Interviewee: Ketil
Year: 2009
Website: goat.as
MySpace: myspace.com/goatthehead
Label: TABU Records
Featured on: Loucifer Speaks Exclusive... So far!
Goat The Head's brand of Primitive Caveman Death Metal (yes, seriously!) has been pleasing my eardrums since I first picked up their album... Now, it was time for an interview:
Lou: Hi guys, thanks for agreeing to this interview. How are things with you today?
Ketil: Restless, depressed, yet optimistic.
Lou: For the benefit of the readers of LouciferSpeaks. com who may not have heard of you before, would you mind letting us know who is in the band?
Ketil: 4 more or less brilliant deviants from Trondheim, Norway.
Ketil-guitar,this interview
Peril-Vocals
Kenneth-drums
Trond-bass
Kenneth and Trond are wellknown dudes within jazz and rock in these parts of the world... While Peril and myself have spent most of our days in metal bands that often use as much time battling eachother, paranoia, drugs, being drunk, etc. As we have done being on the road and doing things bands are actually supposed to be doing.
Lou: How long have you been together?
Ketil: Aaawh, its been a few years now, even with a steady line up... I guess me and Peril started writing stuff while drunk back in 2004 or something...But then we just had some friends join us for a one-off gig, and the recording of our "Neander tales" EP. But as time went by we found out Goat the Head was more fun and rewarding than our "main" bands. So we made Goat the Head more of a priority. And we said among us that if we can get our first choices on bass and drums to join us in this project, then we'll take this to the next level. I think we've been a fully functional band since 2006. Well, we've actually never been fully functional, but thats different story.
Lou: Where does the name Goat The Head come from?
Ketil: It came from a dream that Peril dreamt. He had a vision in his dream, that he had to start a band called Goat the Head. At the same time, I was getting tired of playing other people..s boring slow songs. So i had a plan for a band but lacked a name, and Peril had a name, but not a clue what to do with it.
Lou: You have no idea how often "Simian Supremacy" has been on my MP3 player since it was released (A LOT!!!) and I've been itching to see you ever since. Do you have any UK gigs coming up?
Ketil: Unfortunately we have a special talent for fucking up every opportunity that crosses our path. So it seems like we wont be coming over anytime real soon..We had some tourplans going on recently, but we effectively put them to eternal rest by being assholes. Hopefully we will come to our senses and start releasing stuff and hitting the road again.
Lou: The last year or so has been pretty eventful for you. You released your debut full-length "Simian Supremacy" in 2007 and you were nominated for an award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods in 2008 (for "Darwinian Minions"). What has been the highlight for you so far?
Ketil: I'll have to say that our trip to Texas and the south by southwest festival was a huge experience. Not so much because we did anything that made a lot of sense music- or businesswise over there... But we had shitloads of fun and drinks. Also, our short tour of England and Scotland with 1349 was awesome. Other than that, we've been doing tons of incredibly stupid stuff.. Which suits us fine, so all the times when we..ve actually been doing something have been highlights.
Lou: What's the weirdest thing you've read about yourselves in the press?
Ketil: Everything thats written about us usually comes out a bit weird, but thats no surprise considering what we've been up to both on stage, on albums, the way we look, behave, and the topics we are dealing with etc... But a highlight in weirdness must be listening to a radio interview we did in Norway when we were really drunk... None of us could remember what we had been up to during the interview...But it all turned out great! The interview was hilarious. Though I dont think we came across as very bright individuals, but that has never been our goal either.
Lou: I couldn't get through this interview without mentioning the CD booklet for "Simian Supremacy". For the Loucifer Speaks readers out there who may not own this CD - go and get it now! The inlay looks like it's some kind of university text book! Truly a stroke of genius! Who's idea was it to present the album in such a way?
Ketil: That was something that came about after a chat with The Label manager at our record label. She was talking about the possibility of playing the "fun-card" etc when it came to marketing the band.. So we thought it would be a good idea to do the exact opposite. So we played the "Boring-card" instead. We wanted to make the booklet 40 pages and really hard to read, etc... The label could only afford a 20 page booklet, and even that had to cut into other parts of our budget.. But we said fuck it, being boring as hell is worth it. So we made an attempt to do a really boring schoolbook kind of booklet. Of course there are hints of bizarre stupidity and intelligence in there aswell.
