WATER BABIES - SMASH HITS ARTICLE WATER BABIES! Aqua's new single is called TURN BACK TIME, so we asked Lene, Rene, Soren and Claus to recall their childhoods. It's a strange tale of knitting machines, curtains and a year-and-a-half at sea! (Together with this article was kiddie pics of Lene, Claus, Soren and Rene. Too bad I don't have a scanner....they looked SO cute, especially Lene!) What was your first day at school like? Soren: I cried. I hated not seeing the friends I had at kindergarten. Lene: I was sick on my first say at school. They were taking our photo that day, so I had to go. But once I got there, I wanted to stay, and I was sad when my mum took me home. Claus: When I arrived at school, I started crying because I was afraid the kids might pick on me. Rene: I remember the first day of each of the seven different schools I went to. (Blimey!) I was kicked out of every one! As soon as I went to a new school I'd look for trouble. My mum even found a private school and thought, "This MUST be it." I was only there for two months! Who was your first crush? Claus: I think my first crush was in kindergarten - a girl called Elizabeth. It never went any further, though. Lene: Mine was the neighbour I grew up with. I remember sitting behind the curtains and telling him I loved him. (Everyone laughs.) It was so stupid! He looked just like Elvis. Claus (laughing): Was he singing 'Love Me Tender' (an old Elvis hit)? Lene: He was actually my boyfriend for many years. Rene: Mine was a girl called Dorte. Her mum and dad didn't like me, so they wouldn't let me see her. We used to sneak into her house when they weren't at home. Soren: Mine was in fifth grade - I went to the movies with her. She was the first girl I made a move on. What was your most hated subject at school? Lene: Maths. I could never see the logic in it, so I flunked it. Claus: Mine was Geography. I'm still terrible at placing cities. Once, we did an interview in South Denmark and they asked us if we'd been there recently. I said, "Yeah, we were here last week," actually meaning a place at the opposite end of the country! Soren: I didn't flunk maths, but I was below the average. Rene: Maths was easy until it came to x and y and dot (algebra). Did you have a traumatic time during your teens? Claus: No, I just got through it - there was never a big riot between me and my parents. Lene: I have also been rather calm. Soren: I never had the discussions that all my friends had with their parents. I think it's because I was the youngest - my sister and brother went through all that and my parents were very tolerant. I didn't have a certain time to be home, but I respected that and I wasn't home too late. Lene: And as for Rene...(They all break into laughter.) Rene: Well, my parents were divorced, so I had to stay with my father, who I didn't like. Then I more or less took care of myself because my mother was in Spain doing a movie thing. When I was 14, I went out sailing on a container ship with fifteen other men and didn't come back for a year-and-a-half. We went to the Caribbean, Mexico, the United States... it gave me a lot of life experience. I grew up very quickly because of that. What's the worst fashion mistake you made in your teens? Soren: My mum had a knitting machine (he starts killing himself laughing at the memory of it) and she'd knit me trousers and overalls! Everyone at school picked on me because of that. Rene: I wore flared trousers and big, brown, ugly boots. Claus: I was the youngest in my family, so I inherited all their old stuff. My parents wouldn't buy me fashionable trousers because they were too expensive. I had to get something similar, but it was never quite the same. Lene: My mum once bought me a jumper with an apple and worm on the front. She thought it was really cute, but I was so ashamed I'd walk backwards into the classroom! It was awful! When did you feel like you'd finally grown up? Lene: I hope I never grow up. When you're eight and you think about being 24 - which is what I am now - that seems so old. Rene: But then when you're 16, you can't wait to be 18 'cos then you can go out to discos with all your friends. Soren: I felt very grown-up last week because I bought a cottage in Denmark. It's the first home I've ever owned. But I don't FEEL very mature... Lene: And we definitely don't act it! **Special thanx to Tiara for this article!!!** Copyright © 1997/8 by Serena Lee (ezee@rocketmail.com). All Rights Reserved. If you're interested in using materials from this page, please notify the author first.