The Obelisk Questionnaire: Bent Sæther of Motorpsycho
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Bent Sæther of Motorpsycho
—
How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
We’ve never really felt the need to define this to ourselves, but Motorpsycho is the flag we fly and sail under when writing and playing and doing musical research work in our own main musical project. It is a constantly shapeshifting entity with its own life, and all we ever do is try to be honest and genuine in our musical research. Some people do projects for every different musical style they want to work in, but early on we decided that it’s all us and thus all Motorpsycho, and that we would do it all under this moniker.
I met Snah in high school and we’ve more or less played together since our late teens in the mid-’80s, but Motorpsycho as a band was established in 1989. Music was all any of us were ever any good at, so we played until it got good enough to interest someone else, and then we just kept at it with various lineups until today.
Describe your first musical memory.
Getting children’s records when I was really young — Disney’s Aristocats soundtrack was one early one, but some Norwegian fairytale thing was probably the very earliest. That said, finding my mum & dad’s 7’’ collection, putting singles on the turntable and eventually after many misses, finding — and loving — “Dynamite” by Cliff Richard, was probably the first mindblowing musical adrenaline rush moment of my life.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I don’t think I can. There has been so many life affirming, great moments that all were so different they are incomparable, but that all were the best ever in the moment, that I struggle to put my finger on one specific moment. How do you compare that and decide that one is better than all the others when they were all out of this world?
Getting lost in the music is an entry point to transcendence, and all such experiences are potentially the best musical memory ever. Until the next one!
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Oh, all the time! I am an opinionated loudmouth and catch myself spewing bullshit almost every day, so … ‘frequently’ would be the truest answer here!
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
…To new insight that hopefully leads to further artistic progress!
How do you define success?
Success to me means realizing my musical ambition – making an idea become manifest in its truest form.
The point isn’t really that a lot of people heard what I said, but that I actually managed to formulate and say it in the best and truest way I know how, if that makes sense? That is all we can do as ‘artists’ I think — once we end that process it’s out of our hands. Then it’s all about marketing and the selling of an image and a product, and that mercantile bit — the bit that usually is the marker — is not something we are interested in. Usually we suck at things that don’t interest us — this is no exception.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I’m good — knowing reality can only make me stronger.
That film a few years back that treated drumming like a sports contest tho’ …yikes!
That misunderstood utter crap waste of time made me see how many people relate music though, and realizing that a lot of people can only ever understand something in competitive terms made me really sad. I don’t believe you can win or lose at music — that is what makes it so great!
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’d love to create something that made humans treat the world around us less binary. Less back and white, less good or bad, less either / or: All the really interesting and good stuff is found in-between the fixed points and the extremes. If we realized this and understood the implications, the world would be a better place for everyone.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
All art forms are in essence languages I think. Means to say something that can be said no other way, by no other art or language. It makes the artist able to communicate something he/she otherwise wouldn’t be able to. We’ve all felt the shortcomings of our spoken and written languages at some point, and we’ve all recognized the truth in good art at some point. A way to say the unsayable maybe?
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Spring! I’m so fed up with the cold and the damp and having to stay indoors by now, feeling the heat of the sun today made me giddy with anticipation!
https://www.facebook.com/motorpsycho.official/
https://twitter.com/motorpsychoband
http://motorpsycho.no/
https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940/
https://www.instagram.com/stickmanrecords/
https://www.stickman-records.com/
