Motorpsycho (band)

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Motorpsycho is a Norwegian rock band from Trondheim.<ref name=mic>Template:Cite web</ref> Their music can generally be defined as progressive or psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from alternative, jazz, post-rock, pop, country and many other musical styles. The stable members of the band are Bent Sæther (born 18 February 1969, bass/vocals) and Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan (born 31 December 1969, guitar/vocals). From 1992 to March 2005, Håkon Gebhardt (born 21 June 1969) was the band's drummer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From December 2007 to May 2016 Kenneth Kapstad was the drummer of the band, being replaced by Tomas Järmyr, who joined in early 2017. Järmyr left the band in January 2023.<ref name="tre til to">Template:Cite web</ref>

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 indie rock, 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. They released new material almost every year and enjoyed critical acclaim for each album—though 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.

Drummer Hakon Gebhardt left the band in 2003. The double album Black Hole/Blank Canvas was released 17/20 March 2006 in Europe, with Bent Saether playing drums. The album received great reviews. Drums on the following tour were played by Jacco van Rooij.

On 28 March 2008 Motorpsycho released an album entitled Little Lucid Moments, with new drummer Kenneth Kapstad, 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 at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, the band and Storløkken are augmented by contributions from Trondheimssolistene, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, violinist Ola Kvernberg and long time collaborating visual artist Pekka Stokke on stage design. 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, Motorpsycho were inducted at Rockheim, Norway's rock music hall of fame, in a TV broadcast ceremony.<ref name="Interview with Snah">Interview with Snah, Entertaim.net, received May 16, 2016</ref>

In 2016 the band released the studio album Here Be Monsters, which evolved from a piece of music they wrote for the Oslo Teknisk Museums birthday. The band played some songs in the museum, with the help of Ståle Storløkken, and then decided to work on it in the studio.<ref name="Interview with Snah"/>

In May 2016, after completing the European Here Be Monsters Tour, Kenneth Kapstad left Motorpsycho. Core members Sæther and Ryan spent the remainder of the year writing, rehearsing and performing a live score to the Carl Frode Tiller-written play Begynnnelser (eng. Beginnings) in a 38-date autumn run at Trøndelag Teater.

In a January 2, 2017, news update on their official home page, the band announced Swedish drummer Tomas Järmyr to be the third permanent member of Motorpsycho. Together, they have recorded The Tower in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree (at the famous recording studio, Rancho de la Luna), which was released on September 8 the same year.

On January 8, 2023, Järmyr left the band.<ref name="tre til to"/>

In 2024 Motorpsycho contributed their version of the song "Up to Me" from the 1971 album Aqualung by Jethro Tull to the album Aqualung (Redux) released through Magnetic Eye Records on 6 December 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song has been referred to as "the album's strangest song, a mixture of psychedelic blues" and "medieval-sounding acoustic verses highlighted by flute and percussion."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They wanted to make a modern version of the song and not sound "too close to the original."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The result was a heavier version that "retained the characteristic flute interludes" with a "rumbling bassline that rattles along on its own momentum."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Line up

Current line up

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, 2019)
  • Lars Lien – keyboards, vocals (1993–1996, 2004; infrequent guest)
  • Morten "Lolly" Fagervik – rhythm guitar, keyboards, drums (1994–1996, 2004)
  • Kenneth Kapstad – drums, keyboards, vocals (2007–2016)
  • Tomas Järmyr – drums (2017–2023)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Major collaborators

