Oslo-based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Pia Isaksen, also frontwoman for the melodic nodders Superlynx, released her debut solo album as Pia Isa, Distorted Chants (review here), in March 2022 through Argonauta Records. “Trauma,” with a video premiering below, is a fitting representation of it, for the weight of the chug in Isaksen‘s guitar and bass, the floating guest lead guitar of desert rock progenitor Gary Arce from Yawning Man, Yawning Sons, Big Scenic Nowhere, et al, the drums of Superlynx bandmate Ole Teigen, and the overarching focus on atmosphere. Too heavy to be post-rock, not quite doom, Distorted Chants found Isaksen able to find an expressive niche of her own, something apart from singer-songwriterism, but built on that foundation and fleshed out accordingly into a fuller sound.

I’ve started (mentally anyhow) putting together my year-end list of the best debut albums, and I assure you that Distorted Chants will be on it. Songs, performance, craft, it’s all locked in as Isaksen brings together pandemic-born material with a sensibility that avoids so many of the male-gaze-centered traps set for women artists in contemporary heavy music — it is not especially witchy despite its mindful ambience, in other words; the intent feels more ‘be itself’ than ‘play to style’ —  and that is refreshing both in terms of sonic persona and the realization of the material itself. The sound and the album are hers — bolstered in this case by the almost-goth guitar work of Arce — and the abiding feel from the music is personal, emotional in voice and style of play, while carrying not insignificant tonal weight from the first lurching riff of “Trauma” onward through the somewhat-brief-seeming sub-four-minute run. You could easily say the same of the whole record.

What’s invariably a sign of our times, “trauma” itself has become something of a buzzword. The very notion of a person’s mental and physical self being altered by some event or infliction is the defining aspect of the 2020s thus far — remember that plague? as Isaksen puts it, “Like magma traveling underneath the skin,” before she reminds: “The body does not forget” — and Distorted Chants is of this moment. She is not by any means the only artist to explore outside the confines of a ‘main project’ in the post-pandemic era, but turmoil and, indeed, trauma, become fluid movement through heavy haze in her hands and the density in the sound of “Trauma” is as much welcoming as it is consuming. There’s some distance from the experience, necessary for any artist to frame anything as a creative work, but Isaksen effectively creates the space for the song’s ideas to flourish, and they do.

I didn’t expect Arce, who plays on three of the album’s tracks, to appear in the clip, but sure enough he’s in there with Isaksen and Teigen, so right on. The more the merrier. And for what my saying so is worth, if you don’t support free talk therapy for all who want it, fuck off. Whatever else trauma is, it’s real for a lot of people.

Enjoy the clip, followed by a quote from Isaksen and

Pia Isa, “Trauma (feat. Gary Arce)” video premiere

Pia Isa on “Trauma:

“I am thrilled to finally have the vinyl out and to celebrate it with the music video for the song Trauma. This is one of the most personal and heavy tracks on the album, graced with gorgeous guitar melodies by Gary Arce coming in over the massive riff guitars and Ole Teigen´s slow heavy drums. The song is dealing with difficult matter, where trauma is symbolised visually by smoke, lava and a volcanic outburst in the video. I tried to find a hopeful and empowering view on it and to me personally this is an example of how therapeutic music can really be and how it can transport you into a different mindset.”

Pia Isa is the solo project of bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen from Norwegian heavy psych/doom band Superlynx. She is now gearing up for the release of her debut solo album “Distorted Chants”, which features Ole Teigen (Superlynx) on drums and a guest appearance by guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere) on three of the songs.

Having played and written music for most of her life a solo album has been brewing in Pia’s mind for a long time. Finally everything has aligned for her first one to materialize and “Distorted Chants” was the result of that. As much as she loves playing with Superlynx (formed 2013) and other people her ideas for this album seemed more right to work through on her own.

Pia Isa, Distorted Chants (2022)

Pia Isa on Facebook

Pia Isa on Instagram

Pia Isa on Bandcamp

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Facebook

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: Pia Isaksen of Superlynx & Pia Isa

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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I create and play music with my band Superlynx and solo project PIA ISA. I am trying create and do things I love and that I find meaningful. I discovered that music was my thing when I was a kid and started playing piano when I was eight. A year later I started inventing little melodies and songs myself and it felt like a very exciting and almost magic thing. I started playing guitar when I was 13 and listened to a lot of music. The town I grew up in, called Moss, had a great music scene at the time and so many bands, so there were people to play with and places to practice. I moved to Oslo in my early twenties and played in a couple of bands there which later led on to forming Superlynx in 2013. Then I started my solo project last year after having thought about it for years and finally found time for it.

