Presse
Hunting "Highbrow" and Low
(The swing of things: u.s. a-ha fanzine)
In 2002 fact became fiction, as a-ha songwriter Paul Waaktaar-Savoy found himself a character within the pages of Norwegian writer Pål H. Christiansen's novel "Drømmer Om Storhet" ("Dreams Of Greatness"). A story about character Hobo Highbrow seeking inspiration to continue his own creative journey, Waaktaar-Savoy and the other members of a-ha serve as proof to the quirky character that all things are possible, and Hobo comes face to face with a-ha's main lyricist on the streets of Oslo! Following the book's successful release, "The Swing of Things" chatted with Christiansen about his own dreams, and curing the writer's block with a-ha...
Exclusive Interview with Pål H. Christiansen, author of "Drømmer Om Storhet"
By Jeremy Clowe
"a-ha has always given me the inspiration to "go my own way". To listen to a-ha's music can be inspiring in itself: it lifts me up! If I think more carefully about this, there might even be a kind of relationship between my writing and a-ha's music: a-ha creates pop music with serious undertones." (Pål H. Christiansen)
Jeremy C: Hi Pål, congratulations on your book! Could you tell us how you got started as a writer?
Pål C: I wanted to write already by the age of 10, but didn't really start before I was in my twenties. I quit my law-studies, went for a half-year at the writers course at Bø in Telemark together with people like Geir Gulliksen, Merete Morken Andersen and Rønnaug Kleiva, all well-known Norwegian writers working today. I got my first book published in 1989 at Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, the largest and most important Norwegian publishing company. Today my publisher is Tiden Norsk Forlag, a smaller publishing company owned by Gyldendal.
JC: Who were some of your earliest influences?
PC: My father must have been very important in my early years; he gave me books to read all the time, and we shared the same sense of humor. He was a lawyer. like my grandfather and great-grandfather, but art was his deepest and most true interest- well, apart from cross-country skiing in the woods of Oslo (All written about in Pål's novel Kongens Løv - The Kings Foliage). Speaking about other writers, my early influences must have been mostly American, like Hemingway, Steinbeck, and later Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, just to name a few.
JC: Do you think there is a particular theme or mood that is constant through Norwegian art?
PC: This is something we hear quite often, that there is something melancholic in Norwegian art and so on. It is difficult to see things like this when you are a native, but it seems true. We are just 4 million people living up here. The winter is cold, dark and lasts forever. Norwegians live close to nature, and talk about nature all the time even while living in the cities. The other day someone wrote something about Oslo having more trees than any other city in the world.
JC: How would you describe your writing style?
PC: I have a simple way of writing that some people mistake for a superficial writing style. But there are layers (in my writing) that a superficial reader doesn't get. A reviewer compared my previous book, Humle & Honning (Bumblebee and Honey), with a pop single. I really liked that! I am not interested in presenting deep human portraits, but think of the characters as players in a game. Humor is important in my writing.
JC: What inspired you to write a novel where fictional characters interact with the real life character of Paul Waaktaar?
PC: I was writing this new novel about my character Hobo Highbrow (who appeared for the first time in Harry var ikke ved sine fulle fem), and at the same time I had some vague ideas about writing something about a-ha, an essay or something. Suddenly I realized that making Hobo a fan of a-ha and Paul was perfect for my story. Paul was the obvious choice of the three guys of several reasons; he is the "writer" in a-ha, he has written quite a lot about love, he has his well-known life with Lauren, he has recently become a father, and then he is the one I myself find the most interesting.
JC: Were you a fan of Paul Waaktaar or a-ha?
PC: If by "fan" you mean an admirerer of the music and achievements of a-ha and Paul Waaktaar Savoy, the answer is yes. If you also mean a person spending lots of time and money on a-ha, the answer is no. I have never been to a concert with Morten, Magne and Paul, or Savoy actually. And my collection of a-ha records is not complete.
JC: Are you looking forward to finally seeing a-ha live in concert one day?
PC: Probably not. I have this thing about not attending concerts with people I admire. In my teens I was a great fan of James Taylor. He never came to Norway, but when he did at last, I stayed home because I was afraid of getting disappointed.
JC: What has the widespread success of A-ha meant for Norwegian artists and Norway in general?
