Introducing: Melt Motif

A band of contrasts, Melt Motif features members from São Paulo in Brazil and Bergen in Norway. They were signed to Norway’s Apollon Records before even releasing a song, and when we heard the sweetly dark trip-hop tones of Sleep, it was obvious why. We spoke to the band to find out more about the people behind the music, plus their love of Portishead and David Lynch.

First up, could you tell us a bit about the people behind Melt Motif?

Kenneth: I started this project about a year ago, with no bigger agenda than creating some music. I invited Rakel to join shortly after. She’s an experienced singer from choir music and operas, but I knew her voice would be perfect for Melt Motif as well. It ended up in the track Blood, and we were so happy with the result, that we decided to make more out of it.  At that point, I also knew I needed a skilled mixing engineer who was into this kind of sound, and finally, I found Joe Irente. It’s not much we disagree on, and the fact that he is in Brazil, and we are in Norway has not been a challenge at all. He lifted the sound from the first moment. When all tracks for the album were done, it was pretty obvious that Joe had to be a part of the band.

What inspires you to write?

Kenneth: I’ve been working with creativity all my life, as a designer and creative director, and inspiration comes easy to me. It can be a movie, a person, something that happened, or listening to other artists.

Who has had the most influence on your sound?

Kenneth: A non-technical answer is, David Lynch! We tend to be very excited about artists that dare to be different and take their sound and art to the more extreme. And Mr. Lynch is in his own dimension when it comes to uncompromised storytelling and art. But for a studio answer, I leave that to Joe

Joe: I’d say HEALTH for the electronics, Grimes for the vocal processing, and even some Rammstein for the guitars.

Rakel: I can sing what people would describe as ‘pretty.’ But that doesn’t make sense for this project, and I love how my voice is sort of destroyed and chopped into pieces in many of our songs. That brings out that eerie feeling, and it’s for sure inspired by David Lynch, who I know we all love.

What has been the biggest highlight of your musical career so far?

Rakel: With my choir, I have been nominated for a Grammy and I’ve had parts in operas, but if I have to pick one, it has to be that time I got to sing in the beautiful Notre Dame in Paris. I’m also very excited about Melt Motif of course, but it’s at a starting point and only time will tell where it takes us.

Joe: Of course, my first band, Dolphinkids, is what inspired me to pursue a career in music, but the biggest highlight is right now! Besides Melt Motif, I’m mixing quite a few projects that I love.

Kenneth: Last time I was in a band was when I could only play three out-of-tune chords and we just made noise, so the highlight is every time we finish a new track with Melt Motif.

A White Horse Will Take You Home by Melt Motif

How does the creative process work within Melt Motif?

Kenneth: For the upcoming album, all tracks started with me creating the basis of the tracks. Then they evolved when adding Rakel’s vocals and Joe got creative freedom to re-arrange, add instruments, and sometimes completely change the feel of the song.

Joe: I started this as a pretty invasive mixing engineer, reimagining Ken’s compositions. I’m glad he was open to my input! And some songs, like The City, were completely different.

Kenneth: For our next album we have a different approach. A track can start off as a simple sketch from one of us, and after sending it between us, the track comes to life.

What was the last album or song you listened to?

Rakel: Gone – SIERRA. Love it!

Joe: Rammstein – Zeit. Absolutely hate it! Won’t listen again.

Kenneth: Impossible – Röyksopp. 100 % love!

If you could support anyone, who would it be and why?

Kenneth: Haha, as we have yet to play a gig at all with Melt Motif, this is just hypothetical. But it has to be Portishead! Because I love them, and they have inspired me since Dummy. I never yet had the opportunity to see them live, so for that reason, Portishead!

What other bands or musicians do we need to be checking out right now?

Joe: When thinking about small acts, right now I’m very into O Future and 1 800 Pain; and of course, Street Sects, which is more well known.

Kenneth: Whatever HEALTH comes up with, about every fourth week. And äbvsd, just to challenge yourself to listen to music you probably thought was just meant for bunker parties in Berlin. Dig into it, and you will find that a raw repeating kick drum can be very musical and interesting. If you follow Melt Motif on Spotify, you will get it on your release radar in some months, as äbsvd is doing an awesome remix of Mine for us.

Rakel: KANGA. And SIERRA, of course!

Is there a specific moment or inspiration behind the lyrics to Sleep?

Kenneth: It started out as a sort of synth version of a sluggish Black Sabbath song, but as always, it evolves into something different. But you might still hear some Sabbath from the riff. For the lyrics, it’s one of our more straightforward songs. As most of our tracks have lyrics that are pretty difficult to completely understand – you know our love for David Lynch – Sleep is about being awake in the middle of the night when you should have been sleeping, hours ago.

What’s up next for Melt Motif?

Rakel: A lot! Our album is out on May 20th. It will not only be out on streaming platforms but on vinyl, CD and cassette too, thanks to our label Apollon Records. Shortly after that, we will release some singles and an EP of remixes made by other artists. We are also working on our next album planned for release in late 2022.

Find out more about Sleep and A White Horse Will Take You Home on Melt Motif’s Instagram and Facebook pages. They’re new to Twitter, so why not show them some love over there. You can stream the music of Melt Motif on Apple Music and Spotify.