A new interview with a-ha backing musician Erik Ljungren from a-ha's official website (a-ha.com):
We recently caught up with Erik Ljunggren, who kindly answered some questions about his studio and live work with a-ha.
Can you tell about some of the other bands have you been in/played with?
I do mostly studio work, but I have performed live with these bands: Yeahlove Swans, Vampire State Building, Seigmen, Zeromancer. Mostly as a keyboard player. I've also done quite a lot of performances as a live-musician for contemporary dance ensembles.
This March you and Karl Wennerberg performed with a-ha for the first time in South America. What was that experience like?
It was great. First we had a couple of days of pre-production in Sao Paulo to rehearse and get into the routines with the crew to make the performances as smooth as possible. I think the concerts went very well and the audiences were amazing. I have never experienced anything like it in my career at least. We did quite a long concert and rehearsed even more songs.
Also I must give credit to the three members of a-ha. We did a lot of rearranging from the previous live-versions and they were very positive about trying something new.
I'm also glad that we did these gigs before touring with the new album. It all went well, but now we have done that and can work on how to get the concerts to the next level.
Did you interact much with a-ha fans while in South America?
No I didn't. But nobody tried to talk to me either :-)
How would you describe the new live arrangements for those who haven't seen and heard it yet?
The idea has been to make them more in the spirit of the original studio versions. We will try to rehearse quite a lot this summer and develop this.
Have you also contributed to the new a-ha album, 'Foot of the Mountain'?
Yes, I was working on the album on and off for about a year.
One of your remixes of 'Foot of the Mountain' will be available on the iTunes exclusive UK single download on July 20. Can we look forward to more of your remixes in the future?
There are no plans, but if they want me to and I have the time that could very well happen.
Is there some freedom in the way you perform on stage with a-ha, or is it "locked" as soon as you have decided an arrangement of the song?
I decide on the parts during rehearsals and at least try to perform them that way on stage. But when it comes to the musical form we will have sections that can vary from one evening to another.
The band has been doing a lot of promotional appearances and performances in Europe, and many more are coming up in the UK. How has this experience been for you?
In June we did a TV show in Oslo playing four songs live in front of a huge outdoor crowd. That made me a bit nervous to be honest. But it turned out really well I think.
These events are of course very important. And we need to take them as seriously as a normal concert even though they are a lot shorter. The band only has those 5-20 minutes to make as good an impression as a full length concert. I think most of them turned out very well. We did a short gig at a radio award show in London. The stage was small so the band had to stay really close together. The audience was really up in your face. But it created quite a special atmosphere. And it turned out to be a really fun gig.
What upcoming events are you looking forward to the most?
I think I'm looking forward to preparing for and starting the tour in the fall the most.
Which of the new songs are you most excited about practicing and performing?
'The Bandstand' was really cool to rehearse and sounded very good after a couple of times playing it. 'Start the Simulator' could be very interesting if we are playing that one...I dont know yet.
Which songs have been most challenging for you to rearrange for the new live sound?
I think 'The Sun Always Shines on TV' was a very important song for me to make work with the new live sound, to recreate that energy from the original recording. So we spent quite a lot of time on that one. It's such an amazing song I think. It has a complex, brave arrangement but still on the studio version they managed made it sound natural and simple. One of their finest and most impressive moments I think.
'The Living Daylights' was quite difficult. And we have changed and improved that version now during rehearsals.
For more interesting discussion with Erik Ljunggren, read this interview published on fan site a-ha-net.de.
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