by Patrick Pilch (@pratprilch)
Gigs are back, more or less, and it’s very safe to say Godcaster are one of the best live acts going. The Brooklyn by Philly conglomerate started with Judson Kolk (vocals, guitar) and Bruce Ebersole (guitar, bass) playing music in the woods growing up. Their raw beginnings laid critical groundwork for Godcaster’s visceral ethos - one of instinct, mystery, and bombast. The duo would later be joined by keyboardist David McFaul, flutist/vocalist Von Kolk, drummer Sam Pickard, and bassist Jan Fontana. With an excellent debut full length and an equally impressive EP, Godcaster have exhibited a knack for range and growth as players and songwriters.
While technically an extension of 2020’s Long Haired Locusts, last year’s Saltergasp presented the band in a different light, subverting the tongue-in-cheek funk rock gestures of their debut into thrashing, high tempo motifs and noise-scrambled shreds of wailing riffs. Each track on Saltergasp was “performed and mastered” by Godcaster in live settings, and the EP’s release is a celebration of the return of public performance, and what a celebration it is. One-two openers “Hecky Skelters” and “Saltergasp” warp Godcaster’s pop sensibilities into scourging exhibitions of unmatched showmanship and experimental enthusiasm while “Tiger Surrogate Hunts the Praying Mantis” reveals a shifting dynamic within Godcaster personnel. There’s no such thing as a sophomore slump if everyone in your band wants to be Jimmy Page. Godcaster hit the road this March, be sure to check them out when they come to town.
credit: Riley Buttery
Where is everyone?
Bruce Ebersole: Brooklyn.
Cool. I have a few questions. I want you to pick the word that describes Godcaster more. Bus or subway?
Von Kolk: Subway.
Blood or bile?
David McFaul: Blood.
Judson Kolk: Both.
Sam Pickard: I think blood, probably.
Fame or glory?
All: Glory!
Coke or Pepsi!
All: Coke.
Dirt or Dust?
JK: Oh, both!
DM: Jud is dust.
JK: Hey, you smell like dust!
DM: No, you smell like dust.
When was the first time you set off fireworks indoors and the last time you set off fireworks indoors?
BE: The first time, our bass player, who isn’t here, shot our friend in the back with a flare. In our house in Philly we set off a lot of fireworks inside, just to play a prank, but it’s not like a thing.
SP: Classic gag!
DM: Yea, it is a classic gag. For boys.
What’s the most important part of a Godcaster show?
JK: Being as loud as we possibly can be.
How do you seek to manipulate your songs in live settings?
SP: I think it’s maximum intensity and volume.
JK: At shows, yea. On the record there’s a few more bells and whistles, but not so much onstage. Onstage is more about going hog-wild.
SP: Brute strength.
How do you decide on changing the arrangement of certain songs for live settings?
BE: So far it’s been pretty straightforward. The songs are rehearsed as a band and recorded live as a band.
JK: That will probably be more of an issue in the future.
BE: Right. Right now everybody’s pretty much doing the same thing the whole time, but we’re planning to switch around more, in the future. Up to four guitars at once.
There were a few songs Godcaster played live where you switched instruments, others took turns singing. How do you see that egalitarian approach will affect your future output?
JK: I guess we started that a little bit.
BE: Having different frontpeople.
JK: There’s going to be even more!
BE: Jud is still the front person, I think. He’s the leader and the face of the band in a lot of ways. It’s cool to have Von and Dave as a duo come up.
JK: We’re loosey-goosey with it.
Is this an approach or focus for future Godcaster material? As in using the strengths or styles of different members in order to progress a sound?
SP: I think the goal is to have people occupy different roles, but ultimately the foundation and how the band is structured doesn't really change. Everyone has their permanent role in the band. From time to time, people branch out and do other stuff, but the shape of the overall band is solid. There’s experimenting with different instruments. People play different instruments. Everyone, except for me, plays guitar.
BE: You play the orc bell now!
SP: I play the orc bell now, so I’m expanding my role.
BE: It’s opened doors, having Dave front a song or Von front a song.
