a-ha, Norway's best-selling music group, hit it big with two international number one singles "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." With both Windy City Times and a-ha turning 25 this year, it was finally time to talk to the guitarist of the group, Paul.
Windy City Times: Hi Paul. I found you in Brooklyn doing a sound check. How is it going?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: Hi, it is going good so far. We did a month tour down in South America only a couple of weeks ago so we are used to touring.
WCT: Where did the name a-ha come from? You came up with the name after writing a song?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: It was first the name of a song that I was toying around with. The song didn't really go anywhere. We were looking for something that was not too English. We wanted something that made sense in Norwegian and other languages. We ended up with a-ha.
WCT: "Take on Me" was originally called "The Juicy Fruit" song?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: Yeah, that song has had a long history. We were sixteen or seventeen years old when we made the first version of it. We added a few parts here and there. The chorus came in 1984. It was a way to showcase Morten Harket's falsetto. It kind of worked out.
WCT: I would say it did! Who came up with the concept for the "Take on Me" video?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: It was a combination of people. There was an art film that the art department at Warner Brothers showed us. We were all drawers anyway so we loved the idea of having that. I loved classic videos like Billie Jean. So being able to combine those two was a dream. It took over four months to make. All those drawings are hand drawn, there were no machines involved. It seemed to really gel. Everything came to work together. It was a very strong feel.
WCT: Do you write the majority of the music, Paul?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: Every song is different. I have certainly written a lot of stuff, with varying degrees from one album to the next.
WCT: Memorial Beach was so underrated. I think it was a different sound for the band.
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: Thank you. That was one when we had been going for two years straight. We ended up in a strange place in a way. Before we left for England we were inspired by bands that were different than where we ended up as a top-forty group. With Memorial Beach, we were going back to our history. It was very much inspired by our years of touring. We recorded it live.
WCT: The new album, Foot of the Mountain, has a retro feel to it. Did you have that in mind when it was written?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: For me not really in the song writing, but it was a strong wish in the band to go back and toy with the sound that we had back then. It was going back to our earlier electronic roots.
WCT: Will it be released in the United States?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: You never know. You have to look in the imports section for it now. We are re-releasing our first two albums. We are digging up old demos and compiling them. There are a lot of things that have never been released that we never got around to that we recorded. For my money, I like those better than the official version. There is a more quirky independent side to it. I am looking forward to people hearing that.
WCT: I heard you have a live DVD coming out as well.
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: Thank you for telling me. I am always the last to know. [ Both laugh. ]
WCT: That is what I heard.
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: I am sure you are right.
WCT: The tour is called Ending on a High Note. Why did you decide to end now?
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: People are finally appreciating us and now it is time to quit. Twenty-five years is long time for any band to hold it together for that many years. There is a little wear ad tear involved. There are so many other things that we would like to try and don't have the time to do. At this point, we are all excited to see what else we can get into trouble doing!
a-ha's latest CD, Foot of the Mountain ( an import ) , is available on Amazon.com .