The guys at The Quietus caught up with Goat at the end opt last year and asked them some questions:
2014 marked another jam-packed year of touring for Swedish psych-rockers Goat. We caught up with them to discuss their spiritual approach to music
Last year saw the release of the oft-mysterious Goat's second album, Commune, a tight, confident fusion of tribal beats, psychedelic flourishes, ritualised vocals and crunchy guitars. Goat were largely unknown outside of their native Sweden until their brilliant debut album World Music started showing up on best-of lists in 2012, a start they consolidated with live shows characterised by masks, dancing and shamanic affectation. While they may be a band that have figured out how to rise above their secretive lore to make terrific rock & roll, we caught up with one anonymous member over the phone to see if we could crack the cipher of their mystique.
Did you expect World Music to score as big as it did?
Goat: I don't think we had any expectations at all. We just tried to make rock & roll, to make music, you know? Then we were fortunate with Rocket, who released it. We thought we might sell like a thousand copies and that would be fine, we get an album to enjoy ourselves and to give away to some friends. That was what we expected. And I think Rocket expected more or less the same as well. So it was a surprise.
When did you first realise it was taking off?
G: I don't know. Mostly because when we released the album, we went to the UK and did some shows, I think, at smaller venues. Then when we got back we did two Swedish shows and at both shows, people were lining up like way out in the streets. And we were like, what is this? But we did those two shows to finance the UK shows. And then suddenly the offers just exploded.
Can you describe the recording process of the new album, Commune?
G: We record ourselves in our own studio and we record on tapes with lousy equipment, really lousy. We record on a 16-track tape machine and we borrow mics. It's not a high-tech studio and it's not a high-tech recording at all. There's no editing afterwards. We mix it from tape down to a stereo channel in the computer and we play around and then we add a lot of stuff afterwards.
Read the interview in full here: The Quietus
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