and Dagbladet (3/6) are rather lukewarm in their reviews. “Brother has been produced to death by the Swede Peter Kvint; who I’m sure is a nice guy, but why should Morten f***in’ Harket work with these anonymous, mediocre collaborators?”, VG’s reviewer asks. Dagbladet feels that the album “starts well, but fades away into a series of semi-ballads that don’t take him anywhere he hasn’t been before”.

Here are all the reviews so far:

Aftenposten (5/6)

Bergens Tidende (4/6)   Bergensavisen (4/6)   Adresseavisen (4/6)
Drammens Tidende (4/6)   Fædrelandsvennen (4/6)

VG (3/6)   Dagbladet (3/6)   Dagsavisen (3/6)

Over on a-ha.com, the Q&A with Peter Kvint has now been posted. “We had fifteen finished songs (written and produced) and out of those we chose the ten songs that made it to the album. Some of the other songs (like “Did I leave you behind”) will be released later in some form”, he says in one answer. Read the whole thing here.

Morten to perform in Trondheim

Another summer concert was announced today; Morten will perform in Trondheim on 31 July, as part of the annual Olavsfestdagene festival.

“Trondheim is a special city with a completely different atmosphere than other cities. It’s good to perform up there every time, whether it’s with a-ha or on my own. I associate Trondheim with the Wild Seed album, which was partly recorded at the Nidaros studio”, Morten tells Adresseavisen.

Tickets are available now from Billettservice.

More UK promotion

On ITV, April 7th

On ITV, April 7th

Morten did some more promotion in London yesterday. He started by appearing on Lorraine Kelly’s show on ITV, which can be seen here.

Then it was time for radio interviews, which included BBC Derby, BBC Lincolnshire, BBC Merseyside, BBC Suffolk, BBC Devon and others.

Although Morten will do more touring in the autumn, he couldn’t promise any further UK dates when answering fan questions on BBC Derby:

“I hope so, but I haven’t planned – I mean, this is all I see now; the album is just coming out and it’s what I’m doing. The summer is also booked up, as for the first time I’m doing festivals in Norway. There are a lot of activities there, and I have decided to do that this summer. Beyond that I haven’t planned exactly what will happen.”

Istanbul concert cancelled

Morten’s concert at KüçükÇiftlik Park in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 2nd has been cancelled. This is due to poor ticket sales, the venue announced on Facebook.

Ticket buyers are now getting e-mails with refund details.

No one seems to have told Morten about it yet, though, as he keeps mentioning how he’s looking forward to playing in Istanbul in several UK live interviews today.

Update: The cancellation has later been confirmed by Morten’s management in a message on Facebook:

We are sorry to have to inform you that Morten’s concert in Istanbul has been canceled by the promoters.

Morten was disappointed to hear this, as he was very much looking forward to his first concert in Turkey.

We are sorry about any inconvenience caused by this, and Morten hopes to return to Turkey at some other time.

“Manmade Lake” remix opportunity

A fun update on a-ha.com today:

We sometimes hear from fans who would like to have a chance to remix an a-ha or solo track, using audio stem files – most recently, a fan named Carlos asked Paul this very question in his Q&A with a-ha.com.

Paul is interested to hear your mixes of his new song ‘Manmade Lake’, and he has made the stem files available here on a-ha.com!

Head over to a-ha.com to download the stem files and read all the details.

Morten on Weekend Wogan and Gaby Roslin

Morten with Terry Wogan (Picture by BBC Radio 2)

Morten with Terry Wogan
(Picture by BBC Radio 2)

Morten is now in the UK to promote his new album. This morning he was a guest on Weekend Wogan on BBC Radio 2, where he did two acoustic songs together with Dan Sunhordvik; “Do You Remember Me” and – as a tribute to Phil Everly – “Let It Be Me”. The performance is available here. More pictures here and here.

Later on he was a guest on Gaby Roslin’s show on BBC Radio London, where he did two more songs together with Dan; “Do You Remember Me” and “Safe With Me”. He also talked openly about being bullied as a child. The show can be heard here (for 7 days). Pictures here and here.

He also met Maajid Nawaz today, whose book Radical was a source of inspiration for the lyrics in “Brother”. “Just met A-Ha lead singer @mortenharket to thank him for writing new album-track “Brother” based on my memoir Radical”, Nawaz said in a message on Twitter.

The UK promo continues tomorrow with more radio interviews, plus a TV-appearance on ITV’s Lorraine. Check out mortenharket.com for the details.

Before going to London, Morten and Dan did another acoustic session for Radio Norge in Oslo on Friday. But I don’t know if it was broadcast live or recorded for later. Pat Sharp, who was also a guest, posted a selfie with Morten on Twitter. Additional pictures here and here.

