SAGA
Represented by: Jim Chricton
Interviewer: Andre Aaslie, Scream 1999
Jim: Good afternoon, may I introduce myself?
Jim Chricton is sitting on the other side of the table in a little room backstage at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo. He recognises the opening words, and with a smile on his face he shakes my hand, and I simply introduce myself... I made an interview with Michael Sadler this summer when SAGA was visiting Oslo as a little rehearsing trip before the "Full Circle" tour. We agreed on making another interview when they returned to Norway, therefore I was a bit disappointed when he was a bit naughty against me when I met him backstage this night. I spoke to a friendlier Michael instead, namely manager Ellis, and he asked me if I could wait a moment until after the soundcheck. He promised me an interview with Jim Chricton and a little disappointed about Michael Sadlers behaviour me and my colleague in Scream Magazine, Bjørn Nørsterud, left the room. After a couple of minutes out in the concert hall I felt a hand on my shoulder. It is Michael Sadler who wants to apologise for his behaviour and he tells me that this is a very sad day for him. His father in law was buried this day and he is not in a very good mood for an interview. Of course I understand that, and I tell him that I really appreciate that he tells me this.
After the soundcheck Michael Ellis waves at me and I'm entering the room mentioned above together with Jim Chricton. After my little introducing sentence I ask him about how he experienced the last gig here in Oslo. Personally I was very surprised by the audience this night. They were very dedicated and enthusiastic and sung along with the opener "You're Not Alone" after just twenty seconds or so...
Jim: As you probably know, the last gig here in Oslo was just a rehearsal gig, and it was a great warm up show in front of our tour. The audience was really great! We've been joking with Michael that we will only give him half salary now, because he's almost not singing anymore, ha, ha. The audience all over Europe even sung along with the new songs and that's kind of weird.
What's even weirder is the fact that the Norwegian crowd sung along with both "Remember When" and "The One" in July, and the album wasn't even released yet!
Jim: Yeah, I remember we talked a bit about that. It was awesome, says Jim and tells me some secrets about tonight's setlist.
Back in July I was told that you would come to Norway if you were satisfied with this rehearsal gig. Is it true that this is the reason why you returned to Norway?
Jim: Maybe, but the main reason is that we really wanted to visit some more countries on this tour.
I tell Mr. Chricton that it's quite strange to visit a country twice within just three months when it's nine years since the last visit. Jim laughs and say that they did the same thing in Canada a while ago. SAGA had not played in their homecountry for ten years, actually! I ask Jim what expectations he have for tonight's gig...
Jim: Well, we are really satisfied with the fact that we can play six of the new songs, and people seems to like it, so I hope to get a good response on our new material here as well.
Jim tells me that the show is about two hours long and that they will play songs from their entire career. He also says that the number of songs depends on how much Michael talks between the songs...
As mentioned above Michael was a bit depressed in front of this gig. I ask Jim how this will affect this evening's performance...
Jim: Last night was OK, so I don't think it will affect him negatively. He will probably indirectly dedicate a couple of the songs to his father in law, though.
So, are you a hundred percent satisfied with the "Full Circle" tour so far?
Jim: We're really satisfied. It was a lot of important shows in major cities that was sold out. We haven't had so many sold out shows for quite a few years so... We have had some great experiences so far. It's just great!
And Germany is still the best country to play in?
Jim: Well, this is were we have the biggest audience and we have played a lot there. But that's kind of the reason why we wanted to visit more countries this time as well. But the audience in Germany is great, I mean, a couple of places the audience was so loud that they asked us to play louder, ha, ha.
How is the reaction and feedback from the press concerning your liveshows so far?
Well, a lot of them are so good that people probably thinks that we pays the journalists to write all those nice things, he, he.
Are you satisfied with all the different reviews of "Full Circle"?
Jim: I haven't read very many, but the few I have seen have been very good, says Jim and I inform him about the new magazine called Classic Rock and the fact that SAGA received a very good review in that magazine. And when I tell him that I gave "Full Circle" 6 out of 6 points in Scream Magazine he seems quite overwhelmed. In spite of my inhability concerning SAGA, as a huge fan, Jim says that they have received a lot of negative response from huge fans over the years, so he sees it as a very good compliment anyway.
It's been some time since SAGA recorded "Full Circle". I ask Jim if he is still very satisfied with the album...
Jim: Yeah, I'm still very satisfied with it. I think we'll start making the next album as soon as we're finished with this tour. We have three months off after this tour so we'll get serious with the writing in December, the guys will come to California in January and we'll probably start some recordings in February. In March we're going to do some touring again, in Canada and probably Puerto Rico, and then we'll finish the new album before the summer! (!!!!!!)
Well, that's great news! Do you have any new material finished yet?
Jim: Yes, we have some ideas and a couple of new chapters... (!!!!!!!!!!!)
Well, the SAGA fever will continue...
Some years ago I sat together with my cousin and watched a Tom & Jerry video. It was an episode called "Amnesia" and I recognised the conversation between Tom and his "mother". It's actually the opening act on the SAGA song "Amnesia" from "Worlds Apart"!
Jim: Ha, ha, ha, well you're right, it is taken from Tom & Jerry! You see at that time we were living all together in a big house in England and this Tom & Jerry movie was on our TV while we were sitting eating dinner. I ran in front of the TV and started our tape recorder. I really tried to tell the others to not eat but some of them kept eating so the fork and knife sounds you can hear on the album is actually SAGA eating dinner, ha, ha, ha.
Well, I guess you have never heard that one before... Remember where you read it first, he, he... OK, if you are a SAGA fan you'll now probably understand the "concept" of this interview. As you now SAGA has been around for 22 years so a natural ending question for Jim must be;
There's one thing I must know, tell me why you can't let go?
Jim: Ha, ha, ha, strange question actually but I get the point. Well, this is our life. We don't know anything else so we'll not let go until we're physically unable to write and perform music.
Well, enough good news for now. But the saga goes on...
Quelle: http://www.scream.no/magazine/scr50/interviews50.html#saga