PC: My opionion is that they have had enormous inpact. The only proper way to become a star INSIDE of Norway has always been traveling the hard way, on the road from fjord to fjord playing concerts for the locals, and building up an audience that way. a-ha went to London and conquered most of the world without having played a single concert! They showed us that it is possible to achieve the impossible even for "peasants" from Norway. Remember, Norway had been ruled by the Labour Party most of the time since World War II. We had a safe but quite boring society that was beginning to open up with the conservative Prime Minister Kåre Willoch during the eigthies. Of course some people say that Morten, Magne and Paul just were lucky, and were at the right place at the right time. But even if they WERE lucky, they had and have something very special.
JC: What do you think makes a-ha successful?
PC: First of all they have their obvious talents, like Morten's beautiful voice, and Paul and Magne's songwriting abilities. Then they are also ambitious - they have goals far beyond getting their pictures in the local press, to put it that way, and they are willing to do what is needed to reach these goals. One thing i have always liked about a-ha, is this playfulness combined with hard work... the jokes... I'm tired of the myth about every famous rock and pop star being a heroin-addict or worse.
JC: On the flip side, why do you think their success has been somewhat limited geographically?
PC: Unlike a band like U2, a-ha were initially successful while being presented as a "boyband", even though lots of people saw their potential and talent beyond this. To conquer a country like the U.S. a second time as a "mature" band seems almost hopeless for a Norwegian group... I think, but let's hope!
JC: Do you have a favorite a-ha song?
PC: a-ha has made an unbelievable amount of wonderful music. I come back again and again to Take on me as a favorite song, because it contains so much: the power of the group's breakthrough in the '80s, the catchy intro that gets your legs moving, and if one has first been bewitched by the falsetto of Morten on Take On Me, one never forgets that song.
JC: As a writer, what a-ha lyric(s) do you feel stands out as being exceptionally good?
PC: Well, every fall I catch myself thinking about what's buried under the Sycamore Leaves.
JC: What other themes would you like to see A-ha "take on?"
PC: I would like to see the guys tackle a theme together, whatever theme it is, and not sit in different corners of the world making their own stuff for the next recording.
JC: What are you hoping to express in your work?
PC: A loving and acceptance of our life "here and now" in a material world , humor, a consciousness of language, and an existential feeling of something not understandable.
JC: What was Paul Waaktaar-Savoy's reaction to your book?
PC: First he was a little worried. When he got a late manuscript version from my publisher, Lauren had to read it, to see if there were any problems. Then the book came and Paul had to read it himself. He liked it. He thought it was well written and entertaining, but wondered how I knew all these things about him and Lauren and everything...
JC: How was it meeting him in person? Had you talked before you wrote the book?
PC: Before writing the book I had never talked to Paul. I had seen him twice I think - one time in 1992 on the street, and a second time in a shop somewhere in Oslo later in the nineties. The publisher arranged a meeting with the press, Paul and me. We talked mostly with the journalists, but also together between interviews and photo sessions. Later this year I saw him and Lauren when I was shopping in Oslo. We had a brief talk. Paul is a sympathetic man, but gives his work and close relations priority. I understand him, because I do the same myself.
JC: Similar to Waaktaar-Savoy, your wife is also a writer...
PC: My wife is more of a poet than I am. She has published a collection of short prose called Asymmetri, and poetry in literary magazines like Vinduet. She is now working with a new book.
JC: What new projects do you have in the pipeline? Any more a-ha based stories? A sequel? Perhaps about "the bread?" (last year Christiansen wrote a short story about his character Hobo picking up Morten Harket's girlfriend's spelt bread, which was being sold in a local grocery store, receiving notice in the Norwegian newspapers, and receiving high praise from Morten)
PC: I have just started a new novel very different from "Drømmer om storhet". But I have plans for another big novel about Hobo Highbrow in the future. I haven't decided yet if a-ha shall play any role in it. They might. The story about the bread was written for a newspaper covering the grocery trade, just for the money, and I might write some more about it. I'll let you know.
JC: How is the bread?
PC: Very good. We buy them at our local Baker Hansen every week. They are often sold out.
JC: Now that you are famous, will you bake your own bread?
PC: Well I'm not that famous. But maybe a Hobo-bread will give a kick to the career?