Motorpsycho

Motorpsycho (initiated 1989 at Trøndertun, Melhus, Norway) is a band from Trondheim.^[1] Their music can generally be defined as progressive or psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from metal, jazz, post-rock, pop, country and many other musical styles. The members of the band are Bent Sæther (born 18 February 1969, bass/vocals), Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan (born 31 December 1969, guitar/vocals) and Kenneth Kapstad (born 20 April 1979, drums). Until March 2005, Håkon Gebhardt (born 21 June 1969, drums) was also an integral part of the band. A press release concerning his departure is published at the Unofficial website. In December 2007 it was announced that former Gåte drummer Kenneth Kapstad was the new drummer in the band as well as an official band member.

Biography

Formed in the late 1980s as an alternative metal band (they picked their name after seeing the Russ Meyer film of the same name as part of a Russ Meyer triple bill - there was already a band named after Mudhoney and a band named after Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - the other two films on the bill), Motorpsycho soon developed a unique blend of grunge, heavy metal and indierock, as well as incorporating the sonic noise experiments of associated member Deathprod. The hugely ambitious, progressive double album "Demon Box" (1993) followed a series of low-profile EPs and albums, earning the band a nomination for a Norwegian Grammy, and secured a loyal following in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as in Scandinavia.

The 1990s was an extremely productive era for the band, releasing new material almost every year, and enjoying critical acclaim for each album—if not the massive sales the music press kept predicting.

With the 2000 album "Let Them Eat Cake", Motorpsycho suddenly took huge steps away from their noisy hard rock roots, opting instead for a smoother, jazz-tinged approach to the songwriting and recording process. They kept this technique for the subsequent releases, Phanerothyme and It's A Love Cult.

The long-awaited double album Black Hole/Blank Canvas was released 17/20 March 2006 in Europe, but it was leaked on the internet before this date. The album has received great reviews, and it is considered one of their best albums ever, proving the skill of the arguably most innovative Norwegian band during the last decade. Today, their cult status and extremely loyal fans remains unmatched by any Norwegian band.

On 28 March 2008 Motorpsycho released an album entitled "Little Lucid Moments", and on 16 March 2008 a DVD containing music videos, live footage and documentaries entitled "Haircuts".

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, the band released a vinyl-only album, "Child of the Future", recorded by Steve Albini at the beginning of August 2009.

In January 2010 Motorpsycho released the album "Heavy Metal Fruit", their first album featuring an external producer, Kåre Vestrheim, and also their third album in under two years.

In October 2011 the Dutch venue Effenaar released a limited edition live album exclusively on vinyl entitled "Strings Of Stroop - Motorpsycho Live At Effenaar". The album features four Motorpsycho tracks recorded during various Motorpsycho shows at Effenaar between 1999 and 2010. Only 500 copies were pressed and sold at the band's 14th show in the venue.

On 10 February 2012 Motorpsycho released the double CD/LP effort "The Death Defying Unicorn" in collaboration with keyboardist Ståle Storløkken from the free improv group Supersilent. The album is a reworking of an instrumental suite commissioned by and performed at Moldejazz 2010. During 2011, Sæther produced lyrics for a sweeping narrative, thus making the album version a concept album. As in its initial performance, the band and Storløkken are augmented by contributions from Trondheimssolistene, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and violinist Ola Kvernberg. The core quartet performed the album in its entirety on every date during a March/April 2012 tour of Europe.

After the release and tour accompanying the "Unicorn", the band felt the need to return to more traditional, guitar-based grounds and with Reine Fiske as second guitarist, recorded two albums, Still Life With Eggplant (released in spring 2013) and Behind the Sun (released in March 2014). To coincide with the release of "Behind the Sun", Motorpsycho launched their first-ever official website, www.motorpsycho.no.

After years of institutionalising the band in Norway, in 2015 Motorpsycho eventually were introduced at Rockheim, Norways rock music hall of fame. ^[2]

In 2016 the band released the studio album "Here Be Monsters", which completely evolved from a piece of music they wrote for the Oslo Teknisk Museums birthday. The band played that special songs in the museum, with the help of Ståle Storløkken, and then decided to work on it in the studio. ^[3]

Line up

Current line-up

• Bent Sæther — lead vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, drums (since 1989)
• Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan — lead guitars, vocals, keyboards, mandolin, violin, bass (since 1989)

Previous members

• Kjell Runar "Killer" Jenssen — drums (1989–1991)
• Håkon Gebhardt — drums, vocals, banjo, guitar (1991–2005)
• Helge "Deathprod" Sten — theremin, various electronics, audio virus (1992–1994; frequent guest and producer 1994–2002, 2007, 2015)
• Lars Lien — keyboards, vocals (1994)
• Morten "Lolly" Fagervik — rhythm guitar, keyboards (1994–1996)
• Kenneth Kapstad — drums, keyboards, vocals (2007-2016)

Major collaborators

• Ole Henrik "Ohm" Moe — violin, saw, piano (1996–1998, 2013)
• Baard Slagsvold — keyboards, vocals (1999–2003)
• Jacco van Rooij — drums (live, 2006)
• Øyvind Brandtsegg — Marimba Lumina and ImproSculpt programming (1994; live, 2006)
• Pekka Stokke — visuals (live, 2006–)
• Ståle Storløkken — keyboards (2011–2012, 2014)
• Reine Fiske — guitar (2012–2014)

Timeline

Honors

• 1994: Spellemannprisen in the class Best album cover, for the album Timothy's Monster created by Kim Hiorthøy
• 1996: Spellemannprisen in the class Rock, for the album Blissard
• 1997: Spellemannprisen in the class Hard rock, for the album Angels and Daemons at Play
• 2000: Spellemannprisen in the class Rock, for the album Let Them Eat Cake
• 2010: Edvard Prize for the album Child of the Future^[4]

Discography

Albums

As Motorpsycho & Friends

As Motorpsycho & Ståle Storløkken

As The International Tussler Society

• 2004: "Satans Favourite Son" (Promo-single)
• 2004: "Laila Lou" (Promo-single)

Live albums (Roadworks)

Collaborations

EPs

Singles

• 1992: 3 Songs for Rut
• 1996: Sinful, Windborne
• 2001: The Slow Phaseout (Promo single)
• 2001: Go To California (Promo single)
• 2006: Hyena (Promo-single)
• 2010: X-3
• 2010: The Visitant
• 2014: Toys (Included with select copies of August edition of Trondheim magazine Gatemagasinet Sorgenfri)
• 2015: Psychonaut/Toys
• 2016: Spin, Spin, Spin

Singles and Music Videos

• Have Fun (1992)
• Sheer Profundity (1993)
• Nothing To Say (1993)
• Another Ugly Tune (1994)
• Wearing Yr Smell (1994)
• Feel (1994)
• Now It's Time To Skate (1994)
• Watersound (1994)
• Mad Sun (1996)
• Manmower (1996)
• Sinful, Wind-Borne (1996)
• The Nerve Tatoo (1996)
• Starmelt/Lovelight (1997)
• Hey, Jane (1998)
• The Other Fool (2000)
• Walkin' With J (2000)
• Go To California (2000)
• The Slow Phaseout (2001)
• Serpentine (2002)
• Victim of Rock (2014)
• On a Plate (2014)
• Spin, Spin, Spin (2016)

See also

• The International Tussler Society
• Deathprod
• Jaga Jazzist

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Motorpsycho.

External links

• www.motorpsycho.no Official Motorpsycho website (since 11-02-2014)
• motorpsycho.fix.no A Motorpsycho fansite in English with lyrics, tabs, biography, links and general information
• Motorpsycho MySpace