Michael Risberg (Elder)

Standing at the forefront of the heavy Progressive Psych Rock scene for a few years now, Elder recently unveiled the next chapter to their itinerary with Omens, out on Stickman Records (EU) and Armageddon Shop (US). True to form, the album brings us on a journey, floating through the air, best consumed in full listening mode, and letting your mind wander into its own storyline inspired by the music. Albeit less heavy than its predecessors, this set of songs still feature the signature harmonic guitars, over solid basslines and strong work by new drummer Georg Edert. This more Progressive and ethereal sound is also the perfect channel to highlight guitarist/keyboardist Michael Risberg’s contribution, such as on later passages of the song Embers. Here’s what his musical universe looks like.

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Which music genre do you listen to the most? List your five favorite albums in that genre.
I guess the genre I gravitate to the most is “Psychedelic” music. Music that has the ability to kind of transport you to a different place, induce some sort of meditative state or music that simply has a lot of color and texture to it. This evades the ability to be defined by a single genre, but the Psych music I connect with the most typically falls under the umbrella of Rock music or at the very least tends to have the usual suspects of electric guitars, bass and drums. That being said, there is so much music which is not covered by that umbrella that’s dripping with psychedelia. The worlds found within the Jazz, Indian, Electronic and Classical canons are stockpiled with so much crazy, weird, colorful, trippy, dark, heavy spiritual Psychedelic music within them, but which are rarely associated with Psychedelic music in the mainstream context. My favorite albums are always shapeshifting so here are just a few albums I’ve been munching on recently and some I’ve been digesting for a long time.

TORTOISE – TNT
JOHN COLTRANE – A Love Supreme
PHISH – The Siket Disc
WAND – Laughing Matter
GRATEFUL DEAD – Europe ‘72 & 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon
TRÄDEN – Träden
BILL FRISELL – East/West
YES – Close To The Edge

I know it’s more than five….. Sorry 🙂

Pick one of the following top 5 to list: five best guitarists, five best bassists, five best drummers, five best producers, five best vocalists)
That question is too hard for me to answer, but Steve Cropper would make the grade for a few of those categories…

What’s the album you’ve listened to the most in your life? Do you still listen to it?
Hmmmm. This is kind of tough one to answer, but I would have to guess that it would be Europe ‘72 by the GRATEFUL DEAD. I still listen to it and probably more than I would like to admit. More specifically, I keep coming back to the song Jack Straw. There is just something so unique and expansive about that tune that just brings me to a special place that I keep wanting to go back to. I don’t know why, but the sound they had at time is so three-dimensional to my ears. You can hear every single note, the occasional kick pedal squeak, the sound of the room they were playing, every string in such detail it blows my mind. This era of the Dead had a particular energy and had a harmonious balance of amazing songwriting, lyrics, Americana, psychedelia and meandering yet concise jamming.

I found my first copy of Europe ‘72 in my cousin Thomas’ basement around 9th grade or so. When I first got it, I had a turntable but no receiver so I used to take a piece of paper and turn it into cone similar to an ear trumpet hearing aid (had to google that one) and I would just listen to the raw unamplified sound that came from the needle hitting the grooves in the record. However, the only track I could really hear was One More Saturday Night as it’s the loudest one….

Do you remember the first time music had an impact on you?
I have a few early memories where I remember being struck by music. However, the first one I remember goes way back to however old one is when you’re actively watching Mister Rogers. I remember one time watching an episode where he played a song with an acoustic guitar. At the time I had some sort of toy or small guitar kicking around. I had a burst of inspiration and tried to play along with the Mr. Rogers song, but I couldn’t figure out how so I immediately smashed my little guitar in the closet in my bedroom. I’d probably be a much better picker these days if I didn’t do that, but I guess frustration is a big part of the musical process.

