Ultralyd
Ultralyd is a new group from Stavanger, Norway, playing music influenced by improvised and electronic music, punk, metal and noise. The music reflects that there are 34 years between the oldest and the youngest member of the group: new and old dreams!
Frode Gjerstad has for many years been one of the main free improvisers in Norway. His relationship with John Stevens which started in '81 and lasted up until his death in '94 was of great importance both musically as well as on a personal level. Through Stevens, he was introduced to some of the finest British improvisers and got to know their way of playing quite well. He has also played and recorded with many US-based musicians like Borah Bergmann, Hamid Drake, William Parker, Bobby Bradford and Rashid Bakr as well as with German Peter Brøtzmann. He now has his first all-Norwegian trio with Øyvind Storesund and Paal Nilssen-Love with whom he has toured Europe and North America.
Anders Hana (guitar/electronics) is a very energetic guitarist as well as promoter of left field musics.
Kjetil D Brandsdal, electric bass, has appeared on close to 50 releases over the past ten years, either solo or in various band formats. His work has been released by labels such as Ecstatic Peace!, Swill Radio, Corpus Hermeticum, Voices of Wonder and Smalltown Supersound. His main venture, Noxagt, began in 1998 as an experimental electronic rock project, mixing grindcore and punk with musique concrè:te. In 2001, Noxagt gradually evolved from a one-man-band into an intrumental rock group consisting of Kjetil D Brandsal, Nils Erga and Jan Christian L Kyvik. As a trio, Noxagt has released two critically acclaimed albums, Turning It Down Since 2001
(Load Records, 2003) and The Iron Point
(Load Records, 2004).
Morten J. Olsen, percussion, is active in the improv/contemporary music scene in Amsterdam. Part of the N-collective.
Photography: Johnny Bates.