Linnea Dale on working with Paul

Album cover

Album cover

“Better Without You”, the third single from Linnea Dale’s upcoming album, premiered on Norwegian radio a few days ago. This is one of the songs that she’s done together with Paul in New York.

In an interview on NRK P1’s Nitimen, Linnea talked about the experience of working with Paul:

“It was fabulous. I have enormous respect for him as a songwriter, so it was great to go over there. We started out with a pre-production session here in Oslo where we tested out some ideas, and then I flew over to New York and spent a week there a while later.”

It was Warner Music that brought Paul into the process. He has been busy moving to a new house recently:

“[The Waaktaar-Savoys] had just moved from Soho to a brownstone house in Brooklyn, so we were working in an improvised studio on the top floor. We had to stop recording every time a plane flew over head, as it wasn’t soundproof.”

Her upcoming album Good Goodbyes (April 25th) will also include two other songs written with Paul: “Sweet Life” and “With Eyes Closed”. Another song Paul mentioned in the a-ha.com Q&A, “Better Days”, must have been left out – unless the song title has changed.

“Better Without You” can be heard here (at 1:44:50).

Studio 1 concert on NRK1

From Studio 1

From Studio 1

Morten’s Studio 1 concert, which was taped in Oslo on February 24th, aired on NRK1 in Norway last night.

Six of the seven songs performed were included in the TV broadcast, which can be viewed online at tv.nrk.no: Whispering Heart / Brother / Do You Remember Me / Spanish Steps / A Kind Of Christmas Card / There Is A Place.

An additional song, Safe With Me, is available as a bonus video here.

Morten was joined on stage by Per Lindvall (drums), Christer Karlsson (keyboard), Peter Kvint (guitar) and Lars Danielsson (bass).

The concert will be repeated April 9th on NRK2.

Paul: New Savoy album in the works

Frode, Lauren and Paul in 2007.

Frode, Lauren and Paul in 2007.

The second part of the Q&A with Paul is now up on a-ha.com.

Not only is he working on the first Waaktaar album, there is also a new Savoy album to look forward to, Paul says:

“There is indeed a Savoy album in the works. We have lots of new songs recorded and we will finalize the album with our drummer, Frode, this summer. I also would like to release the whole Savoy catalogue on iTunes and Spotify as well as vinyl. So far, they’ve only been released on CD.”

He says his main focus will always be on releasing full albums:

“The album concept seems to be a bit washed out these days, but that’s what I grew up with so I’ll always have that as the main focus. However, it is fun to release a track like “Manmade Lake” and get an immediate reaction. I definitely want to do more of that.”

He also repeats what he’s said in the past, about how the idea to end a-ha felt like a business decision:

“The idea to end the band was forced. Not natural. It felt like a business decision to me. Just someone’s bright idea.
We can still play, still sing, we still have tons of songs to record.
And we still have a huge loving audience!
…crazy.”

Read all of his answers, including info about the cover image of “Manmade Lake”, what he’s been listening to lately and his thoughts on songwriting, over on a-ha.com.

For more updates from Paul, follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud.

Morten to perform at Elvefestivalen

The festival dates keep coming; Morten was confirmed for Elvefestivalen in Drammen today, where he will perform on August 22nd. The Ylvis brothers will also appear at the festival. The ticket sale starts via Billettservice on April 7th.

Paul: ‘Waaktaar’ album ready after the summer

"More music is on the way", Paul says. (Picture by Jakob)

“More music is on the way”, Paul says.
(Picture by Jakob)

The first part of the Q&A with Paul was posted on a-ha.com today.

After the release of “Manmade Lake”, many fans have been wondering if we can expect a Waaktaar album at some point. And Paul can now confirm that he is indeed working on a full album:

“I’m working on an album to be released under “Waaktaar”. It should be ready shortly after the summer. Hopefully I’ll be able to upload some individual tracks long before that.”

He also provides some background info on “Manmade Lake”:

“It’s been a favorite of mine for a while. It was written around the overdriven guitar riff in the outro and I’ve been looking for a way to present it. The voice is run through a guitar amp which I thought strengthened the mood and related to the words, particularly in the second verse. Sort of like a ground-to-air type voice.”

Moreover, Paul mentions that he’s working on two additional albums, and that he’s hoping to include the song used in last year’s Scent of a Woman trailer on the next Savoy album.

Please visit a-ha.com to read the full Q&A.

‘SWR3 Latenight’ TV-performance

SWR3 Latenight, March 28th

SWR3 Latenight, March 28th

Morten and Dan Sunhordvik’s acoustic performance of “Brother” on the talkshow SWR3 Latenight aired in Germany last night. The performance, which was taped in Baden-Baden on Wednesday, can be seen here (starts at 24:30 minutes).

Apparently Morten’s in-ear monitor couldn’t be used, so the odd-looking thing on his cheek was an improvised solution.