Describe your first musical memory.

The first memory that comes to mind is sitting on the floor in the living room as a maybe three or four year old with my mom, singing songs together from a children’s songbook. I was very excited about singing and learning songs. I also remember the first time I felt moved by music and tears suddenly came rolling just because it was so beautiful. I think I was around eight and a Grieg record was playing in the house.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

This is a tough question and it seems impossible to choose one. There are so many special moments to look back on, from gigs I have played – especially with Superlynx – to being in the audience at amazing gigs, to moments of connecting musically with other people and memorable creative times. One gig that comes to mind was in Berlin in July 2019 when Superlynx supported Weedeater in a packed venue in 40 ° C and everyone up front was dancing during our set. The heat was a challenge but there was such a special lovely energy in the room and we had so much fun that hot summer night with new and old friends. Playing live the very night Oslo opened again after covid lockdown last year was also something to remember. And finally making my solo album and then having someone whose music I have been a fan of for a long time, Gary Arce from Yawning Man, etc., play on it also stands out. Seeing Sleep in Oslo in 2012 with a group of friends was also very special. One of them, a very good friend of mine, passed away shortly after and I am grateful we got to make this last great memory. Sorry, this question brings up many things. I will stop here.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I always assume that people are kind and honest. That has led to disappointment more than once and I think I have become a little less naive as I have gotten older.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To different things for different people. I guess also to more insight and to a broader “toolbox” for your ideas and what you want to express.

How do you define success?

Doing what you love, what is important to you and what makes you happy. When it comes to music I think it is something like creative fulfillment and when the music, words, performance, mood and sound just feel right all together. The feeling of having created a work you can fully stand behind and feel happy with. And if someone else connects to it and gets some meaning, comfort, good times, a needed escape or maybe even help dealing with things through it that is a wonderful thing. Like so much music has done for me. It wouldn’t hurt to sell a lot of records and tour the world but being able to do what you love and having good people around is pretty successful I would say.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

On a selfish level a lot of things. Violence, sexism, racism, sickness, injustice, the climate crisis etc. It would have been easier to not have seen or experienced any of it. But in the bigger picture I don’t think it is a very good solution to look away from the truth and pretend these problems don’t exist.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

More music of course, and I would also like to do some more collaborations. It would also be exciting to do some music for moving images or a film some time. And I wish to do more graphic art of my own that I have many ideas for and that I hope will be possible to realize sometime in the future.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Connection, catharsis, escape, deeper understanding of life, transcendence, hope. To express and communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings from our very inner core in a way that nothing else can, on more and on deeper levels. To help understand ourselves, each other and the world better and it definitely connects us and makes life more interesting.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I am looking so much forward to summer which is finally beginning to kick in here, and to daily swims in the ocean when the sea gets warm enough. It is getting there. To me this is one of the very best things in life.

www.facebook.com/piaisamusic
www.instagram.com/piaisamusic
www.piaisa.bandcamp.com

www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords

https://www.facebook.com/superlynxovdoom
https://www.instagram.com/superlynxdoom/
https://superlynx.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
https://www.darkessencerecords.no/
https://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/

Pia Isa, Distorted Chants (2022)

Superlynx, Electric Temple (2021)

Oslo, Norway’s Pia Isa will release her debut solo album, Distorted Chants, on March 25 through Argonauta Records. Also known as the bassist/vocalist of melodic and atmospheric heavybringers Superlynx, Isa — née Isaksen — found herself embarking on the endeavor during the addled course of 2020, and there is a certain element of that which shows up in the 10-song procession of the record. At 36 minutes, Distorted Chants speaks to the listener in a melancholic blend of low rumble and high melody. Songs are slow and emotionally resonant without melodrama, and on average, they grow shorter as time passes — nothing after the opening salvo of “Follow the Sun” (video premiering below), “Statistics” and “Quiet Beach” is over four minutes long — giving the effect of flashes, glimpses of memories already fading.

