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Morten will perform at the Odderøya Live Festival in Kristiansand, Norway on 11 July. This will be Morten’s first solo concert in Kristiansand since 1996.
The ticket sale starts tomorrow through billettservice.no.
For an overview of all the 2014 concerts announced so far, take a look here.
Morten in the studio at NRK P1’s Nitimen
(Picture from Facebook)
Morten did another round of radio promotion today, which included P4s Radiofrokost, NRK P1’s Nitimen and Radio 102.
Here are some translated quotes:
“We have just delivered the finished album. Beyond this point you can’t change anything, you’re handing it over to others, so there’s been a lot to take care of in the final stages.”
“During the songwriting, Peter Kvint and I have worked on the music, while Ole Sverre Olsen and I have written the lyrics. But there are also some exceptions. One of the songs on the album has been written by Ole Sverre on his own, but primarily he’s worked on the lyrics. Peter Kvint is the main producer, while I have co-produced.”
“This album has much of the same spirit as Wild Seed. I’m thinking Brother is a natural continuation. There are similarities in the sound.”
“Per Lindvall, who is a fantastic drummer and whom I’ve worked with in the past, including in a-ha, he’s playing the drums on this album. I’ve used him quite a bit previously, but now he’s brought along some of the guys he usually plays with. I’m going to Stockholm in a few days, to start rehearsing with these guys. It will be very exciting, as they are top-notch musicians.”
“We’re not sure when [the music video] will be released. Harald Zwart has got a fair amount of post-production to do, so you won’t just see my nose above water for five minutes. There’s a lot of decision-making around the material that’s been shot, which partly decides when the album is coming out. We’ve been aiming for album release in late March, but with the ongoing post-production on the music video, I think we’re looking at early April instead.”
In addition, nine brand new promotional photos from the recent Mexico photo shoot have been posted on mlk.com. They were taken between 30 January – 1 February.
Morten in Radio Norge’s studio, February 13th
Morten was interviewed on the radio show Michael Direkte on P4 in Norway yesterday. Once again he talked about how rewarding the Brother album process has been:
“I have never before experienced an album coming together this easily, with such momentum all the way through. It’s been quite unique. I don’t think Peter Kvint has been part of something like this before either. So we’ve had to pinch ourselves several times along the way, as every writing session we’ve done has led to material that’s been used. It’s very special.”
He also mentioned the great response he’s been getting to the “Brother” single:
“The feedback has been really good, also from people that you don’t usually hear much from. So that’s been fun.”
The conversation also touched on the topic of drugs in the music business. Morten explained that Terry Slater made sure a-ha never encountered any drugs:
“Our first manager Terry Slater – we found this out years later – had approached people and almost threatened to kill them if we were offered anything. He had seen how destructive drugs could be, throughout his years in the business. So he was on a real crusade, against people in the record company, in the media and others around us. I can’t remember ever being offered drugs of any kind. I actually found it strange that I never encountered any of that, but it turned out to have a natural explanation.”
At the end, host Michael Andreassen talked about his own experience of interviewing the a-ha members individually and together. In his opinion all three of them come across as such fun guys when interviewed alone, but can almost behave like jerks when they’re doing promotion together:
“I can understand you saying that, because that’s also our own experience. We gradually started to split up and do individual interviews, partly because there was such a huge amount of promotion that needed to be done. But also because we came across better that way. But you have a point. (Pause) I can’t say exactly why that is, but we have spent so much time together, done so many things together and faced a lot of intense situations. And it’s a challenge to sit there and be interviewed about something that triggered you [in the studio] six months ago, back at the moment of creation, when you were riding that wave. So you’re interviewed about one thing, while your mind is in a different place completely. And the process of repeating yourself in interviews, plugging something; a-ha was never any good at that. Explaining who we are, what we are and what we stand for; selling that to the media was never one of our talents”, Morten said.
Morten also did an interview with Radio Norge yesterday, which was broadcast today. A small video clip from that interview has been posted on Instagram.
Morten will perform at this year’s Tysnesfest, which is a festival held at Tysnes in Hordaland, Norway.
The festival is held from 9 – 13 July, but the exact date for Morten’s concert is not yet known. Festivalpasses are available at billettservice.no.
Update: The concert date is July 12th.
“I’m not sure about the quality of this water”, Morten said afterwards.
Morten was in Los Angeles last week, to do a music video for “Brother”. The video is directed by Harald Zwart, who previously did the a-ha videos for “Velvet” (2000) and “Forever Not Yours” (2002). VGTV has a video report from the set at Ernest E. Debs Regional Park, which can be seen here (at 3:50).
Zwart drenched Morten in water in both of the previous a-ha videos, and “Brother” is no exception. Wearing a wetsuit, Morten had to spend hours floating in what appears to be…uhm…a manmade lake.
Harald Zwart
“Harald is not interested in my body. It’s only the area from the neck up that counts now”, Morten jokingly tells VG.
“If you don’t make it challenging and exciting on the set, it won’t be an exciting video. Harket is sporty to be doing this. It’s cold and difficult to be floating in the water for hours, while pretending to sing”, Harald Zwart says.
