Supersilent | |
---|---|
Origin | Norway |
Genres |
Avant-garde Experimental music |
Labels | Rune Grammofon |
Associated acts | Veslefrekk |
Members |
Arve Henriksen Helge Sten (aka Deathprod) Ståle Storløkken |
Past members | Jarle Vespestad |
Supersilent is a Norwegian avant-garde-improvisational music group formed at Nattjazz in Bergen in 1997 when the trio Veslefrekk was asked to play with Deathprod. The meeting of experimental jazz groups with Helge Sten's rumbling drones and noise was so successful that the quartet Supersilent appeared. That same year, their triple debut album 1-3 was released as the first release on the record label Rune Grammofon. The band attracted attention with their aggressive combination of improvised jazz, frirock and noise blowouts. They are known for making only improvised music and for the distinctive uniformity of their album covers.
Many details regarding the band suggests jazz as a classification: three of the four members of the band were formally educated as jazz musicians, the group regularly participate in jazz festivals, and their approach is to a certain extent informed by more amorphous, freer forms of jazz. However, their prominent use of electronic instrumentation such as synthesizers, theremin, loop pedals, and tape loops, as well as the rejection of traditional jazz structures, leads some to place the group's music outside their personal conception of the jazz genre.
Supersilent was formed in 1997, when the free jazz trio Veslefrekk (Arve Henriksen on trumpet, keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, and Jarle Vespestad on drums) played a concert with producer and live electronics artist Helge Sten (also known as Deathprod). The concert encouraged them to record a three-disc, three-hour compilation of abrasive improvised material, simply titled 1-3, which was the label Rune Grammofon's first release in 1997. The name Supersilent derives from a logo on a truck seen in Oslo by the group around the time of these sessions.