Oslo, August 16th.

Dagsavisen had an article on Tuesday, which further shows the conflicting views within the band about the break-up.

“We’re tired, 25 years is a long time for any band, but I wish a-ha could have existed longer. I have songs that I know would have been valuable additions to the catalogue“, Paul says.

The article also includes a few quotes by Paul from the new and updated edition of “The Swing of Things” (English edition available for ordering from a-ha.com now):

“A part of me feels it’s cowardly to end now. I don’t think we have achieved enough. But I was voted down. (…) It feels like tactics to me. Too cold and hard.”

Magne serves the following comment back at Paul:
“To continue would have demanded something else from him, and something else from all three of us. I don’t want a-ha to be used as a purely commercial tool to serve our own individual agendas. It’s not like only one of us should define what a-ha is. We’re three members. You can’t just think about getting as much as possible of your own material released.”

“I would wish for a band where the level of conflict wasn’t so high, a band where team effort was valued, a band where you gave each other the necessary feedback. That’s not where we are at the moment, and we have to acknowledge that.”

In the article, Paul also reveals that the band had originally planned more events like the HHAL-concert at the Royal Albert Hall:

“Two or three years ago we came up with the idea to perform the entire first album to mark its 25th anniversary. We were planning to do the same thing with our other albums as well, but then we only got so far as the first one.”

 
Here is some more press from Monday:
NRK Østlandssendingen (video report)
NRK Østlandssendingen (14-minute radio interview with Magne)

The “God Morgen Norge” interview with Magne and Morten is now available to watch here.