  • Matt Burt – voice, poetry (1993, 1996)
  • Kjell Karlsen – steel guitar, vocals (1994, 2004)
  • Øyvind Brandtsegg – Marimba Lumina and ImproSculpt programming (1994; live, 2006)
  • Ole Henrik "Ohm" Moe – violin, saw, piano (1996–2000, 2013)
  • Baard Slagsvold – keyboards, vocals (1999–2003)
  • Jacco van Rooij – drums (live, 2006)
  • Pekka Stokke – visuals (live, 2006—)
  • Ståle Storløkken – keyboards (2010–2012, 2014)
  • Reine Fiske – guitar, keyboards (2012–2014, 2018– )
  • Ola Kvernberg – violin (2012–2013, 2018–2022)
  • Kristoffer Lo – keyboards, flugabone, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (live, 2017)
  • Lars Horntveth – guitar, flute, keyboards (2001–2002, 2018—2020)
  • Ole Paus – guitar, vocals (2019—2020; died 2023)
  • Olaf Olsen – drums (live/studio, 2023)
  • Ingvald André Vassbø – drums (live/studio, 2023– )
  • TrondheimSolistene
  • Trondheim Jazzorkester

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/10/1989 till:01/07/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = 

 id:Vocals             value:red      legend:Vocals
 id:Guitar              value:green      legend:Guitars
 id:Bass                value:blue       legend:Bass
 id:Drums               value:orange       legend:Drums
 id:Custom              value:purple     legend:Keyboards

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1990

LineData = 

 at:01/04/1991 color:black layer:back
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 at:03/09/2001 color:black layer:back
 at:30/09/2002 color:black layer:back
 at:17/03/2006 color:black layer:back
 at:28/03/2008 color:black layer:back
 at:07/08/2009 color:black layer:back
 at:18/01/2010 color:black layer:back
 at:10/02/2012 color:black layer:back
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 at:28/08/2020 color:black layer:back
 at:16/04/2021 color:black layer:back
 at:19/08/2022 color:black layer:back
 at:16/06/2023 color:black layer:back

BarData = 

 bar:Bent text:"Bent Sæther"
 bar:Snah text:"Hans Magnus Ryan"
 bar:Helge text:"Helge Sten"
 bar:Lars text:"Lars Lien"
 bar:Lolly text:"Morten Fagervik"
 bar:Killer text:"Kjell Runar Jensen"
 bar:Geb text:"Håkon Gebhardt"
 bar:Jacco text:"Jacco van Rooij"
 bar:Ken text:"Kenneth Kapstad"
 bar:Tomas text:"Tomas Järmyr"

PlotData= 

 width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Bent from:01/10/1989 till:end color:Bass
 bar:Bent from:01/10/1989 till:end color:Vocals width:3
 bar:Snah from:01/10/1989 till:end color:Guitar
 bar:Snah from:01/10/1989 till:end color:Vocals width:3
 bar:Killer from:01/10/1989 till:01/09/1991 color:Drums
 bar:Geb from:01/09/1991 till:01/03/2005 color:Drums
 bar:Geb from:01/09/1991 till:01/03/2005 color:Vocals width:3
 bar:Helge from:01/10/1992 till:01/03/1994 color:Custom
 bar:Lars from:01/03/1994 till:01/08/1994 color:Custom
 bar:Lars from:01/03/1994 till:01/08/1994 color:Vocals width:3
 bar:Lolly from:02/08/1994 till:30/12/1995 color:Guitar width:3
 bar:Lolly from:02/08/1994 till:30/12/1995 color:Custom
 bar:Jacco from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 color:Drums
 bar:Ken from:01/01/2007 till:11/05/2016 color:Drums
 bar:Ken from:01/01/2007 till:11/05/2016 color:Custom width:3
 bar:Tomas from:02/01/2017 till:08/01/2023 color:Drums
 bar:Tomas from:02/01/2017 till:08/01/2023 color:Custom width:3
</timeline>

Honors

Spellemannsprisen

Spellemannprisen is often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English. It is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians.

As of 2020, Motorpsycho have received 14 nominations, with four wins.