Lou: What has the reaction from your fans been like towards "Simian Supremacy"?
Ketil: I dont think we had any fans before this album. So I guess the fans like the album, and those who arent fans are either indifferent to the album, or hate it.
Lou: What is your favourite track from it and why?
Ketil: Arrrrh, tough question! I get a really weird relationship with our songs after a while... I'm always just dying to make and record new material, because I always think our latest song is the best. But back to the topic.. Darwinian minions and Mother Horse because they are really cool to perform live. Plus I like the video to Darwinian minions.
Lou: Which track seems to be the most popular with fans?
Ketil: Here in Norway there is a song from the "Neander Tales" EP that seems to be a big hit at concerts. The song is called "Otter Skull" and contains some samples in Norwegian that a lot of folks has learned, and are chanting along as we play. And a lot of people either love or hate the video for Darwinian minions.
Lou: How long did the album take to write and record?
Ketil: Not long. The album was written by me in my spare time from other bands. The rehearsing before we entered studio went really fast aswell... I think we had rehearsed 7 times or something before we entered the studio. Recording took 10 days or something, but the mixing was a nightmare, and took forever. We wanted to hire a really hip dude, who could give us a really unique sound.. And we got unique alright, but it sucked! So we went some rounds with the dude before going to plan C. Which didnt turn out great either...
Lou: Is there anything that, with hindsight, you'd like to change about it?
Ketil: The sound. Everyting sounds crap. The drums, the guitars, the bass, and the vocals. There is a lot of cool music on the album, but I am not satisfied with the sound at all.. So Maybe one day after our tenth album, we will re-record this album, and get it properly mixed.
Lou: Are you working on any new material at the moment?
Ketil: Yes indeed! We have a whole new album written, and are still writing more stuff. I am currently testing out a studio where we might record the album... But we are also waiting for some "paperwork" to be solved...you know, business partners etc... We have recorded a demo with eight new songs, and will demo some more soon. Before we hopefully will properly record the whole album in a not so distant future.
Lou: I think I'd look marvellous in a Goat The Head t-shirt... Where can I buy one from?
Ketil: http://www. heavymetalonline.co.uk/ These guys or girls should be haveing some Goat the Head shirts in stock pretty soon. We are also continuously discussing more designs to put on shirts... So there might be more in a while.
Lou: Is your "Neander Tales" EP still available?
Ketil: Yes it is. You can either get it by contacting us at our myspace site: www.myspace.com/goatthehead Or at: hmmm. i dont know, you folks are probably better at finding shit on internet than me. It is not widely distributed..
Lou: Which bands have been the biggest influence to Goat The Head?
Ketil: For me personally its always been Slayer... But you cant hear that on our albums. I dunno... Its more the frustration of not playing my own music that inspired me. Every time I pick up the guitar, Id rather play something that I create myself then and there, than some riff some other dude has already made... I get pissed off by bands that have some cool riffs, but who arent able to make good songs out of them. That always inspires me to make a song that actually feels like a song, rather than a bunch of riffs put together by a twelve year old.
Lou: You've been described as Primal Caveman Death Metal. Have you noticed any other bands emerging from this genre yet? If so, what do you think of them?
Ketil: I havent seen any yet, and I have a hard time believing that someone would actually want to be associated with Goat the Heads style of music.
Lou: You've recorded quite a few videos now - which is your favourite and why?
Ketil: We've only recorded one proper music video, which is for the track "Darwinian Minions". Other stuff we have done is just really bad live footage. My favourite is therefore "Darwinian Minions", which is a video I am actually quite pleased with. Go watch it at youtube. com/goatthehead - We went through hell for those 15 seconds of music.
Lou: If you could get anyone else to star in one of your videos who would it be and why?
Ketil: George clooney because he is hot, and looks wise. You need to look reflected to star in a GTH video.
Lou: What's next for Goat The Head?
Ketil: Recording our new album and getting it out. It'll be cool. But even before that, there will be beers.