MOTORPSYCHO - Beyond Imagination

16. March 2016

Motorpsycho

MOTORPSYCHO - Beyond Imagination

Bent Sæther is a very friendly contemporary who speaks clearly and articulately about his band Motorpsycho and their philosophy. The praise with which we introduce the interview actually makes him a little embarrassed. Unlike many other artists, he is not afraid to speak openly about doubts about his own work. But he doesn't even need to have that, because "Here Be Monsters" is also another milestone in the motor psycho saga, a work that comes along with quieter tones, but nevertheless, to use Sæther's words, sounds sublime.

eclipsed: Motorpsycho release their albums almost on an annual basis and maintain an astonishingly high level. How do you do that?

Bent Sæther: Oh, thank you so much for the compliment! I would call us a solid working band that does what it feels like to do right now. The most important thing for us is not to start competing with ourselves, so to see how well the last record arrived and then use the same recipe. What we do should be honest and pure, and above all, it should be committed to the very moment of its creation. We never look back, so we try to maintain the quality. A repetition would destroy the artistic moment.

eclipsed: The new album "Here Be Monsters" was created from a commission. You should compose something for the one hundredth anniversary of the Technical Museum in Norway.

Sæther: The request honoured us very much and we agreed. The assignment was to compose a two-hour piece of music and perform it on site at a ceremony. We didn't have so much time and wrote the piece in an intensive two-week session. This explains that it was very congruent and had a particular vibe that ran through the composition. Since it was a one-time thing, we decided to make it an album, because it would have been a pity for the music.

eclipsed: But you changed some things compared to the original composition.

Sæther: Yes, especially when it comes to the arrangements and the lyrics. The performed piece was mainly instrumental. This was not least because we would have had to write texts about technology for a technical museum, which is not our thing. In addition, Ståle Storløkken, with whom we had composed and performed the work, could not take part in the recordings of the album due to other obligations. The result is that the record is less jazzy, more lyrical and rockier and, yes, sounds more like motor psycho again.

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 179 (April 2016).