It is weighted, to be sure. Heavy. Isaksen wants nothing for tonal density and she’s joined by Ole Teigen, who also drums in Superlynx (he also produced here), so while the ambience is different between the two projects, that underlying familiarity is there, and it presumably helps hold together the proceedings as the depths of a song like “Statistics” are cast, or “Trauma” as the midsection guitar solo is introduced as if to emphasize just how low the band has dug. Is that you, Gary Arce? The Yawning Man guitarist/desert rock progenitor guests on three of Distorted Chants‘ tracks, “Follow the Sun” among them, but even there his signature tone is less identifiable than in some other contexts — though I’d believe that’s him following the doomed lumber of “A Hopeful Reminder” — which just means it fits better than one might expect amid the semi-goth, heavygaze, post-rock brooding of “Sleepless” or “No Straight Line.”

At just 3:10, “Mantra” is nonetheless duly repetitive and ethereal, and its no-lyrics vocalizations still feel substantial given the march the song undertakes en route to the thicker lo-fi of “Every Tree” and the finale “Velvet Dreams,” which is righteous in its consistent downtroddenness; it sounds like where I wish Electric Wizard would’ve gone after Black Masses. Completely hypnotized by its own execution, but still conveying emotion to the audience. It ends cold, which also feels just about right considering the nature of the outing as a whole.

If you’ve been alive for the last two years, the specific loneliness and universal sense of loss imbued into Distorted Chants are recognizable, relatable. One can’t help but wonder how the album — which may or may not have a follow-up by then; one never knows with solo/side-projects — will sound five years from now, if that feeling of documenting that moment will continue to ring through or if the association will fade. Depends on plague, I guess, like so much else. I’ll note that I haven’t seen a lyric sheet, so I’m not trying to sit here and tell you she’s definitively writing “Statistics” about those statistics, just that sadness, the examination of self, the rerouting of creative impulses — all of these things have found a place in the shared human daily existence. By the same token, Distorted Chants isn’t without its light — Isaksen credits it largely to Arce‘s involvement; I hear it no less in her own melodies at points; why argue? — and while I wouldn’t quite call it “daring to hope,” it’s maybe daring to think about daring to dare. One step at a time, and so on.

“Follow the Sun” — not a cover of The Beatles‘ “I’ll Follow the Sun,” but probably aware of it — is the first single from Distorted Chants, for which Isaksen also handled the cover art, and you’ll find the video premiering below, followed by some comment from the auteur herself.

Please enjoy:

Pia Isa, “Follow the Sun” video premiere

Pia Isa on “Follow the Sun”:

I am excited to share Follow the Sun as the first single from the album. It was also one of the first songs I wrote for this project, and it sort of ignited a writing process where songs just came flowing. The track is a reminder that light will always come after the dark, that it is really always there, and of trying to hang onto that fact even when it is hard to. I am really lucky to have Gary Arce with me on this song, sprinkling his magic guitar tones over my heavier floating guitars. I love how it comes and goes and shines through more and more and I feel it really represents the sunlight in this soundscape. I also love how Ole’s drums and long chiming cymbals turned out on this song and the entire album.

The video is made by Joan Pople / Temple ov Saturn who also did a Superlynx video earlier this year. We had very similar ideas on how to represent a battle between darkness and light in the video, and she is just so great to work with.

PIA ISA is the solo project of bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen from Norwegian heavy psych/doom band Superlynx. She is now ready to share her debut solo album Distorted Chants, which features Ole Teigen (Superlynx etc) on drums and a guest appearance by guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere etc.) on three of the songs.

Having played and written music for most of her life a solo album has been brewing in Pia’s mind for a long time. Finally everything has aligned for her first one to materialize, and Distorted Chants was recorded early 2021. As much as she loves playing with Superlynx (formed 2013) and other people her ideas for this album seemed more right to work through on her own.

All songs and lyrics are written by Pia who also plays guitars and bass in addition to singing. Gary Arce from Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere, Yawning Sons, Ten East, ZUN etc. has joined in with dreamy guitars on three songs, and drums and percussion is played by Superlynx drummer Ole Teigen who also recorded, mixed and produced the album in his studio Crowtown Recordings.

Pia Isa on Facebook

Pia Isa on Instagram

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Facebook