How was the music metropolis of London for a young musician back in those days, in late 1981?
– It was an extreme culture shock, because we came from a country which only had one radio station at the time, where pop music was only played now and then. So instead we tried to tune in to foreign radio stations and buy records, or just hang out at the record store listening. And then we arrive in London and get bombarded with new music, new bands – pop and rock – every week. So that was very formative for us as a band, that first year we spent together in London. It changed us as musicians and as a band, and was very formative for a-ha. – In what way did it change you? – We discovered and opened up to more commercial music than what we had listened to before. We were rather stuck in the sixties, in a way. We had noticed punk music and thought it was cool, but we tried our best to hold onto the sixties-sound in the music we did ourselves. New music did find its way over to Norway, although usually a bit later, but when we went over there and realized how many people that were actual