What were you listening to in elementary school? Then in high school? How much of that music is still a part of your playlists today? How have your musical tastes evolved since?
I started to really dive into the world of music around 7th grade. I started off with the usual Classic Rock suspects like HENDRIX, ZEPPELIN, ALLMAN BROTHERS, but I was also really into NIRVANA and some stuff in that sphere as well. Around 8th grade my best buddy Jon and I also started getting into deep Funk, Soul, Reggae, Jazz, but a ton of other music as well. We started a band and started writing white suburban kid Funk Rock music. We started off writing our own songs, but also covering early FUNKADELIC stuff, deeper cuts like JOHNNY GUITAR WATSON, WAR, but also TALKING HEADS and stuff like that. Howard, the father of our drummer, played in arguably the first American Reggae band in the mid 70s and had an INSANE collection of Jazz, Funk and all this original incredibly rare Reggae shit he used to bring back with him from his travels to Jamaica where he’d be recording and maybe bringing other stuff with him if I had to guess. He had crazy original stuff like soundboard tape recordings from BOB MARLEY at the Apollo and to all these Reggae singles I’ve never seen since and such. I spent a good amount of time trying to digitize a lot of these records in his basement. Sadly, all of these records were destroyed in a flood and the hard drive that had all my digitized files I stupidly lent to a “producer/dj” friend who wanted to sample some stuff before backing it all up. He was a huge stoner and somehow managed to erase my hard drive so all of these one of a kind recordings are potentially forever lost to time. 

My high school times were predominantly spent listening to bands such as FUNKADELIC, HENDRIX, ALLMANS, MILES DAVIS, COLTRANE, FREDDIE HUBBARD, WHITEFIELD BROTHERS, MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD, all the Daptone Records bands, Soul Fire Records… My hometown was blessed to have had an amazing record store. It was called “Sound Station” and it was about a 20 minutes walk from my house. The owner, Bob, was a really cool dude and would let my friends and I hang out and sit on milk crates in the store and he would just spin all types of crazy music from Jazz, Punk, Hip Hop, Metal, Folk, Noise, Funk, Afrobeat. Tragically, Sound Station burned down and never reopened. I’m not quite sure where I and a lot of my friends would be these days without that place as it was such a hub for music geeks and spawned a lot of future musicians.
Honestly, it’s kind of hard to remember what exactly I was listening to those days as it was all over the map due to the sheer volume I was listening to, but through those times I discovered that I gravitate towards largely instrumental experimental improvisational based music. However, I don’t find myself listening to a lot of more traditional Jazz music nor Funk music these days. I think I got burnt out on the sound of the saxophone.

What beloved music do you share with your parents? Any specific memories?
I was lucky enough to be able to pillage my Dad cd collection (sadly he threw out his LP collection in the 90’s) when I started getting into music in early middle school. He more or less had the standard Classic Rock selection of a 50 year old white dude, but there was a lot of good stuff in there that helped build parts of my musical foundation. He had most of the HENDRIX collection, CREAM, ALLMAN BROTHERS, but he also had a good amount of Soul music like OTIS REDDING, BOOKER T & THE MGS, and JAMES BROWN.

He also had some classic Country records which I also love and especially when I was learning to play banjo in a Bluegrass band for a few years. His favorite artist is HANK WILLIAMS and I pretty much always hear a little Hank when I’m back home.

Is there any band that you’ve always wanted to see live but never had the chance to catch them? Any classic show that you wish you could have experienced?
Hmm. Man, there are sooo many bands I would have loved to have seen who are either deceased or not active. I would love to have seen COLTRANE in his heyday playing the Village Vanguard with Dolphy and the classic quartet. Those recordings are fucking insane. Maybe the DEAD’s infamous 5/8/77 Barton Hall show just to see if the conspiracy is true or not or maybe a good ‘74 show to experience the Wall of Sound in person. I’d love to have seen PINK FLOYD at the Wembley’74 show or their run at the Rainbow Theatre in ‘72 right before they recorded Dark Side. Those bootlegs are killer and I would love to hear those tunes at stadium volume. New Years day ‘70 at the Fillmore East HENDRIX recorded Machine Gun with the Band of Gypsys….. I would love to have seen YES in their heyday as well.

