a-ha in the media – July 2009

July was a very active promotion month for a-ha, including dozens of interviews and television appearances. Here you will find an overview of the media about a-ha in July.

UK Interviews/Press

July 18, The Scotsman: “A-ha are finally happy with their sound, and with their new position in the pantheon of electro-pop alongside the likes of New Order and Depeche Mode.”

July 18, Times Online: “The trio’s return to the bosom of the UK, where all once made their home, takes another step with the release of ‘Foot of the Mountain’, which revisits the soaring, melancholic synth-pop melodies with which they made their name.”

July 27, Do You Remember: “And the legendary synth hooks, well they keep the classic A-ha energy through-out the new 10-track album. Both Mags and Morten agree that with creativity ‘There’s no time limit to any of this at all.’”

July 27, BBC News:

Q: “What does the future hold for A-ha? Is there a five-year plan and how about the 25th anniversary of your first album?”

Mags: “That’s too far ahead. We’re going on a two-year plan and then we’ll see [...] For the anniversary, we want to do something creative and revisit material in a different way and make something special for the fans.”

July 28, Sky News: Watch Video 1 | Watch Video 2 | Article

July 29, Remember the 80s: “Some of the thrill for me, on a songwriting level, was to revisit that old way of doing things because we have been writing very separately over the last ten years. A song like ‘Bandstand’ for instance is a classic example for me of going into the room and remembering how it was all those years ago and getting reignited by the possibilities that were there.” Magne

“We’ve also been looking at how we have been doing things lately – in the past five, six, seven years – and there are things that we are about to change about ourselves which I think is rejuvinating you know? We’re in a mode of change at the moment which I think is all for the good…” Morten

July 31, Yorkshire Post: “This album has given us the opportunity to go back into our own history and dig out some of the elements that we left out for a long time in our pursuit of creative freedom,” Furuholmen says.

“We’ve come far enough down the line to look back and say: ‘Was there something we left along the way which could be of use to us now?’ It was a real thrill to re-examine our formative efforts and use them in ways which rejuvenate them.” Magne

iTunes Reviews

July 26, Visit London: “The whole band looked like they were having a great time, no doubt sensing the rampant enthusiasm of the audience.”

July 27, Times Online, 3 stars: “It is extraordinary how history can sometimes confer gravity on acts that were once regarded as the essence of pop ephemera. A quarter of a century since their first single, Take on Me, a-ha are more respected than ever. Their influence on acts such as the Killers and Coldplay is plain to see. And with their ninth album, Foot of the Mountain, released today, it was a coup for the iTunes Festival to secure the Norwegian trio ahead of their arena dates this autumn.”

July 27, The London Paper, 4/5: “Buoyed along by the intimacy of the venue and enthusiasm of the crowd, the boys seemed more relaxed live than they have been for years. I reckon aha can Take On anyone, even now.”

July 27, Daily Star, “A-ha have smoothly eased into the 21st century, like none of their decade’s rivals.”

July 31, musicOMH, “A-Ha played their hits in a straightfoward, jugular manner, save for a ballad-laden interlude which included Hunting High And Low, the point at which it was clear the voice was still able to hunt high and low across the octaves.”

UK and Irish Radio and Television

July 5, Lincs FM: “The lead singer with A-Ha spoke about his love of….Stoke City FC! Morten Harket and the guys have a new album out his week called “Foot Of The Mountain” and told us that when he was growing up Stoke were big in Norway!”

“We shaped our sound and became a band in London.” Morten

“I think one aspect of this album that is somehow a development from the last couple of albums is that we brought the old synths out, literally, and also worked initially quite closely, more in the vein of how we used to do things in the past. Meaning that there would be no other people in the room. If you bring a bass player and a drummer in and you record the song live, you kind of get a sound immediately. But when you’re sitting with just an acoustic guitar and a synthisizer and you’re kind of throwing ideas around, it can change quite drastically. You can try one thing and then move in a different direction. And that’s how we approached it, and it worked.” Magne

July 6, BFBS Radio 1:

Sim: “You seriously have a massive fan base, don’t you? They’ve stuck with you through thick and thin.”

Magne: “They have been commendably loyal, I think we have to organize a kind of medal of honor for our fan base.”

Sim: “How do you keep motivated to get together, get in the studio, write new material, because it must be difficult to find new directions, new inspiration, what keeps you going?”

Magne: “Not really, I think it is the work that inspires you…The work gives you inspiration as you mold it and work with it, and if you’ve written one song and you work with it, immediately new things add themselves to it.”

Paul: “It’s more the other way really, we don’t really get around to recording everything that we come up with.”

Sim: “So there’s loads of a-ha stuff that’s never been laid down?”

Morten: “Yes..”

Paul: “We’re saving it for the box set.”

July 7, Wave 105: “There is something magical in the meeting between the written material and what happens to it when it’s subjected to Morten [...] It’s vital for the songs to work for Morten to work as an a-ha track.” (Listen here)

July 15, BBC One, National Lottery Midweek, Watch on YouTube

July 16, Real Radio, Listen here

July 17, GMTV:

Fan questions and live webchat – Watch here:

“Everything changes when you have success on that level. It’s really everyone else that changes, they don’t really know how to deal with it and the people next to you are basically stepped on by everyone else quite easily. It’s not so easy to deal with, it takes a while to find ways of handling those things.” Morten

Interview with Morten and Magne – Watch here:

“Every song we do is special to us, which is why we do them.” Morten

July 18, BBC 94.9 FM: Morten and Magne talked about the evolution of ‘Take on Me’ from the first riff to the final single version. The guys also talked about their beginnings and the path to their sound. In addition, they discussed receiving the Q Inspiration award and what it means to them.

July 19, Magic 105.4 Indulgence, Listen here: The guys talked about their beginnings, the huge response from South America in the 90s, and British roots of their sound. They also talked about the different producers they worked with on the album.

“The way we look at it is we play whether the venue is big or small, we have played all sizes and all sorts. Our job is to keep doing something we believe in and do it to the best of our abilities. When it all clicks and you get lucky and you get a break and people like what you’re doing, and you hit a high, of course it’s a big rush. More so now than in the early days. I think the initial success was so overwhelming, there was just no time to react to it. Now when good things happen, you tend to kind of realize what they mean to a greater degree.”

July 19, BBC5 Live with Gethin Jones

July 20, TV3 Xpose – Watch on YouTube

July 21, Associated Press – Watch here

July 21, Daily Mirror – Watch here

July 21, LBC with James O’Brien, (Photo)

July 22, Radio 2 Dale Winton

July 23, Telegraph – Watch here: “Morten Harket and Magne Fruruhomen from 80s pop group a-ha talk to Mark Monahan about their all new studio album, and getting together all those years ago.”

July 23, BBC Radio 6 with George Lamb (Photos)

July 24, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Watch on YouTube

July 25, Dermot O’Leary

July 25, BBC Shropshire – Listen here

July 27, BBC Breakfast – Listen here

July 28, FIVE News – Watch on YouTube