The Brother album is now scheduled for release at the end of March, an album that has reminded Morten why he got into music in the first place:
“This has been an unusual year for me. The process of recording this album is the best I’ve ever experienced. I’ve really had a unique collaboration with the Swedish producer and songwriter Peter Kvint. When the material really hits you, when the songs have a distinctive character, that’s when I’m reminded why I got into music in the first place. It hits that guy inside me who started out 30 years ago, that guy who really wanted to do this.”
“I’m really enjoying myself at the moment, and I’m looking forward to getting started and playing live with the band”, Morten tells VG.
Prior to the music video shoot in LA, Morten and his team appears to have done a week-long photo shoot on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico. Make-up artist Kelly Thorpe has posted some info about this on Twitter and Instagram.
Morten will perform at the Trollrock Festival at Beitostølen on July 26th, the festival announced on its website today. Tickets are available at billettservice.no.
This is the fourth Norwegian summer concert to be announced, and there may still be more to come. According to Morten’s new booking agency JS Artist, he will also do additional concerts and festivals in other European countries this summer.
Cover image
Paul’s new song is called “Manmade Lake” and premiered on a-ha.com this afternoon. The song, which was originally recorded by a-ha in a different version during the Foot Of The Mountain sessions in 2008-09, is released as Waaktaar and marks the first time Paul releases something under his own name outside of Savoy.
“Manmade Lake” features a classic Waaktaar melody and production, similar to some of the material on the Savoy album (2004), with Paul on vocals. a-ha.com doesn’t have any more info about the song, but it sounds like Frode Unneland on the drums. The lyrics continue the theme of Paul’s fascination with astronomy and spaceflight. (Update: Frode tells Japanese site Bottomless Pit that he thinks Paul plays the drums himself on “Manmade Lake”.)
Listen to the song and read the lyrics on a-ha.com and Soundcloud!
Paul also has a new official page on Facebook.
Finally new music from Paul
a-ha.com has just announced that Paul will be sharing a new track on Saturday:
“Paul Waaktaar-Savoy is about to break the silence: he will be sharing a new track via http://www.a-ha.com on Saturday 8 February.
Join us here on Facebook and on a-ha.com on 8 February at 10:00am EST for this long-anticipated world premiere!”
Has he teamed up with Jimmy Gnecco again? Is it a new Savoy song? Something he’s produced for someone else? Or the first taste of a brand new solo project? I guess we’ll find out on Saturday…
Morten on Skavlan, January 31st
Morten was one of the guests on Skavlan tonight, alongside Gordon Ramsay and Sir Kenneth Branagh. The show was taped in London last week.
Morten was the last guest to come on, for a brief interview. Following a conversation about Branagh being knighted and Ramsay receiving an OBE, Morten was asked about the fact that he’s been knighted as well:
Morten singing “Brother”, with Sir Kenneth Branagh listening
“It’s a strange thing. Mainly because we grow up in a society where equality is hugely important. I wouldn’t say it’s forced upon you, but we are all the same. We don’t have a class system in Norway, so it’s a strange thing to bring in knights. I think that’s one of the elements of it. But to be recognized like that is also a very nice thing. Because it’s well meant. And I suppose it’s well thought through – I would hope. So I can’t say that I think it’s wrong. I don’t know what I think about it. But it’s not the same as being knighted in England.”
Fredrik Skavlan also asked Morten about his strongest memory of the early days of a-ha in London, thirty years ago:
“Just getting there. The days before [the breakthrough]. All the anticipation and that bubbly sort of joy, where you knew it was going to happen. And it hadn’t happened yet. I think that was the best time in some ways. Of course it doesn’t mean that you don’t appreciate it, but when [fame] hits you it’s like a train. And you’re not on it – you’re under it.”
At the end of the show he performed a shortened, acoustic version of “Brother”, accompanied by Peter Kvint on guitar.
The episode can be seen at nrk.no.
Linnea Dale
(Photo: Warner Music)
Sunnmørsposten reports that Paul is among the producers on Linnea Dale‘s second solo album, set to be released later this year.
Linnea Dale was one of the finalists on the fifth season of Norwegian Idol in 2007, where she was mentored by Morten and performed “Velvet” in one particular a-ha themed episode. In 2009 she was a guest-vocalist on the Donkeyboy album Caught in a Life, which included the hit singles “Ambitions” and “Sometimes”. Together with Donkeyboy she toured the UK and Norway with a-ha on the Foot of the Mountain tour.
Her first solo album Lemoyne Street was released in 2012, which included the single “Children of the Sun”. This was followed by “A Room in a City” in March 2013; the first single from the upcoming second album – which was going to be released last fall, but is now coming out in 2014.
“I’m aiming for a more electronic sound. At least elements of it, unlike Lemoyne Street which was a more acoustic, live-based album”, Linnea told 730.no last year.
Linnea has been in New York several times over the last couple of years, and is listed in the credits of Paul’s studio engineer Eliot Leigh.
“There’s a female singer that has recorded a lot of Paul’s songs, that may be released”, a-ha manager Harald Wiik told fans in September 2012, possibly referring to Linnea.
Before the album is released she’ll be taking part in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest finals in Oslo in March with the song “High Hopes”, which is why she’s in the news today.
Update (Jan. 29th): a-ha.com posted an update on this, with some info from Paul:
“Linnea and I wrote and recorded some songs together this last fall. A truly enjoyable and new experience for me. I’m really glad to hear that the album is coming out now. When it does; do check out a song called “With eyes closed”… I like it a lot!”