What is the most impressive band you’ve toured with? The one that you just had to watch every night? Did you learn anything from them/by watching them?
I’m still somewhat of a touring rookie as I’ve only been hitting the road with Elder for about three years so I personally haven’t toured with a ton of bands. That being said, the best band I’ve ever toured with would be KING BUFFALO. They’re amazingly consistent band and sound fucking killer every night. They also don’t mess around with loading in and loading out every night and knew how to pack a trailer which I admired. Sean was also our sound guy for a tour and he wouldn’t be shy in sharing his opinion about my guitar tone and what it needed in terms of EQ, gain, etc. This helped me a lot because at that time I didn’t have a ton of experience with heavily distorted sounds and it was valuable for me to have an ear that I trusted in front of house and who could provide feedback. They’re all also pretty damn good at Bass Masters Classic Pro…

What are some of your all-time favorite music books and/or zines, documentaries, biopics?
Off the top of my head……. “Beneath the Underdog” by Mingus. “Miles: The Autobiography” by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe. “Our Band Could Be Your Life” by Michael Azzerrad. “On the Road” by Kerouac is not a book solely about music, but I loved reading his crazy interpretations on Jazz/Bop in the book. Heavy Metal Parking Lot…..

Is there any classic / universally acclaimed artist that you missed out on when they first came out and discovered way later? Any artist that you didn’t like at first and learned to appreciate over time?
I recently came into listening and digging some TOOL albums. Growing up I wasn’t into them, but I really didn’t care for most bands in that sphere of music at all. However, after coming to know them a wee bit personally and really listening to them for the first time when their new album dropped I find some of their music rather mind blowing and so well executed.

Do you have an artist that you love in a genre that you don’t usually listen to? What makes them stand out? (Eg: I don’t really listen to much country but I love Hank Williams)
I find that most New Age music is just kind of…….. lame. It’s almost cool as it’s on the cusp of a few genres that I dig like Ambient, Drone and like Indian music. However, it’s often just like some “yogi” making some crappy music with a laptop or some singing bowls they just bought and somehow they instantly become sound healers. For the record, I do 100% believe in the healing power of sound and I’m lucky to have friends who have truly dedicated and are incredible at this type of practice  and I am all for people making music at all levels, but damn, I’ve had to endure so much blah New Agey music at times.

All genres of music have diamonds in the rough, but in my opinion the LARAAJI has the highest lustre when it comes to New Age music, although I don’t want to pigeon hole him into that category. Laraaji is a multi-instrumentalist that is most well known for playing zither and autoharps in altered tunings and for a collaboration he did with BRIAN ENO on Ambient 3: Day of Radiance. I love his work with Eno, but I also really love his solo albums such as Vision Songs and Celestial Vibrations. These albums simply just make me happy and there is a lot of wisdom within his lyrics such as the tune All of a Sudden. He gets these really amazing ethereal sounds out of an autoharp. I heard from someone that he was an understudy of Alice Coltrane which kind of makes sense to me, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. I was lucky to catch him live a few years back and it was epic.

PS Hank Williams is my Dad’s favorite artist. I love Hank. It kind of feels like my bucket’s got a hole in it these days with all our tours being cancelled and such.

Do you have any unpopular music opinion that you would like to defend? Something that you love and yet can hardly find anyone to agree on how great it is?
The band PHISH is like licorice. A lot of people really can’t stand the taste, but the people who do like it tend to REALLY like it or maybe these people just found the licorice flavored Cheeba Chews. Despite having seen Phish around 70 times and witnessing them improvise some of the most intense Psychedelic Rock being in front of 20,000+ spun people it still is hard at times to defend them when Sparkle or The Mango Song comes up on shuffle in the band van.

What band or artist do you believe has achieved the most flawless sequence of 3 records in a row?
Pretty much every album that PINK FLOYD released during the 1970’s were groundbreaking, amazing concept albums that were way ahead of their times. They really kind of pushed the envelope in what an album could/should be and what was possible to achieve in the studio.

What albums have been on heavy rotation lately?
WAND – Laughing Matter, Plum & Golem. There’s something about the way this band successfully mixes so many genres of music.

What are you listening to right now, while answering these questions?
PINK FLOYD – Live in Wembley ‘74
DAN PHELPS & MATT CHAMBERLAIN – Modular
GENESIS – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
TRÄDEN (Träd Gräs Och Stenar) – Self-Titled
JORDSJØ – Nattfiolen

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