Guitarist/keyboardist Snah, drummer Gebhardt and bassist/vocalist Bent Saether are Motorpsycho. Double albums like "Angels & Demons At Play", "Demon Box" and the current studio album "Trust Us" stand completely on their own. Inspirations and references vary from Led Zeppelin to Bob Dylan, from Uriah Heep to Hawkwind, from MC5 to obscure Norwegian folkmusic. The records are impressing. Not only the quality, but also the quantity. They release a double album each 18 months, and they'll release new songs on several EP's during that time. "Our music varies from country to heavy metal", Bent said, "We don't wanna be bored, but go on to something else, as soon as we did one thing". But as everyone who ever saw them play on stage knows; Motorpsycho live is the best. They haven't had a support-act for years. They will play what they feel like at the moment. One night they will play folk, the next night a convincing rock 'n roll show, and the third night they would give the fans the real Motorpsychodelic expierence; three hours of absolutely mindwarping spacerock. Maybe only two or three songs, but so intense, stoned and out of this world.

So the real masterpiece-record was released a few months back. "Roadwork Vol.1." The first in a series of records which capture the Motorpsycho live-expierence. Opening with the amazing Hendrix-like "The Other Fool", a stunning song with a lot of guitarsolos and heavy, bluesy grooves. But that's just the start. The fun really begins with the amazing "A K9 Suite" .Thirty full minutes of true spacerock. This is it. You can throw away all of your spacerock-records. Motorpsycho does it all. The very interesting "Super/Wheel", a twelve-minute epic which combines the songs "Superstooge" and the Motorpsycho classic "The wheel" is the band at it’s'best. I can't name you any references for these sounds and I don't think I should. This is Motorpsycho live. When they played the Effenaar club in the Netherlands for the tenth time in their career, singer Bent said "the best is yet to come".

Bent about the live record. "It would be much to easy to make a ten-minute version of cult-hit "Nothing To Say" with a singing audience. The only criterium for the selection was the vibe of the song. During the shows I want to escape within my own head, my own zone. I want to be part of the music". That's why Motorpsychos music is so emotional and intense.On stage they would play together as if there was no audience. Letting the music float on a stream of sound towards the next point. They just embark on a long trip. "We'll start at one point and end at another. Where we'll end and what happens in between is unknown". That is what makes a Motorpsycho concert so unpredictable and special. You never know what is gonna happen. Sometimes they would just play new songs and skip the favorites from the earlier records. You might be rocking the night away, listen to folk and blues or perhaps have the trip of your life. And more than once, the show of your life, as Motorpsycho fans discovered. Drugs are not important here, because the music is beautiful, spacey and strong enough to take you to that special place, anyway.

The Motorpsycho fans devotion to the band equals to that of the ol' Deadheads in the sixties. Or perhaps followers of the Orzic Tentacles. Not that stoned hippies are recording every show the band plays, and follow them everywhere, but once you've seen 'm live it's hard to forget this very special band. And the atmosphere and vibes of the evening are more than special. I mean, you'll get hooked.A new Motorpsycho studio record will arrive on this planet sometime at the end of this year, and after that more tours and Roadwork live-releases will follow. To close the drapes, here are the most interesting Motorpsycho tracks, from some of the albums. Remember, this is a very select discography, the band has released so many records, EP's, tapes and demo's, you don't wanna know.

"The Wheel" - "Demon Box"
"True Middle"/S.T.G." - "Blissard"
"Radiance Freq." - "Trust Us"
"Heartattack Mac" - "Angels & Demons At Play"
"Vortex Surfer"/"577" - "Trust Us"
"A K9 suite" - Roadwork Vol. 1-my personal favorite

(sources: OOR, WATT)

Xander van Aart