ARNE WÜRGLER - 2008 Q & A

February 1st, 2008 – www.panrobertlelievre.com 'Q & A' with Arne Würgler

The following Q & A piece with Arne Würgler has conducted via email. Many thanks to Arne for kindly taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my list of questions regarding Pan and Robert Lelievre – it is very much appreciated. To learn more about Arne's musical career, visit the "Arne Würgler" page, or Arne's official website at www.arnewurgler.dk- Arne is currently on tour in Cuba until the end of February, and I wish him all the best with the shows and hope they are a great success.

ARNE: "Thanks for your interest in our beautiful old record with the group Pan. From the beginning this record had a strange destiny - you see the master tape got stolen from a car even before we had arranged the songs in order. So we had to remix the record all over again. The record was however one of the first rock publications in Denmark with a real good sound. We had 10 tracks, which was unusual at that time. The owner of the studio, Philip Foss, was a kind of magician; he created a fantastic reverb, which mostly looked like the bottom of a bed filled with springs. I can remember that we recorded this record with strength and trust in ourselves, that we were the best and most beautiful musicians in Denmark. The recording lasted about 10 days, starting up making the ground tape; ending up with a lot of part songs sang tracks mostly sung by Robert. We were all very impressed by his big musical fantasy."

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: What did the band Pan mean to you as a musician, and what are your thoughts on the lack of success the band eventually ended with. From what I gather, Pan were well received by the press and on several occasions were featured on successful radio programmes such as "Dansk Beat" and "Radio Beat", so why then did the self-titled Pan record not sell too well?

ARNE: "Pan meant everything to us. When playing together in a group these days you were almost married to each other. We rehearsed from morning to night during a year. We considered Pan as our primary work. It made us sad and desolated that the Pan adventure became so short for all of us. The reason why the Pan record did not sell very well may be that it was published in the middle of the Danish summer Holiday - and that some members left the group shortly after."

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: What was your honest opinion of Pan's singer Robert Lelievre? And do you have any particular stories or memories of Robert to share with the site?

ARNE: "My personal memory of Robert is that he was a fantastic musician, singer and composer. He had a big aura was good looking and always dressed with beautiful fantasy. He had his very own way of playing his guitar - very fast - and of composing. He played from morning to evening always exploring his instrument. Always composing a new song. He had a very special voice, and he was speaking and singing in English with a strong French accent. He had a great sense of humour, but he was also a nervous and very sensitive man. Robert had, as you may know, deserted from the French army. He did not want to go to war in Algiers and he had to go through many difficulties before he got asylum in Denmark. This uncertain situation tormented him and he developed an ability, always to praise all other places than the one where he was situated in right now. I think he missed France and French culture very much. He considered the Danish as provincial a bit foolish and superficial. Even if he lived for many years in Denmark, he never ever tried to learn to speak Danish. I think he enjoyed everyone had to talk to him in English."

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: Do you remember recording a 2nd Pan album for Sonet in 1971? Apparently the band at this point only consisted of you, Robert, and Michael, and the album was going to be more folk-oriented with Robert singing most songs in French. Is this true? Also, will this unreleased album ever see a release some day?

ARNE: "No".

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: Somewhere in 1971, Pan recorded music for a Swedish/Danish film directed by Stellan Olsson called "Sidste Frist" aka "Deadline", and also apparently the band contributed music to an unknown short film of the time. Do you recall recording music for either films, and if so, do you remember what songs were recorded, or were they just songs from the 1970 self-titled LP.

ARNE: "No".

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: After the demise of Pan in 1971, did you keep in contact with Robert Lelievre, and also, what were your thoughts upon hearing the tragic news about his death?

ARNE: "When I left Pan I lost contact with Robert. I started out a new way of my own as a singer/songwriter and had a brilliant career singing in Danish language only. I thought that Robert and I would meet one day. When the time was ripe, and take up our warm and close relationship. It was he and I who started Pan. I was therefore very shocked and touched when I heard of his death and funeral. At that time I was working in Sweden. As I said before Robert was a very sensitive person and I don't think he could administrate the loss of his family (he had wife and two children) career and national identity. It was a very big tragedy for all of us to loose such a beautiful and talented person so young of age."

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: Pan's self-titled debut has been re-released by at least three different music-reissuing labels, the last being a 2005 reissue with 7 bonus tracks by the label Karma Music. What are your thoughts regarding these reissues?

ARNE: "I think that the music in Pan deserved a bigger audience. Universal should have worked harder to spread out the record when it was published."

PANROBERTLELIEVRE.COM: Lastly, if there is anything else you wish to say about your time in Pan, or about the Danish music scene of the time, please do so as I would very much like to hear any thoughts you may have regarding these things.

ARNE: "The Danish music scene at that time was very ambitious. Our cooperation in the groups meant the life to us. To play together was like a marriage. The group gave us identity and pride. Therefore it was very hard if the cooperation stopped. Actually we did not know very much about how to work together in groups. To me it meant that I went solo after the breaking up with Pan. To speak the truth, music meant the life to us and we all walked the line. For some of us it meant loss of life like Robert. It is very sad but in it's own way meaningful. Maybe that is why the music from that time still is worthwhile listening to."