Lister

By Torben Thorsø
Translated by Ida Mari Dreijer

The members of the band ‘beta satan’ from Århus have gained attention because of remarks like 99% of what’s happening on the music scene makes you vomit.

“But it’s pure stilted acting”, says the singer, Kåre Hansen, with a big smile before he turns serious again.

”This is because we are a band consisting of musical policemen, who first of all share an interest in hating and detesting most other artists in the world, and through this interest we find our own path. But this should not be understood as if we are a bunch of idiots who only complain”, he continues and explains that members of the band just love to debate and discuss the music around them. And that it is completely human to point out what you don’t like.

”What you like, well, that’s obvious, but then you can spend two hours talking about what you think is fucking annoying”, he concludes with persistent attitude.

“I also believe that everything originates from self-confidence, not from the music we create, but from self-confidence where all of us derive from zero”, Klaus Nielsen supplements, while Kåre completes the sentence.

“It’s a completely subjective point of view where you declare yourself to be judge and start out with the opinion that you’re the best in the world. Then it’s hard not to be best”. “It’s cool to be judge”, Klaus Nielsen says with a laugh.

A musical refuge

The members of beta satan are also strict judges when it comes to their own music, which has to be inspired by curiosity and freedom.

”What is essential is something as tied to clichés as complete freedom. In all other aspects of life you are tied to compromises and expectations, which is okay, because we’re capable of playing different roles, but when it comes to music, we just want to do what suits us. The fact that you have joined an orchestra consisting of five persons with whom you also have to get along, only contributes to the challenge. Generally speaking, I want to stress that it is a refuge where we do what the hell we feel like. Not to say that this means that we are talking about an all-up-in-the-air hippie term saying that everything is great as long as we are happy. No, it’s a place, where we look for results and quality. We discuss to death, write about and criticise our own music. It’s very passionate, but all comes from complete freedom. If somebody woke up and thought that working with music was as tough, in the bad sense, as working and relationships, then we wouldn’t do it any more”, Kåre says and Klaus supports him. 

“The process needs to have some sense of entertainment value. It has to be cool, otherwise it doesn’t work”.

Satan misses closeness

It becomes clear that it is the two former members of Tiger Tunes who are the most outgoing in the band. There’s no doubt, however, that the wish for creating different music, which can shake up the stage, is a shared project in the band.

”We’ve been in lack op closeness and personal enthusiasm, where we are free of the shackles of business”, Johannes Gammelby explains and continues,
”Just because we state that something else is bad, it doesn’t mean that we don’t come out with something new. We don’t just sit on the sideline and criticise”.

”What we do is exactly to give an offering of some music, because otherwise it’s easy just to put down other bands”, Morten Riis emphasises, while Kåre describes the debut album beta satan is about to release. ”It includes closeness and real love. It might be a bit challenging, but there’s no hidden agenda of business”, he emphasises before he returns to studying the festival program and reads out loud.

”Just listen”, he says with great assumed seriousness, “In retrospect, the wonder voice can already look at a great career. Her sensitive and acustic pop music has gained recognition both at home and internationally.”

”Ahh, Tina Dickow”, the rest of the band exclaim jointly, and there is no doubt about the song bird has been a much discussed subject in the band while dealing with their own musical direction.