Other

Discography

Albums

Year Album Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor">Template:Cite web</ref> 		GER
<ref name="GER-albums">Template:Cite web</ref> 		BEL
<ref name="BEL (FL)">Template:Cite web</ref> 		NLD
<ref name="NLD">Template:Cite web</ref> 		SWI
<ref name="SWI">Template:Cite web</ref> 		ITA
<ref name="ITA">Template:Cite web</ref>
1991 Lobotomizer — — — — — — Released as LP and CD
1992 Soothe
(mini album) 		— — — — — — Mini LP later issued on CD as "8 Soothing Songs for Rut", with two tracks from the "3 Songs for Rut" EP (see Compilations under).
1993 Demon Box — — — — — — Double LP and CD (omitting three songs due to space limitations)
1994 Timothy's Monster 7 — — — — — Triple LP box and double CD, re-released in 2010 as 4CD-box
1996 Blissard 3 — — — — — Double LP and CD, re-released in 2012 as 4CD-box
1997 Angels and Daemons at Play 2 — — — — — Double LP, CD (omitting two songs) and three separate CD-EPs ("Babyscooter", "Have Spacesuit Will Travel" and "Lovelight"), re-released in 2016 as 6CD-box
1998 Trust Us 7 — — — — — Double LP and double CD
2000 Let Them Eat Cake 1 83 — — — — LP and CD
2001 Barracuda
(mini album) 		8 — — — — — LP and CD
Phanerothyme 1 80 — — — — LP and CD
2002 It's A Love Cult 2 91 — — — — LP and CD
2006 Black Hole/Blank Canvas 2 — 85 — — — Double LP, double CD and limited edition double CD with 2 track bonus single
2008 Little Lucid Moments 2 — — — — — Double LP and CD
2009 Child of the Future 2 — — — — — Vinyl-only LP
2010 Heavy Metal Fruit 2 96 — — — — Double LP and CD
2013 Still Life With Eggplant 2 93 — 79 — — LP and CD
2014 Behind the Sun 6 53 — 81 — 63 Double LP, CD, digital download
The Motorpnakotic Fragments — — — — — — Limited edition 4×7″ and CD
2016 Here Be Monsters 2 55 — — — — LP and CD
Here Be Monsters Vol 2 — — — — — — Limited edition Mini-LP, CD
2017 Begynnelser — — — — — — 2×10″ with CD, and DVD of the theatrical play "Begynnelser"
The Tower 3 56 — — — — 2LP, 2CD. Part 1 of the Gullvåg Trilogy.
2019 The Crucible 4 43 — 196 88 — LP and CD. Part 2 of the Gullvåg Trilogy.
2020 The All Is One 3 31 — — 53 — 2LP and 2CD. Part 3 of the Gullvåg Trilogy.
2021 Kingdom of Oblivion 3 19 — — 41 — 2LP, CD, digital download
2022 Ancient Astronauts 8 80 — — 96 — LP, CD, digital download
2023 Yay! — 77 — — — — LP, CD, digital download
2024 Neigh!! — — — — — — LP, digital download
2025 Motorpsycho 22
<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 		— — — — — 2LP, 2CD, digital download

As Motorpsycho & Friends

Year Album Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor"/>
1994 The Tussler – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 10 Original CD (1994)
2×10″ (1996)
Remastered and extended CD/double LP (2003)

As Motorpsycho & Ståle Storløkken

Year Album Label Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor"/> 		GER
2012 The Death Defying Unicorn Stickman Records 7 87 Double LP and double CD
2015 En Konsert For Folk Flest Rune Grammofon - - Live double LP and double CD

As The International Tussler Society

Year Album Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor"/>
2004 Motorpsycho presents The International Tussler Society 1 Released as double LP and CD, both came with bonus DVD
  • 2004: "Satans Favourite Son" (Promo-single)
  • 2004: "Laila Lou" (Promo-single)