JK: Features are interesting. It’s fun to mix it up. I like writing with different components involved.
BE: With the new stuff, we wrote it without thinking we needed a guitar part, a bass part, a flute part, etc. It’s been more like “there’s only guitar playing for this whole verse and nothing else.” We’ve broken out of the five instrument structure which has opened a lot of doors.
JK: Then there’s the whole aspect of recording it and figuring out how to play it live.
BE: So more and more, I think the live shows and recording will be more and more different.
SP: Yea, sometimes I strike the orc bell and sometimes...
DM: I don’t think he knows what the orc bell is.
I don’t know what that is.
VK: Let it be a mystery.
Who writes Godcaster songs?
DM: Jud.
How?
SP: He has the form of the song, he has the chords and melody. And then he speaks to us in riddles until we can figure it all out.
JK: It's just adding more and more to the base as time goes on. It’s easy to write songs, you just need to come up with one thing then do another one.
SP: All you need is one chord.
JK: You just need one chord and you play it really loud.
Artistic influences and creative motivations aside, what place does Godcaster come from? Or what kinds of places does Godcaster come from? A place of joy? Curiosity?
JK: The woods.
VK: I have to think.
As a follow-up, where do you think you play, physiologically?
All: Gut.
JK: Imagination.
VK: My clavicle.
BE: The tips of my hair.
JK: Every follicle of skin, every pore. Nah, it comes from the gut.
BE: My imagination pretending we’re Led Zeppelin, that’s where our energy comes from.
JK: Yea it comes from us trying to be Jimmy Page, all of us at once.
There’s just one collective thought bubble above your heads onstage that says “I’m Jimmy Page.”
JK: We’re all Jimmy Page.
What would you say is the most pivotal moment under this iteration of Godcaster, with these members?
JK: Opening for of Montreal.
SP: Being in the desert.
DM: Yea, being in Slab City.
What’s that?
JK: Slab City is a shanty town in the desert.
VK: In Southern California.
SP: How do you mean pivotal?
Was there a creative moment or a moment in practice? A time when something clicked with the current members of Godcaster?
BE: I think the first time we played with Sam. I was drumming and I suck at drumming. We had practiced with Sam for a show he was filling in for us. It was so exciting. It all felt powerful. After that show he joined the band.
SP: It worked out really well.
VK: The sound changed live after that.
BE: Sam made it a lot more badass after that. Before Sam joined it was like, weak disco.
SP: It’s evolved a lot in the last several years.
BE: More recently we’ve decided to take out the four on the floor disco beat and the funkiness, in general. That felt really good for everyone, I think. For us to do less tongue-in-cheek stuff.
JK: Not to admonish Long Haired Locusts so much, but I think we’ve made better music before and after that record.
Can you talk about “Bingo Bodies?”
JK: What about it?
Anything you want to say, it’s my favorite song on Long Haired Locusts
JK: Thanks. The ending of that song is the best part of the record.
DM: I don’t think I agree with that.
JK: Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?
BE: “Bingo” is the last on the record and it doesn’t have many listens. It probably could have been a single. The beginning was too absurd for a single.
DM: It’s definitely our biggest, most bombastic and theatrical song. Live, if we want to end strong, we end with “Bingo Bodies.” It’s hard for Von to sing after because she has that crazy climbing melody at the end that goes higher and higher.
BE: We haven’t played it live in a while. Like we were saying, we’re trying to drop the disco thing and “Bingo Bodies” has the most pop hooks.
VK: The end of “Bingo” is a precursor for the new record.
JK: That’s what I think.
VK: It’s the most similar to anything you’ll hear on the new record.
BE: Or “Serpent Carcass Crux Birth,” but much longer.
Check out Godcaster on tour this March:
3/5 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
3/6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
3/10 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Collision
3/11 - Athens, OH @ Casa Nueve (University of Ohio)
3/12 - Louisville, KY @ Whirling Tiger
3/14 - Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
3/15-17 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/20 - Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr
3/22 - Atlanta, GA @ 529
3/23 - Asheville, NC @ Static Age Records