FFN and HR1 radio interviews

Contest winner Bettina gets vocal coaching from Morten

Contest winner Bettina gets vocal coaching from Morten
(Picture from ffn.de)

Morten was in Hannover today, on the fifth day of his German promo tour for the upcoming Brother album.

On the radio station FFN another contest winner, Bettina, had the chance to get vocal coaching from Morten as she sang a duet with him on “Brother”. Two different video reports from the visit have been posted on ffn.de and sat1regional.de. He was also interviewed for several FFN shows, and there are extensive photo galleries on haz.de and ffn.de. While at the radio studio he also met this fan.

Morten also visited the studio of HR1 for more interviews. The HR1 website has posted a video clip of Morten speaking in German, inviting people to come to his concert in Offenbach in May. There is also a photo gallery.

In addition, more interview clips and acoustic songs were broadcast on both SWR1 Baden-Württemberg and SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz tonight. Here is an acoustic version of “Safe With Me”, recorded in Stuttgart on Tuesday:

 
And here’s another Instagram photo from the visit to Baden-Baden on Wednesday.

German promo tour continues

Acoustic session on SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, March 27th

Acoustic session on SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, March 27th
(Picture from swr.de)

Morten continued his promotional tour of Germany today. In Mainz he visited the studios of SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, where he was interviewed for two different shows. He also did another acoustic session together with Dan Sunhordvik. A photo gallery and a few interview clips have been posted on swr.de.

In Ludwigshafen he was interviewed by RPR1, where a lucky contest winner had the chance to ask him some questions. She asked if he’s going to play more solo songs on this tour, instead of a-ha songs, to which he replied: “More of me”. A picture with RPR1 host Inge Meyer has been posted on Facebook.

He also visited Radio Regenbogen in Mannheim, where he was met by a group of fans. A photo gallery can be found at regenbogen.de. Update: A video clip from the interview has been posted on YouTube.

Meanwhile on SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, another part of Barbara Scherrer’s interview with Morten was broadcast this evening. She asked him if he’s figured out the live versions of the songs yet:

“I’m not there yet, but I’m looking forward to warming up with the band and really starting to gel with the band. They’re very good actually, it’s a brilliant band.”

Even though he’s going on the road with a new backing band, Morten says that he’s hoping to play with Dan, Erik and Karl Oluf at some point as well:

“Dan Sunhordvik was part of the band that I had last time around, when I toured after Out Of My Hands. And that was also a great band, I was very happy with that band. Something else has happened this time around. The drummer that I played with on the Wild Seed album in 95, his name is Per Lindvall, he did sessions for this album, Brother, and he got so excited about the material that he said ‘I’m gonna play this. I’m gonna come with you live.’ And then he brought with him a couple of other guys. And that has been a tough decision for me, a difficult one. Because I want to play with both teams – and maybe I will. I’m kind of hoping I will. But this time around it’s with Per and a Swedish bunch. One guy is Danish – no, two actually. They’re two now.”

Oh, and here’s another acoustic version from SWR1 Baden-Württemberg – “Brother” performed with Dan Sunhordvik:

 
As for why “Did I Leave You Behind” was left off the album, Morten has told a German fan that it was because they only wanted to have 10 songs on the album, and it didn’t quite fit in with the others.

More radio interviews

Morten in the studios of SWR1 in Stuttgart, March 25th (Picture from swr.de)

Morten in the studios of SWR1, March 25th
(Picture from swr.de)

Two additional interviews with Morten were broadcast on German radio today.

On Radio 7 he was a guest on Chrissie Weiss’ evening show, where he talked briefly about the upcoming tour:

“We have a shorter spring tour coming up in May, across Europe. A couple of weeks only, quite a dense tour. Doing a little of France, Belgium, Germany, England – even Turkey, for the first time. It’s exciting, as I’ve actually never been to Turkey. So that has its own merit in itself, to go and play in Istanbul. I look forward to that very much, also because this is an album that I am very keen on playing live.”

The 5-part interview can be heard on Radio 7’s website.

He also appeared on SWR1’s “Guten Abend Baden-Württemberg” tonight, where the album track “Whispering Heart” was played for the first time. In addition, Morten performed an acoustic version of “Do You Remember Me?” together with Dan Sunhordvik, which can be heard below:

 
The full interview doesn’t seem to available online, but another acoustic performance will be broadcast on SWR1 tomorrow night.

Morten and Dan also did an acoustic version of “Brother” on the TV-show SWR3 Latenight in Baden-Baden today. Some Instagram pictures have been posted here and here. When it will air remains to be seen.

