Chicago Sun-Times
By Miriam Di Nunzio

"Barbie Girl Brouhaha"

They touched off Barbie doll wars with their recent hit single "Barbie Girl". Mattel Inc..which owns the rights to the plastic bombshell, recently filed law suit against the Scandanavian singing group Aqua for possible trademark infrigements, adding that "the song is characterzation of young woman as sex objects.

While attorneys for MCA records and the toy manufacturer duel over the doll's virtue in the U.S District court in Los Angeles, the band is busy promoting it's debut album Aquarium.

How did Aqua get started?

Claus: Soren and I had been writing songs for about 8 years, and in 1994 we
got this chance to make a soundtrack for a Danish movie. On one of the tracks we needed a male rapper, and a studio sent over Rene. The 3 of us then decided to put together a band but none of us could sing. Rene knew Lene, who was doing a TV show in Norway at the time and we saw a video of her singing. We invited her to meet with us and she was perfect for the sound we wanted.

How did you decide on the type of music you wanted Aqua to do?

Lene: It's all about daring. You dare to be original and do what you want
musicaly. You don't have to follow the mainstream.

Claus: You experiment and try different things, to find each person's
abilities and eventually come up with your own individual sound.

How did you write "Barbie Girl"?

Soren: It was very fast. I don't rememebr if the medley came at the time I got the lyrics for the hook line, but it was all very quick. It was the last track on the album. There was an exhibition in Denmark with Barbie dolls and I was riding my bike home from the studio right past it, and some lyrics just came to me. The song is very much like the Aqua world. It's not the normal duets we do on our albums, it's more like role playing. Very much like "Oh My My" or "Lollipop".

What is the Aqua universe?

Rene: It's an album of 11 small stories. We like to play around with humor
and irony and role playing. For instance "My Oh My" is about a prince and
princess. We used the sounds of instruments from the 1700's. "Lollipop" is a
little love story explained through candy. It's all symbolic, but that's the
way we work. We create these small universes in our songs.

Do you like being labeled as a happy pop group?

Soren: I think the Aqua universe is all about doing happy songs. The album is a very happy album, very much a reflection of us. We were having a good time doing it. There aren't lyrics that will change the world, but they are all about having a good time.
 
What kinds of music does Aqua listen to?

Lene: We listen to totally different types of music. I think the main thing
is that we listen to the melodies. If it is a good melody then it doesn't
matter if it's rock n roll or classical . I love rock music.

Rene: R&B and hip hop

Claus: What got me interested in making music was the stuff that was around
in the early 80's, bands like Depeche Mode. I still listen to it. even though it's all rubbish. I guess the music you hear when your a teenager just sticks with you the rest of your life.

Soren: Everything from opera to AC/DC. My favorite is The.

What will the next album be like?

Soren: We're not really concentrating on that right now. One thing is for
certain, we're a pop group that wants to explore new areas of the pop scene,
making good melodies with good, funny lyrics. We want a whole new approach to pop lyrics.

Did the critisim of "Barbie Girl" in America bother you?

Lene: The song isn't about the doll. We're not making fun of the glamorous
life. I think it's clear.

Soren: We didn't mean to harm the doll in any way. We sorry if somebody picks it up wrong. But you can't sit down when you write a song and expect
something like all this to happen.

-- thanks to Ken  for this article --

    Source: geocities.com/ezee.rm