Motorpsycho

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Motorpsycho was formed in Trondheim, Norway, in 1989.

Founding members, heavy metal heshers Hans Magnus Ryan

& Bent Sæther, first met in high school in Steinkjer a few years

earlier, but Motorpsycho as we know it first got rolling when

B met HM on the bus one day and recruited him for this new

band project on the spot.

Joined by drummer KillerKjell Jenssen and taking their cue

from ‘record collector rock’ and the new US and UK guitar

rock of the time, early Motorpsycho was a power trio that

aimed for that mythical sweet spot where Sonic Youth noise

meets Hawkwind psych and Hüsker Dü songwriting with a

60s twist… and something else happens.

Their first recordings don’t really sound anything like that at

all, and neither their 1990 demo tape Maiden Voyage (MC,

1990), nor their first two releases Lobotomizer (LP, 1991)

and Soothe (mini album, 1992, that introduced new drummer

Håkon Gebhardt), hit much of a nerve with the public.

It wasn’t until multi instrumentalist Deathprod joined the

band in late 1992, and the resulting recording Demon Box

(2LP, 1993) was released, that a larger audience noticed

them. This album was a creative watershed for the band

where everything - including the kitchen sink - was thrown

in the mix, and this new, no holds barred approach

triggered a creativity earlier albums had just hinted at.

The one-two-three punch of Demon Box, Timothy’s Monster

(3LP, 1994) and Blissard (LP, 1996) won the band domestic

Grammy equivalent prizes and made Motorpsycho one of the

biggest Norwegian bands of the alt rock era. It was at this

time an annual continental touring cycle was initiated, that

has kept them a popular international touring act ever since.

Never content with any kind of labling, the band continued

to experiment with looser, jazzier approaches (Angels and

Daemons at Play 2LP, 1997), droney post rock (Trust Us 2LP,

1998), and full-on classic rock (Barracuda, mini LP, 2001),

before taking the first of their - by now regular - stylistic

left turns, making a series of more or less pure ‘60s style

orchestral psych-pop albums with Let Them Eat Cake (2000),

Phanerothyme (2001) and It’s A Love Cult (2002).

This period closed with the jazz inspired In The Fishtank

(LP, 2003) , a collab with the Jaga Jazzist Horns.

Burn out and personell changes sent the band into a 2 year

period of semi-retirement, before the core duo of HMR & BS

returned with double album Black Hole/Blank Canvas in 2006.

A new lineup congealed in 2007 with the arrival of drummer

Kenneth Kapstad, and sent the band off in a much more

experimental direction, where Little Lucid Moments (2LP,

2008) and Child of the Future (LP, 2009) were their take on

modern guitar rock, while Heavy Metal Fruit (2LP, 2010) went

a little bigger and a little more retro.

The rock opera Death Defying Unicorn (2LP, 2012), written

and performed with Ståle Storløkken, was a huge project

that both brought the band to the stage of the national opera

house and almost ruined them, so the follow ups Still Life

With Eggplant (LP, 2013) and Behind the Sun (2LP, 2014)

were slightly less financially ambitious, song focused affairs.

These are the also the albums where Reine Fiske (Dungen)

made his first recorded appearances with the band.

The rock band/church organ/choir work En Konsert For Folk

Flest (2LP, 2015) was a second collab with Storløkken

recorded live in the Nidaros Cathedral. Here Be Monsters

(LP, 2015), an experiment in ‘the sound of 1973’ sent the

band off on a slightly mellower tangent, before a solo

exhibit at the national museum of rock and a tie-in comp,

both called Supersonic Scientists (2LP, 2015) capped off

this chapter in the band’s career, with Kapstad handing in

his notice in the summer of 2016.

Fall 2016 saw the new old core duo of HMR & BS working

with theatre group De Utvalgte at Trøndelag Teater and

making Begynnelser (2x10’’, 2017), before starting the next

chapter as a touring rock band, recruiting Tomas Järmyr

on drums.

This new line up went all-in with the darker more progressive

‘Gullvåg triology’, consisting of The Tower (2LP, 2017), The

Crucible (LP, 2019) and The All Is One (2LP, 2020), before

producing and playing on Norwegian folk/rock legend Ole

Paus’ last album Så Nær, Så Nær (LP, 2020). The band also

managed to finish a more metal/hard rock focused work

with Kingdom Of Oblivion (2LP, 2021) and the ultra proggy

Ancient Astronauts (LP, 2022), before the pandemic kind

of stopped them in their tracks.

Curtailing touring and looking for ways to keep going, the

basic material for both Yay! (LP, 2023) and Neigh!! (LP 2024)

was recorded in the band’s rehearsal room/studio in Trondheim

over the next few months, but these activities weren’t enough

to keep the band together, and they were again reduced to

a duo when Järmyr left in January 2023.

These two last homemade albums were the first releases

on the band’s own NFGS label, along with a new compilation

called Small Boats (2CD, 2024). All previous lisense deals

with long standing labels Stickman Records and Rune

Grammofon, were terminated in 2023, and the band is now

in total control of their recorded legacy, which at last count

numbers more than 30 albums, thirty singles/EPs, a host

of live albums (the Roadwork series) and two compilation

albums as well as two C&W albums under the nom du guerre

The International Tussler Society (Soundtrack from The

Tussler CD, 1995 and Motorpsycho presents The

International Tussler Society 2LP, 2004). NFGS is planning

to re-release everything on physical formats in time, but are

fully aware that this is a huge and time consuming task that

will take years, if not decades.

Motorpsycho has no plans to stop working any time soon!