Three piece heavypsych/doom band SUPERLYNX from Norway, consisting of Pia Isaksen on vocals and bass, Daniel Bakken on guitar and Ole Teigen on drums (and with additional live guitarist Espen Krøll), are on the brink of releasing their fourth full-length album “4 10” through Argonauta Records. Their previous one, “Electric Temple“ (2021), received nothing but good reviews from fans and the press, so the expectations for “4 10“ are high. We asked Pia about the meaning of the title of the new album and her further solo plans.
INTERVIEW BY: HENK VAN NIEUWENHOVEN
HELLO PIA, HERE WE ARE AGAIN, TWO YEARS AFTER OUR LAST INTERVIEW IN 2021. DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER THAT?
Hello there, yes I do. Thank you for wanting to do another interview.
IN THAT INTERVIEW WE TALKED ABOUT THE THIRD SUPERLYNX ALBUM “ELECTRIC TEMPLE” AND AFTER THAT YOU RELEASED AN ALBUM UNDER YOUR OWN NAME CALLED “DISTORTED CHANTS” (2022). WERE THE SONGS ON THAT SOLO ALBUM TOO DIFFERENT TO FIT ON A SUPERLYNX ALBUM?
I feel so. Or maybe not too different, but too much me to put into that band context which is a lot about everyone in the band´s different approach and merging that together into a unifed expression. But that is not the main reason for making “Distorted Chants“. I had been thinking about doing a solo album for a long time, and things finally aligned for that to happen. I needed a creative outlet where I could work through some ideas on my own, and a more private process without compromises.
TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER “ELECTRIC TEMPLE”, THE RELEASE OF A BRAND NEW ALBUM IS BEING PLANNED ON SEPTEMBER 29TH WITH THE RATHER UNUSUAL TITLE “4 10”. JUST THAT, NO LETTERS, NO HYPHEN OR WHATSOEVER. PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US ABOUT WHAT “4 10” STANDS FOR?
“4 10” stands for album 4, year 10. It is our 4th full-length studio album and it is being released in our 10th year as a band. So it refects a little bit on our time and history as a band.
“4 10” WILL BE OUT ON ARGONAUTA RECORDS. WHY DID YOU SWITCH FROM DARK ESSENCE RECORDS TO ARGONAUTA RECORDS?
The people in Dark Essence are lovely and we’ve been happy to work with them. It was just time to move on I think, for both sides. We are very happy that Argonauta is doing this release.
THE TYPICAL COVER ART STYLE WITH THE BASIC COLOURS BLUE, PINK AND BLACK DECORATE ALL YOUR RELEASES SO FAR, INCLUDING “4 10”. WAS THAT ALL DONE BY YOURSELF?
Yes it was. I am a graphic designer too and used to work full time with that. It is very practical and beneficial to have a designer in the band. But I also did the design, because me and our drummer Ole had some visual ideas that came along with the music that I felt I could do myself.
YOU AND OLE TEIGEN HAVE WRITTEN ALL THE LYRICS FOR “4 10”. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN WRITING BETWEEN YOU AND OLE? HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING TOGETHER FOR THIS ALBUM?
I think we have a different writing language. They are both quite symbolic, but Ole´s are more abstract than mine, which are a little more direct and minimalistic, I guess. Yes, a few of the lyrics were written together on the new album, and then some are mine and some are his. But through the entire album creating process we talked a lot about ideas and what we wanted to say with this album.
“Nothing To Everything” means that everything has the potential to become something of significance. Any little thing can turn into inspiration, if not for yourself, then maybe for someone else”.
– PIA ISAKSEN –
WHAT MAKES “4 10” DIFFERENT FROM SUPERLYNX’S PREVIOUS ALBUMS “LVX”, “NEW MOON” AND “ELECTRIC TEMPLE”?
I think this album is very SUPERLYNX, but also a bit different. The entire writing process was different and that comes forward. This time, all the songs were created through jamming and improvisation by all three of us in the rehearsal space. No songs or riffs were written by anyone beforehand and then brought to the band. We pressed record ●, jammed and did a few sessions where we took the jams we liked and jammed them further into songs. We also feel like this album sounds more like how we sound live, and that is also a response we have gotten from people who have already heard it.
LET’S CONCENTRATE ON A FEW SONGS THAT ARE ON “4 10”. THE THIRD TRACK “HEAVIER THAN ME” STARTS WITH JUST DRUMS AND HAS A MORE SLOWER PACE THAN MOST OF THE OTHER SONGS. DID YOU WANT TO BREAK THE STEREOTYPICAL SOUND OF SUPERLYNX WITH THIS ONE?
We didn´t plan it like that or planned things like that in general. We just worked song by song.
AT THE END OF “THE UNKNOWN” THE BAND SUDDENLY INCREASES THE TEMPO QUITE A BIT. DID YOU WANT TO END THE SONG SO BADLY OR WERE YOU IN A HURRY? 🙂
This is not planned either. When recording everything live there will be imperfections. We did several takes on each song for the main album recording and the other versions of this one didn’t increase in tempo. We still chose the one we did because we liked the energy and felt that the tempo suited the mood of the song.
WHAT ARE THE SOUNDS AT THE BEGINNING OF “NOTHING TO EVERYTHING” AND WHAT DOES THE TITLE MEAN?
It is a sound from the guitar take which has been manipulated and looped. Ole just got the idea to try it out in the mixing process and we really liked it. “Nothing To Everything” means that everything, even the smallest thought or dream or spark of creation in anyone, has the potential to become something of significance, especially if you do something like try it out, share it with people, merge it with other thoughts, send it out somehow, etc. Any little thing can turn into inspiration, if not for yourself, then maybe for someone else. Like sometimes you just hear someone say a word a certain way and it suddenly gives you the exact spark you needed to suddenly write a song that makes sense in ten minutes or in an instant understand what you need to do with something you have really been wondering about. It is about sharing and creating and making something out of nothing. And sometimes this something feels like everything.
WHEN YOU ARE GOING ON TOUR WITH SUPERLYNX, WILL THE SETLIST CONSIST OF SONGS FROM THE LAST TWO ALBUMS ONLY OR ALL FOUR? HOW ABOUT SONGS FROM YOUR SOLO ALBUM?
Our setlist often changes a bit from gig to gig. We usually pick some songs from all our albums and will of course play a few from our new one. We are not playing my solo material, but I am thinking about doing something live with that on my own.
SPEAKING OF THAT, HAVE YOU PLANNED A SECOND SOLO ALBUM ALREADY FOR 2024?
Yes! The album was finished from the mastering studio only a few weeks ago and will come out next year.
FINAL QUESTION. CAN WE SET A DATE FOR THE NEXT INTERVIEW WITH YOU WHEN SUPERLYNX RELEASE THEIR FIFTH ALBUM IN 2025?
Sure we can!
WEBSITE: https://superlynxband.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/superlynxband
BANDCAMP: https://superlynx.bandcamp.com/album/4-10