Backworlds

Composed in 2000 and recorded in 2001. The concept of "Backworlds" was born through looped improvisations based on a looper pedal. However, the song was recorded into ProTools without any loopers.

I wanted to cross electronic sounds with something more organic, so I recorded the entire piece with an acoustic guitar and a bunch of effects. 

Recording equipment and effects was mostly outboard at the time and not "in the box" like today.

I still kinda like the attitude that comes with recording this way. It's more of a "do it now" approach. Very musical and great at getting things done. 

The song is partly influenced by "north eastern" traditional music which I grew to love over the years. Its subtle, but was the main drive for the song. (I was mostly known for my "south eastern" influences back then and probably still are).

There are no «dynamics processing» in the mix itself, and trying to process the mix on a "per track basis" ruins the song structure, as the lead elements drifts between 20 tracks (over the course of the song).

It was recorded in an hour, after rehearsing for a show with the band "Woo", but the preparation took much longer. (Pre-production for me can take, everything from six months to 6 years+)  The drums was added at a later stage, and was performed by Geir Arne Ose.

One of my favourite looper units. I used to have two of these back then.

Inage: audiofanzine.com

Sensual Soirée

"Sensual Soirée" was written in the summer of 1992, though much of the song is improvised. 

It was written as a live piece and was meant to change and evolve during concerts. 

It was recorded at a live show in 2000.

Improvised vocals from singer Stig Sandbakk was also a common (and effective) part of the live shows at the time. They are not included here, as they're not part of the original composition and thought. 

"Sensual Soirée"  is an instrumental and improvisational piece that belonged to the stage. 

Recorded by Erik Valderhaug at Lydkjelleren AS

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Performing in Oslo.

From right: Stig Sandbakk and Geir Satre

Photo: Jakob Berg

You Are Holding Me Back

"You Are Holding Me Back" was originally a mellow, spacious, canon kind of thing. 

It was written in a 6 week period with lots of experimentation by myself.  The year was 2000, around summertime.

I made the loop after some improvisations, sped it up and made a new arrangement onto the loop. The more I worked on "You Are Holding Me Back", it became more funky. 

I love Motown, the production, the musicians, the instruments. I kind of grew up on it as a kid. I have spent much time listening to and trying to emulate the qualities of the clavinet.  And this is one of the songs were I tried to go for that 60-70’s clavinet feel on the guitar. 

I remember we used to push it real hard during shows. I cranked two amps up on full for the ending.  To be able to play the arrangement and all the notes live, I used a Gibson double necked guitar and played each string separately on the 12 string neck 

In fact, I was so fascinated by the twin neck guitar that it almost became a problem. I started to use it on 90 percent of the live material. It was a heavy guitar to drag around, and I had to carry it about 8 km to and from rehearsals.  And we rehearsed 5 hours, 5 days a week at the very least. 

I remember lying on the couch to the very moment of the gig because of the back and shoulder pains caused by this guitar. :)

Additional musicians:

Geir Arne Ose: drums.

Geir Satre performing with his beloved double-neck at Vaskeriet, Kristiansand, (2002)

Image source: NRK