Interview with Ian Haugland in english

Hello Ian and thank you for saying yes to this interview for europetheband.fr.

I hope that you and your family are all good and that you were not affected by the COVID 19 too much.

So then, I am going to begin by the question all the fans ask:

When is the new album coming out? Have you started to write it and are there any plans to record it?

It’s hard to be specific in that question but we’ll be working on new songs this winter and then go into the studio as soon as we the material is ready, hopefully it will be out by the end of next year.

Walk The Earth talks about politics, democracy and peoples freedom. What theme(s) are you going to talk about in the next album? Are you going to talk about what’s going on in the world or are you going to talk about something totally different?

I’m sure there will Lyrics reflecting on our situations today, but we don’t have any predecided plan as to what topics the songs will be about yet.

How do you consider the future of the band? Do you want to stay completely what you are today or would you like the band to evolve by trying new things?

I think Europe has always been on a musical journey where we try to develop as musicans and song writers by always staying inspired by new possibilities and impressions.

It has been 15 years since Europe reunited. What’s your assessment about that?

15 years of joy and happiness! We’re still living the rock ‘n’ roll dream, doing what we always wanted to do, make the music that we love, and we’re even blessed with the support of 1000’s of fans. Life can’t get much better than that!

Concerning the concerts, they all have been canceled. Are you going to announce new dates or is it too soon?

None more than me would have loved to be able to announce new concerts, but i’m afraid it’s still too early for that!

I really liked the 2009 semi-acoustic « Live Almost Unplugged in Nalen » concert. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to do a streaming concert again with just a small audience in the hall while waiting to resume concerts in the face of covid?(the question was asked before the announcement of « friday nights with europe the band »).

That’s a great idea, i’ll pass it on to the other boys in the band, who knows what might come out of if!

Vinyl has been coming back into fashion this recent years. The last album has also been released on vinyl and some albums are rereleased, including The Final Countdown on October 9th with a purple vinyl. Will the band continue to do that? By the way, do you listen to songs on vinyl?

I’m an old fashioned vinyl lover, so I support everything with that. I’m really happy that the record companies put out music on vinyl again, and people buy them instead of those senseless cd’s. Everything’s gets better with vinyl, the sound, the artwork, the touch and the smell…

yes, I collect and listen to vinyl albums all the time!

Do you have solo projects in parallel with Europe? Collaboration with other artists or others?

I’ve been working on some solo stuff for some time now, it’s more of a tribute to some of the bands that influenced me to become what I am today. Not sure if or when it will be released thou.

Which artist would you like to collaborate with if you had the chance?

That’s a tough question! There are so many interesting people that I would have like to work with, like Muse, The Tea Party, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Phil Lynott just to mention a few.

By the way, what are you listening to these days?

I’m very much old fashioned when it comes to what music I’m listening too. I still listen to my Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Rush, Black Sabbath albums. Every time I put on any of those records, it’s like being reminded of who And what I am, and also, there are no better albums than that!

For a while now, the 80’s are all the rage, we can still feel it by the success of series that remind us of those years like Stranger Things or Cobra Kai (the sequel of Karate Kid) on Netflix. How do you analyze that? In your opinion, what make this decade special for people, especially musically speaking?

I think a big reason for the 80’s to be so big is that it represents a time when we thought the world was less troublesome than today. People where more open and happier and liked to party 24-7 every day of the week, at least that’s how we choose it to remember it, that also goes for most music of the 80’s…

« Nostalgia » in other words!

Do you have anything you would like to say to your French fans?

It’s the final countdown, just open your heart and keep the faith, cause in the future to come we’ll rock the night, and remember, it’s just the beginning!
Stay safe 😉

Thank you Ian for answering my questions. I wish the band the best.

Thanks to Michele Coombe and Siren Artist Management Inc. for allowing me to get this interview.

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