Welcome -
Benny and Ludvig Andersson. Hi. Hi. -Welcome.
-Thank you. You'll be performing here
with your band Atlas later on. While you were rehearsing,
everybody here said- -that you're even more at ease on stage
than your father, actually. Really? I feel pretty good on stage. -But so do you, don't you?
-Sure. I do, when I get to play together
with other people. Nothing beats that. Were your ambitions for Ludvig
that he should become a star like you? No. I wanted him to be
whatever the hell pleased him. I've thought about this. When I was active I didn't teach him how
to play the piano. I didn't want him to feel: "Maybe dad
thinks that I should..." So, I didn't. Which I regret a bit now,
since he's doing music anyways. -It clearly didn't help anyways.
-No. As far as I know, you work together- -both in the studio and at the office. Yes, we share the same office. Right. Three or four years ago, we were driving
around in the countryside. And then you asked,
in your very characteristic manner: "This thing, you know...
One doesn't live forever and all that." "Why don't you pop by at work to see
what we're up to." "Sure", I said.
But then we talked it over some more. We decided that someone should
get to know the business- -for the sake
of some future management of... There's a lot that has to be seen to.
A lot of management. All the old ABBA-stuff, "Chess",
"Duvemåla", "Mama Mia". A lot of things. All of it. Settlements, contracts,
400 mails per week, and so forth. -And you're the boss of it all?
-Well, it's my company. I'm not there hands-on.
I have people working for me. But someone should look into
what I'm doing in all this, once I quit. That's why I asked Ludvig.
I think it was a pretty good idea. But... If there's something
you're famous for, its saying "No". -I'm great at doing that.
-Why not just have an answerphone: "Hi. This is Benny Andersson.
The answer is "No"." That would be really cheap. I am that answerphone.
That's why this job is so easy at times. The only thing you
need to know - just say no. But I've been doing this for a while.
I'm 64. The eagerness is not as strong
as it used to be. It's just as fun, but you're not as... It's nice having a young - when I say:
"There's no point in building a studio." He says: "Sure, there is."
And then we build one. We've built a fantastic studio
on Skeppsholmen. It's a great project. When you get those ABBA-requests- -do you need to ask the other members,
or is it just you who... If one of us says "no", it's no. "May we
use "Dancing Queen" in our movie?" And we say: "No."
We get a lot of requests of that nature. But sometimes there are interesting
things. A game, whatever it's called. What's the name of that recent one?
"Sing Star" or something. A karaoke game with our old video clips.
Those things can be fun to do. So, we said "yes". If one of us says
"yes", all the others have to be asked. Is that what happened some years ago
when Madonna used "Gimme Gimme"? -Do you know which one I mean?
-Sure. That's right. We normally always say
"no" when it comes to sampling stuff. But she wrote such a nice letter
and sent her personal assistant. I said: "We'll have to listen to it
first." It was great and we said "yes". In that case I only need to speak with
Björn, because it's a copyright issue. But do you get a lot of requests
from sheikhs from Bahrain- -who try to get you to reunite? There haven't been that many sheikhs
from Bahrain. You only meet those
when you're buying race-horses. -Horses are your big hobby.
-It's more than a hobby. A bit more than a hobby.
How many horses do you have? I often get that question.
About sixteen horses. -Sixteen horses?
-Foals, brood-mares... ...and horses in training,
in Sweden and in England. I've been doing this for 28 years now. -How did it all start?
-A family situation. Too long a story. But this family situation
made me do this- -to maintain good communications
with my stepson's father. He's married to a race-horse coach. I figured it'd be a good... You've spent quite a lot of money in
order to maintain this communication. -Indeed.
-Over time. It's an incredibly efficient way
of spending money. I actually know that, because you said
- when we met earlier... You gave us a tip, that we should
bet money on Jive. Last weekend. -Yes. It didn't go too well.
-No, it did not. I bet everything I had. Do you get the feeling he's sick of ABBA
and would rather work with horses? Maybe not with horses, but that
ABBA-thing is a thing of the past. That's the feeling I get. But the horses aren't that important.
I haven't replaced one with the other. Ludvig's right. There isn't much life
in ABBA - since 30 years now. Is he a kind dad? You do look very kind. -Do I look kind?
-Yes. I grew up with ABBA. And I always thought you looked
like the kindest one of the lot. -He's definitely the kindest one.
-Are you an ambitious person? Yes, I believe I am. It's just a bit
difficult to know what to aim at. I'm doing great. I have my orchestra -
the Benny Andersson Orchestra. It began as a hobby project I'd work on
when I wasn't doing bigger things. I wrote one or two songs
and we made a record. But now it has become
my main occupation. I feel very good about this.
It's nice not having to keep pushing. It's an age-thing, that's for sure. But that's when I come in
and I say: "Should you really focus so much
on that orchestra?" "Don't you want to do something else
that's equally fun?" "Make another movie", he says. When we read about you,
a picture of you as an idealist emerges. For instance, you pay your taxes
with joy. You've donated a large sum
to Feminist Initiative. And when you do that, is it because
you're a political person? Isn't everybody? I am interested
in how things work, naturally. I know what I think and so forth,
but I'm not a political person as such. I'm not particularly aggressive, but
I am interested in society. Definitely. -Are you a feminist?
-Yes. Do you feel like you missed out
on the 70's? That you would've been perfect
in a protest band in the 70's? -ABBA wasn't a protest band.
-No, it wasn't. And we did have a certain tunnel vision. We'd be in the studio and only focus
on what we were doing. We wrote as many songs as possible that
were good enough to record. And that's where we were
and remained. I regret that a bit. So much happened
in 1968, 1970, 1972, those years- -that really would've suited me, but it
wasn't the right moment for that. I'm making up for it now. You never chose a....
You never chose a different lifestyle. You could have moved to a tax haven,
lived in London... And lived a different life after ABBA,
more jet-set like. -You never chose that life.
-No. -Why not?
-If I imagined living abroad... The only place I could imagine myself
moving to is Norway. Seriously. We're neighbours, we have...
We may not share the same culture... Moving to a place where nobody knows
where you come from, who Tumba is- -or Lennart Hyland... Right?
It's hard. You can get acquainted
with their lifestyle- -but an Englishman couldn't be bothered
with our forests. Or, for that matter... If... Let's say I start talking about
Thoralf Engan. They'd just go: "Huh?" Maybe it wasn't such a good example. -Oddvar Brå.
-Oddvar Brå. Yeah, now we're talking. So, whenever you mention this,
you know that you'll have... There are 250 people here
who know what I'm talking about. You can't do without that.
That's why the question never arose. -You're born after ABBA.
-Yes. It was my fault. What does ABBA mean to you? ABBA is something very nice, of course. I personally find the fact
that they never reunite to be quite sad- -even if I understand why,
but it would've been fun. It's there somewhere, but it's difficult
to say. I have nothing to compare with. You've been asked this 1 000 times
and it's clear that you don't want to. -But have you ever talked about it?
-Sorry? -Have you ever talked about a reunion?
-No. -Did you ever sit down all of you to...
-No. We got an offer about ten years ago,
which I didn't believe in. We were offered a huge amount of money
for 100 concerts over a year- -sponsored by whatever. It was such
a sum that we called each other: "So?" And we all answered: "No way." -So, it's rather easy.
-Would one of you like to? -No, nobody wants to.
-You're all agreed. -For now.
-It's never going to happen, then. -"For now"... Great. We'll see.
-We'll see. -Are you pushing him a bit?
-I am, yes. Welcome, Björn Ulvaeus.
