Motorpsycho

Motorpsycho is a band from Trondheim, Norway. Their music can generally be defined as psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from metal, jazz, rock, pop and many other musical styles. The members of the band are Bent Sæther (b. February 18, 1969, bass/vocals), Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan (b. December 31, 1969, guitar/vocals) and Kenneth Kapstad (b. April 20, 1979 drums). Until March 2005, Håkon Gebhardt (b. June 21, 1969, drums) was also an integral part of the band. A press release concerning his departure is published at the unofficial homepage

Kenneth Kapstad was the new drummer in the band as well as an official band member.

Formed in the late eighties 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 nineties 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 March 28, 2008, Motorpsycho released an album entitled "Little Lucid Moments" and on March 16, 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, KÃ¥re 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 February 10th 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 Jazzorkester and violinist Ola Kvernberg. The core quartet performed the album in its entirety on every date during a March/April 2012 tour of Europe.