motel void

MOTEL VOID: Glassmanet has been described as “one of the most mysterious figures in Norwegian dream pop/shoegaze.” How do you feel about that title, and how does it reflect your artistic identity?

GLASSMANET: That description came from a review of one of my previous releases in a Norwegian student magazine / student radio. In one of their radio shows, they said that they had been trying to figure out who was behind the project, and had looked everywhere on the internet without solving the mystery, so that was very fun to hear.

I´ve been releasing sound waves anonymously as Glassmanet since 2020, mainly because I wanted the music and art to be in focus, and I also wanted to start the project at my own pace without any interference from others. At this point pretty much all my friends know about the project and many of them come to our live shows, which is great. I still enjoy running the project without my name or face being very visible, as I am also a bit shy when it comes to that.

I´ve always wanted to do an anonymous project, like the band The Residents, who have managed to keep their identities hidden for over 50 years. I´m not sure if that will be the case with Glassmanet, as it’s been a struggle to keep my identity completely anonymous as we play more shows and have done more interviews recently. But I do enjoy keeping some of the mystery, to separate the artistic universe of Glassmanet from the person behind it, who is really just an awkward office worker with too many projects, haha.

MOTEL VOID: You’ve recently transitioned from a solo project to a trio based in Oslo. How has this shift influenced your creative process and live performances?

GLASSMANET: Glassmanet started as a solo project during the pandemic in 2020, where the isolation pushed me to finally release music I had created on my own, after being involved in several bands earlier. In 2022 I started getting requests to perform live, and I got in contact with some local musicians to join for a couple of live shows, and they also joined me one day in studio to record drums and bass for the song “Enter the Deep” from my previous EP. When I moved to Oslo in January this year,

I searched for musicians to evolve Glassmanet into a proper band, and so bassist Hannah Mørtl and drummer Embrik Berge reached out. They are both brilliant musicians and great people who are a lot of fun to work with and hang out.

Since they joined, Glassmanet has evolved into a more collaborative project where everyone contributes to developing the music and progress of the band. This year we have done more live shows and evolved the sound waves into sounding better than ever before.

MOTEL VOID: Your new EP FLOW completes your double-EP project. Can you share the inspiration behind this project? What was the recording process like?

GLASSMANET: It’s a two part “duality” project, where “EBB” is darker and more melancholic, which is reflected in both the music, artwork and lyrics of the EP. “FLOW” is brighter and more dreamy, and deals with themes of moving on, looking forward and finding inspiration.

The drums and bass on one of the tracks on “EBB” was recorded in a studio with my previous band mates. Then they got stuck with exams, so I ended up recording the vocals and the other instruments on the song, as well as everything else on the two other tracks on the EP at home by myself. My friend Joseph Beaty, who is an amazing musician and producer based in the US, helped me finalize the mix and also added a bit of guitar and electronic drums to the “EBB” EP.

The songs on “FLOW” were based on rough demos I made before, and just after I moved to Oslo. Together with Hannah and Embrik, we developed the ideas further into proper songs, and recorded them in a studio with the brilliant producer Kenneth Ishak who engineered, co-produced and mixed the “FLOW” EP. We also recorded synths at Hannah’s apartment, and I recorded vocal harmonies and violin at home.

MOTEL VOID: What artists or experiences have shaped your eclectic blend of dream pop, shoegaze, and psychedelia?

GLASSMANET: I guess it’s due to listening to a lot of different music since growing up, and always trying to find things I haven’t heard before. I played violin as a kid, and my first favorite music was mostly classical, in addition to the Norwegian electronic band Röyksopp. In my early teens I listened to a lot of 80s music, such as The Cure, which led me to discover shoegaze bands like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. In high school I deep-dived into weird music, like The Residents mentioned above, and the brilliant British band Cardiacs, which made me interested in unusual sounds and song structures. From there I got into progressive rock (like King Crimson), psychedelic music (like Pink Floyd) and jazz (Such as many John Zorn albums blending various genres with jazz).

In the meantime I had also started experimenting with recording layers of different sounds with acoustic guitar, vocals and violin. When I got my first electric guitar in 2016, I also started listening to a lot of contemporary psychedelic music, like Tame Impala and Connan Mockasin, who use a lot of the guitar effects that I really enjoy.

So, the short answer is, listening to a lot of different music and experimenting with blending different soundscapes and styles.

MOTEL VOID: Do you have any upcoming gigs planned for the rest of this year or in 2025?

GLASSMANET: The 12th of December we are performing our first ever UK show at Third Man Records in London with our friends in the British psych band Looking Glass Alice. We are also planning to perform more in Norway early next year, and hopefully also in other european countries.