Morten starts German promo tour

Morten in Munich, March 24th (Picture by Cermisi)

Morten in Munich, March 24th
(Picture by Cermisi)

Morten started his German promo tour in Munich yesterday, where he visited the studio of radio station BR3. In the interview, which was broadcast today and now available on br.de, he was asked about the melancholic feel of “Brother”:

“Melancholy is seen as sad by some people, whilst for other people it’s a way of reflecting on things that have value to you. But “Brother” is kind of a war song at the same time; you are you, and you have the right to become you. And no one has the right to prevent or to stop that from happening. If I’m interested in you, I don’t want to change you into becoming something I like, so to speak. I should just welcome anything that you want to do to become you”, Morten said.

Today he was in Stuttgart for an interview with SWR1, which can be heard on swr.de. It included the premiere of the full version of “Do You Remember Me?”, which is the second single off the album. There is also a gallery of photos on SWR1’s Facebook page.

He also visited Radio 7 in Ulm today, where a lucky contest winner had a chance to sing “Brother” together with Morten. Interview clips, along with a YouTube video and photo gallery have been posted on radio7.de.

Several other interviews have been taped and will air in the coming days and weeks.

The promo tour, which continues with radio, TV and newspaper interviews for the rest of the week, will apparently also visit Baden-Baden, Mannheim and Hannover.

Magne attends funeral of Kjell Nupen

Kjell Nupen

Kjell Nupen

Magne attended the funeral of Kjell Nupen (1955 – 2014) in Kristiansand today.

Nupen, who died from cancer on March 12th, was one of Norway’s most famous contemporary artists. He was Magne’s artistic mentor from 1989 – 1993 and they held several exhibitions together.

“Norway has lost one of its greatest visual artists and a unique personality. Kjell was a great figure in every way, and leaves a gaping void that will be impossible to fill. Everything I know about graphic art I’ve learnt from him”, Magne said in his speech during the ceremony.

Magne outside the church

Magne outside the church

“Kjell was a kind and thoughtful man, and one of the wisest people I have met. I have lost a close friend and an important discussion partner. The most important thing I can do now is to honour him through my work, and prove that I was worthy of his trust.”

“Kjell. I miss you and it hurts so much. There’s so much more we should have talked about. I am grateful for the time we had together”, Magne said.

The funeral ceremony was held in Søm Church, a church decorated by Nupen himself. 700 people attended the funeral, including King Harald and Queen Sonja.

Magne carried the coffin together with Bjørn Eidsvåg and Ole Larsen (VG photo).

Links:  Fædrelandsvennen article   Agderposten article   VG photo gallery

 

Magne and Kjell Nupen, working together in Paris in 2002.

Magne and Kjell Nupen, working together in Paris in 2002.

Paul appears on Hågen Rørmark album

Album cover

Album cover

Paul has contributed to Hågen Rørmark’s latest album Alt Eller Ingenting, on which he plays drums on the track “Ensom Leter”.

The album was actually released in September 2012, but I didn’t find out about it until now.

Alt Eller Ingenting is Rørmark’s first album in Norwegian, following Mondo Cane (1995) and Signs & Songs (2008). The 11-track album can be purchased at hogen.bandcamp.com.

Rørmark is known to be a good friend of Paul and played guitar with Savoy in Oslo and London in 2008. He also played harmonica on the Savoy song “Is My Confidence Reeling?” in 2004 and appeared on stage with Weathervane in 2011.

In addition he co-wrote the song “Undecided” for Morten Harket in 2012, together with Tor Einar Krogtoft-Jensen and Christian Engebretsen. Krogtoft-Jensen also plays drums on Alt Eller Ingenting and has co-produced the album together with Rørmark.

Morten to perform at Verketfestivalen

A second festival concert in the county of Nordland was announced today; Morten is performing at Verketfestivalen 2014 in Mo i Rana on 29 August.

Tickets are available now through Billettservice.

In other news, Morten’s Studio 1 concert special will air earlier than first announced. It premieres on NRK1, Saturday April 5th at 22:35.

Morten on the inspiration behind “Brother”

From the music video

From the music video

The “Brother” music video, which leaked online earlier this week, had its official premiere on VGTV in Norway today.

“Harald Zwart got the idea for the music video immediately after hearing the song for the first time. It’s based on a classic movie by the Swedish comedians Hasse & Tage. We have arranged for a copy of the video to be delivered to the Hasse & Tage museum”, Morten tells VG.

The song itself started with Peter Kvint getting the idea for the melody:

“It was developed from there and to its final version by Peter and myself. The lyrical identity came to me – at the same time – after having just read the biography of Majiid Nawaz, “Radical”, about growing up as a young muslim in England, faced with European, Western culture and politics, and his personal confrontation with fundamental values after years of going down an uncompromising and dangerous road internationally as an islamist. And then choosing an even more dangerous road later on”, Morten says.

“Brother” is about love and respect, as it is shown when recognizing everyone’s right to become who they are. About the right to follow your own conscience. “Brother” is about respecting diversity – and how this is a fundamental value”.

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