Un relato muy curioso...
In the middle of a sound-check with TOM & the Tomtoms at the club "Smuget" in Oslo (it must have been in December 1989), I got this weird phone-call from a guy calling himself Morten saying that we had played together just a little bit a couple of years before. He asked me if I had a lot to do these days and said something about him and some friends having a band-project going. I couldn`t really place the guy from my own memory, but there was something familiar with that voice...
Suddenly I noticed that I was talking to Norway`s biggest popstar, Morten Harket. I knew that "a-ha" had checked out a Norwegian drummer and bassplayer, and fortunately for me, Geir Holmsen (the bassplayer) turned down the offer to join "a-ha". I wouldn`t turn that thing down. This was going to be the new era in a-ha`s career to get back on their feet again after a break. Three albums had been made and now they wanted to establish themselves as a strong unit with a integrity and appeal to a wider range of people......
In January 1990, I went to London with drummer Per Hillestad. There we rehearsed a bit, preparing songs for the next album and made a couple of demos in the guys´ own 16 track studio in Shepherds Bush. In the springtime of 1990 they rented an appartment for us in Kensington, London and we worked on the "East Of The Sun West Of The Moon" album in Abbey Road Studios, Metropolis Studio and Air Studios with a view over Oxford Circus. Some tracks were cut pretty live and some came together in bits and pieces. It was very inspiring to work with people that knew what they were after. Some of their ideas were easy to get into and others I had some inner disagreements about, but I did my best. It was a great experience to live in the pop-capital and be able to work with good producers. There were two of them on this album, we got along best with Chris Neal. The other guy was Ian Stanley locked up in his machines. There was a lot of sparetime during the 3 months we lived in London. I was fooling around a bit in a-ha`s studio every now and then and did some recordings and checked out different new bass guitars. In May we went home and didn`t hear much from the guys until the album was about to be released in november 1990, and different TV-appearances throughout Europe started happening.
From January up to July 1991 we toured a lot in England, France, Germany, Brasil, Chile and Argentina. The south American tour is documented on a live-video shot and directed by Paal`s wife Lauren Savoy. This was a time in a-ha`s career where they wanted to reach another kind of audience than the screaming teenagers. The music had a rougher edge, but the commercial result was not as satisfying as the hopes and visions. Anyway the "East Of The Sun..." album sold about 1,5-2 millon copies worldwide and I wouldn`t really call that a failure.
In 1992 we spent time in Prince`s studio "Paisley Park" in Minneapolis, USA , with producer David Z and recorded the album "Memorial Beach" that was released may 1993. The time in Paisley Park is documented in an article in the Norwegian music magazine "Musikk-Praksis", written by myself. After the release of "Memorial Beach"we did a few "low-key" tours; clubs in Germany, England, Spain, Denmark and concerts in Norway. We also did concerts in Beirut, Lebanon and the last a-ha concert was in St. Petersburg in Russia in the summer of 1994. (The White Nights Festival).
I guess a-ha had reached a stage where the members were into doing different things.
My time with them was very exciting, it was like being a part of a circus. I felt that musically it was like doing a job, I executed my function the best I could and the way I felt was right, but I missed the musical freedom to do things the way I wanted. I guess it wasn`t too late for that. I had gotten a lot of experience being a fly on the wall in different situations; studio work especially.
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Morten, you're with me, with me, wherever I go <3
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