Live albums

Year Album Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor"/>
1999 Roadwork Vol. 1 – Heavy metal iz a poze, hardt rock iz a leifschteil 7 Live in Europe 1998
2001 Roadwork Vol. 2 – The MotorSourceMassacre: Motorpsycho, The Source and Deathprod – Live at Kongsberg Jazzfestival 1995
2008 Roadwork Vol. 3 – The Four Norsemen of the Apocalypse – Live at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, November 23, 2002. Included in the double DVD release Haircuts, re-issued on vinyl with CD/digital download 2018
2011 Roadwork Vol. 4 – Intrepid Skronk 26 Live in Europe 2008–2010
Strings Of Stroop – Motorpsycho Live at Effenaar – Limited edition vinyl, semi-official release by the Effenaar music club.
2014 Vera, September 19, 1993 – DVD issued as part of the "Deluxe" edition of Demon Box.
2016 Rockefeller, March 14, 1997 – 2 CD issued as part of the "Deluxe" edition of Angels and Daemons at Play.
2018 A Boxful of Demons – Limited vinyl/CD/Blu-ray of the Demon Box album performed live at Rockheim, Trondheim, 17.-19.10.2015 on C+C Records/Falck Forlag
Roadwork Vol. 5 – Field Notes: The Fantastic Expedition of Järmyr, Ryan, Sæther & Lo – Live in Europe 2017
2020 Cloudwalkers - Freak Valley Festival, May 31, 2014 – Limited edition vinyl, semi-official release on Devil's Child records
2022 Live at Blitz '93 – Live at the Blitz House social center March 13, 1993. Issued as part of the Salad Days vol. 2 compilation.

Collaborations

Year Album Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor"/>
1993 Into The Sun
(split release with Hedge Hog) 		Split 7-inch/CD-single
2001 Go To California
(split EP release with The Soundtrack of Our Lives) 		Split-EP, 2×7″ vinyl
2003 In the Fishtank 10
(mini album with Jaga Jazzist Horns) 		7 Collaboration, 12-inch mini album
2020 Så nær, så nær
(With Ole Paus as Ole Paus/Bent Sæther/Hans Magnus Ryan/Tomas Järmyr/Reine Fiske) 		1 Collaboration, 2×LP/CD
2022 A Memory / Lue Lue
(split release with Sanderfinger) 		Split 7-inch

Compilations

Year Album Peak positions Notes
NOR
<ref name="nor"/>
1992 8 Soothing Songs For Rut - Vinyl mini-album "Soothe" and two tracks from 7-inch EP "3 Songs For Rut" on one CD
2015 Supersonic Scientists - A Young Person's Guide To Motorpsycho - 2LP compilation of one track from each album 1991-2014
2019 The Light Fantastic - LP, digital download. Collection of B-sides and studio outtakes.
2022 Salad Days vol. 1 - 4 disc vinyl box with "Lobotomizer" LP (1991), "Soothe" mini-LP (1992) and new 2LP compilation "Becoming Motorpsycho - Juvenilia, oddities and artefacts from the vaults, 1990-1993"
2022 Salad Days vol. 2 - 5 disc vinyl box with 2LP "Demon Box" (1993), "Mountain EP" (1993), "Another Ugly EP (1994)" and new live album "Live at Blitz '93".

EPs

Year Album Peak positions
NOR
<ref name="nor"/>
1990 Maiden Voyage (Demo)
1993 Mountain
1993 Another Ugly EP
1994 Wearing Yr Smell EP
1996 Nerve Tattoo 8
1996 Manmower
1997 Babyscooter 14
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel 13
Lovelight 13
Starmelt 13
1998 Ozone 6
Hey Jane 8
2000 The Other Fool EP 1
Walkin' with J EP 6
2002 Serpentine EP 2
2017 California EP
2019 Terje Brekkstads kosmiske reise

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
  • 2020: X-mastime Is Here!
  • 2021: Ulv! Ulv!

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 Tattoo (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)
  • Intrepid Explorer (2018)
  • W.C.A. (2023)
  • Stanley (Tonight's the Night) (2025)

See also

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References

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