Posts Tagged ‘savoy’

Update on new Savoy album

New album from Frode, Lauren and Paul

New album from Frode, Lauren and Paul

Savoy-drummer Frode Unneland was interviewed by Åsane Tidende this week, in connection with his other band Evig Din For Alltid which will be releasing its second album Åtte Minutter Fra Solen on September 5th.

Back in April, Paul told a-ha.com that a new Savoy album – the first since 2007’s Savoy Songbook Vol. 1 – would be finalized with Frode this summer. The Åsane Tidende interview now states that Frode will be going to New York next month to work on the Savoy album with Paul and Lauren. But when it will be released remains to be seen.

As for Paul, he’s been working on something in his home studio in Oslo this summer, with Karl Oluf Wennerberg on the drums. Karl Oluf posted a picture from the sessions on Instagram last month.

Links:
Evig Din For Alltid on Soundcloud and Facebook

Paul on Facebook and Instagram

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.

An update on Paul

Picture by Jakob

During Saturday’s Q & A session, a fan wanted to know what Paul is up to these days.

Catherine from a-ha.com said:

“I actually have some information from Paul. He is really excited to be getting prepared to release some music very soon. He asked me to pass along his thanks to all of you for your interest in his projects. And I told him that we get a lot of questions on the website about what Paul is doing, and he was excited and glad to hear that. Very soon you’ll hear more, and he’s looking forward to connecting with you more online.”

Harald Wiik added:

“He is doing really well, and he’s written a lot of new music. I think he’s got probably a couple of albums worth of songs. Of which I’ve heard around 7 or 8, but they’re really, really good, so I hope you get to hear them soon.”

Another fan followed up on this, asking if this new material is in connection with Weathervane or Savoy.

“The plans are not that concrete, so I can’t really speak on behalf of Paul. But I don’t think it’s Weathervane. It may be Savoy. It may also be…there’s a female singer that has recorded a lot of Paul’s songs, that may be released. And maybe he’ll write a song for Morten, who knows…”, Wiik said.

Paul turns 50

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – the incredible songwriter and guitarist in a-ha, Savoy and now Weathervane, the live performer, vocalist, instrument collector, producer and visual artist – can celebrate his 50th birthday today, September 6th.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

(You can post your own birthday greetings to Paul on a-ha.com and on a-ha.com’s Facebook page)

More Weathervane promotion

On stage at the Amanda Awards

The Weathervane promotion in Norway continues. Today Paul and Jimmy appeared on P4’s morning radio show, where they performed another acoustic version of “Weathervane”.

A shortened MP3 podcast of the show can be downloaded here. The interview starts at 11:45 minutes.

 

In an interview with newspaper Bergensavisen Paul says that Frode Unneland, who played drums at the Amanda Awards on Saturday, could be joining Weathervane on a more permanent basis:

“Yes, that’s absolutely an option. He’s part of the family, after all. Frode is a fantastic guy, both as a musician and as a person.”

Frode himself wouldn’t mind doing more work with Weathervane:

“That would of course be interesting – it’s always fun to work with Paul”, he tells the newspaper.

He’s also looking forward to more Savoy:

“There will definitely be another Savoy-album, we just need to find time to do it”, Frode says.

Paul tells Bergensavisen that his unused a-ha songs could turn into Weathervane songs instead:

“I always have a bunch of material lying around and I may end up using the songs intended for a-ha in Weathervane. We have already tested out some stuff in the studio.”

He also hopes to do something with Weathervane in the US:

“That would have been really interesting. All of Jimmy’s contracts have been signed in the US and he has his whole network of contacts over there. For him it’s actually very exotic to be here in Norway.”

Jimmy Gnecco interview

Jimmy Gnecco - The Heart

The cover of Jimmy Gnecco’s first solo album
The Heart, released earlier this year.

The support act in Amsterdam was Paul’s good friend and collaborator from New York, Jimmy Gnecco, who will open for a-ha at another five concerts this week.

Gnecco, who did the lead vocals on “The Breakers” and backing vocals on “Shooting Spree” for Savoy’s self-titled album in 2004, revealed in a recent interview with uberrock.co.uk that Paul actually asked him to join the band at one point – an idea that was shot down by Savoy’s record company:

So how did you get to know Paul Savoy?

I met him in ’96. My friend was playing with Savoy and I met him then. And then I got my deal. It was weird because I’m a huge fan of a-ha and Savoy’s first record [‘Mary Is Coming’]. I mean I like a lot of his records but the first one I’m such a huge fan of. And then I started making records and he genuinely became a fan and he called me – he loved ‘Precious’ – he asked me if I wanted to sing on anything I said: “in a second!” then I went down and I sang on a bunch of songs and then he asked me to join the band and I said: “sure” – I’d be like an honorary member you know.

Then they went back and talked to their record company and the record company was like: “we like your voices that’s why we signed you” – they didn’t really want me to do it. They didn’t know me. I’m sure they liked it but…I’m hoping to do something with Paul in the future.

Interview with Frode

Lauren, Bjørn Ivar Tysse and Frode in Bergen, 2007. (Picture from Bergensavisen)

Lauren, Bjørn Ivar Tysse and Frode in Bergen, 2007.
(Picture from Bergensavisen)

Savoy drummer Frode Unneland was recently interviewed in Bergensavisen’s paper edition, in connection with the release of the West Side Tennis Club album.

The album is only available digitally at the moment, which he admits is a bit strange:

For me, who’s been in this game for so long, it’s strange to release the album exclusively online and not physically in a record store. But the world has changed and we have to use the methods that are available.

We had a lot of response from abroad to the songs that we had posted online. And then one of the songs was used in the TV-series “Himmelblå”, so we decided it was time to release the album. We got a deal with Geir Luedy and Your Favorite Music, who distributes albums via Sonet. And they release everything digitally first, apparently.

The links to Savoy and a-ha gives us a chance to promote West Side Tennis Club through their network as well. That has given the music a lot of attention.”

– Will there be a CD release as well?

“I don’t know. I hope we can release something in the fall, either on CD or vinyl. But that depends on the response we’ll get this summer.”

– The album has been ready for a while?

“I guess the oldest songs are from 2004. We are both very busy, so we’ve never found the right time [to release it]. But now I’m really happy that it’s out there.

Frode and Bjørn Ivar Tysse play and sing everything themselves on the album, with one exception;

Lauren Waaktaar-Savoy came over to Bergen and wrote a song for us that she and I sing as a duet.

– What will happen with Savoy, now that a-ha are retiring?

“We have plans to enter the studio and record a new album. We’re often talking with each other and writing new music, but at the moment a-ha are very busy, so that means Savoy is lying a bit dormant.”

West Side Tennis Club releases debut album

Album cover

Album cover

Savoy-drummer Frode Unneland’s side-project West Side Tennis Club (WSTC) have now released their first album.

Frode and producer Bjørn Ivar Tysse, who played together in Chocolate Overdose back in the day, have been working on WSTC on and off since the late 90s. And now, in late June, their self-titled debut album was finally released.

The album, which is available digitally from Amazon.com, Play.com and 7digital (among others), includes the song “In The Waters Glow”, which has been written by Lauren Savoy and also features her on vocals.

That song, as well as several others from the album, can be heard on WSTC’s Urørt page.

We’re hoping to do some live gigs with WSTC. Either alone or with a band“, Frode told me last year. In April 2010 they did a support gig at Kvarteret in Bergen, but further concerts have not yet been announced.

In 2007, Frode and Lauren worked on some new Savoy material in Bergen with Bjørn Ivar Tysse producing. An article about this can be found on savoy-news.com.

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