Motorpsycho - You Gotta Hang On To The Trip You're On...

Interview taken from the
Dutch magazine
OOR #18 / 1993.
English translation done by Paul Caspers.

Motorpsycho singer/bass player smiles when we mention Holland and Norway football performances. His country did score three goals against big Holland. Not only in football does Norway manifest itself these days, in music also. Bel Canto and Maro Boine Persen for example. And Motorpsycho, a guitar band which is touring through Holland this month. Early last year the third album from the band from Trondheim was released. Demon Box was a big hit in the Moordlijst [i.e. the OOR alternative music hitlist], and shows that Motorpsycho is a band that can do more than one trick. "We are interested in a lot of different styles. On Demon Box you can hear pure folk music as well as sheer noise. It's because the four members of the band like different sorts of music," Saether says. "Right now I'm really into Gram Parsons and Kiss. Our new noise-expert Deathprod on the other hand, who happens to be studying noise at the Cultural Academy in Trondheim, is crazy about Throbbing Gristle. We don't want any restrictions. In that perspective we're somewhat like 22-Pistepirkko from Finland. They also like weird material, but we're more rock-based."

"In autumn 1989 we saw 'Motorpsycho' written on the wall of a sleazy movie theater in London. There was trilogy of director Russ Meyer. The first film was 'Faster Pussycat Kill Kill'. The second was named 'Mudhoney'. The third was 'Motorpsycho'. -Let's call ourselves Motorpsycho, we said. We'll never be as bad as Faster Pussycat, but we might be as good as Mudhoney someday."

"Our debut album Lobotomizer is our most 'grungy' record. That's because at the time we were recording it, we were into the early records of Mudhoney, TAD en Nirvana. Finally the eighties had taken off its black raincoat and there had come an end to gothic. Finally, the energy in music was back."

The bands summit (up until now), Demon Box, gives you scream-metal, industrial noise en american indie-rock and much more; there are parallels to bands like Sebadoh and Einsturzende Neubauten. There are no Norwegian elements. Saether: "We don't have any connection to Norwegian music. It sounds like a crossover between psalms and american fifties-pop music like Paul Anka."

According to Saether the Norwegian indie-scene is doing alright. He tentatively links the new wave of bands to the economical situation in Norway. "In the eighties there was a lot of speculation going on. A lot of companies went bankrupt. In the past few years Norway has had to deal with unemployment and a lot of people aren't very wealthy. Maybe that is a condition for succes."

Concerning sports Norway is in the picture because of the football team, the World Championship Cycle-Racing and the Winter Olympics. Norway is in the picture in a negative perspective because of the whale industry. "This killing of whales is absolutely not cool (***)", Saether says, ashamed. "The hunting of whales is an industry which provides only 250 Northmen. These folks can get a job in another branch of industry very easily. The problem is, that Northmen don't let other people tell them what to do. A Northmen tends to think: if an American or German tells me not to kill whales, I go out and hunt for whales. It's a matter of prestige."

Rene Megens


[media stories: english: 1993]
	[Dutch interview] Interview taken from the Dutch magazine OOR #18 / 1993. English translation done by Paul Caspers. Motorpsycho singer/bass player smiles when we mention Holland and Norway football performances. His country did score three goals against big Holland. Not only in football does Norway manifest itself these days, in music also. Bel Canto and Maro Boine Persen for example. And Motorpsycho, a guitar band which is touring through Holland this month. Early last year the third album from the band from Trondheim was released. Demon Box was a big hit in the Moordlijst [i.e. the OOR alternative music hitlist], and shows that Motorpsycho is a band that can do more than one trick. "We are interested in a lot of different styles. On Demon Box you can hear pure folk music as well as sheer noise. It's because the four members of the band like different sorts of music," Saether says. "Right now I'm really into Gram Parsons and Kiss. Our new noise-expert Deathprod on the other hand, who happens to be studying noise at the Cultural Academy in Trondheim, is crazy about Throbbing Gristle. We don't want any restrictions. In that perspective we're somewhat like 22-Pistepirkko from Finland. They also like weird material, but we're more rock-based." "In autumn 1989 we saw 'Motorpsycho' written on the wall of a sleazy movie theater in London. There was trilogy of director Russ Meyer. The first film was 'Faster Pussycat Kill Kill'. The second was named 'Mudhoney'. The third was 'Motorpsycho'. -Let's call ourselves Motorpsycho, we said. We'll never be as bad as Faster Pussycat, but we might be as good as Mudhoney someday." "Our debut album Lobotomizer is our most 'grungy' record. That's because at the time we were recording it, we were into the early records of Mudhoney, TAD en Nirvana. Finally the eighties had taken off its black raincoat and there had come an end to gothic. Finally, the energy in music was back." The bands summit (up until now), Demon Box, gives you scream-metal, industrial noise en american indie-rock and much more; there are parallels to bands like Sebadoh and Einsturzende Neubauten. There are no Norwegian elements. Saether: "We don't have any connection to Norwegian music. It sounds like a crossover between psalms and american fifties-pop music like Paul Anka." According to Saether the Norwegian indie-scene is doing alright. He tentatively links the new wave of bands to the economical situation in Norway. "In the eighties there was a lot of speculation going on. A lot of companies went bankrupt. In the past few years Norway has had to deal with unemployment and a lot of people aren't very wealthy. Maybe that is a condition for succes." Concerning sports Norway is in the picture because of the football team, the World Championship Cycle-Racing and the Winter Olympics. Norway is in the picture in a negative perspective because of the whale industry. "This killing of whales is absolutely not cool (*)", Saether says, ashamed. "The hunting of whales is an industry which provides only 250 Northmen. These folks can get a job in another branch of industry very easily. The problem is, that Northmen don't let other people tell them what to do. A Northmen tends to think: if an American or German tells me not to kill whales, I go out and hunt for whales. It's a matter of prestige." Rene Megens Translator's note: (*) This is a literary translation of the line in the original article. Back to the Media Stories page...