Sleeve Notes: Goat

Sleeve Notes is a new series where we pick an artist and get them to make a themed mix. This week: Goat brings you music from Mali and other places you’ve never been.

YNTHT: Hello Goat. Tell us about your mixtape. Your music and the music in your mixtape are similar to each other. Would you say this your favourite genre?
Goatmother: I wouldn’t say it’s our favourite genre. But we love the Malian music that was first released on the Kunkan label, and now this great Kindred Spirits label rereleases lots of this stuff. I think these groups play extraordinary well, and the music is very clever and transcendental. Spiritual stuff. I’m happy you think we have similarities with this music even though I feel we have a long way to go before playing like that.

Is your aim to play like this though?
No and yes. We always want to become better at what we do but it is not our goal with playing. The musicians in the groups on the mixtape have really explored their own musicianship. We’re obviously not going to do the exact same thing.

Were you listening to this kind of music back in middle school when the other kids were collecting Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls cards?
Yes, something like that.

What would you say are the biggest resemblances and differences between your album and the mixtape?
Well… I can’t really answer that. I just leave it up to the listeners to decide.

Can you tell me something about your hometown Korpilombolo? What kind of stuff did you do when you lived there and wanted a wild night out?
The question is rather where we went when we wanted a quiet night. The nights of Korpilombolo are always wild and filled with rhythms of drums.

I’ve heart that you think that Korpilombolo has a history of voodoo worship, because a witch doctor lived there. Tell me about that.
It’s just a fragment of our past. We are influenced by Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism and probably all other religions as well. Even the ones we haven’t discovered yet.

Do you expect your new album Commune to be as successful as World Music?
We don’t expect anything and I really don’t think of it in terms of success.

Can you define the sound on Commune?
The sound is better on this one but that is because we have learned how to handle the studio better. Our creative process was more or less the same. We had a big party for a month and then the album was finished.

What’s up with your anonymous profile and the fact that you always perform wearing masks and costumes – do you believe that image is as important as talent when it comes to succeeding in the music industry?
I don’t know. I don’t think of it this way. We wanna stay anonymous because it gives us bigger freedom. It’s the freedom of not being interviewed by everyone after a show or in your every day life. And the freedom of being able to be yourself in the meetings with others.

This thing that if you close your eyes, your ears will be more sensitive to hear sounds – is that something you had in mind when you decided to hide your faces?
No, but I like the idea.

You don’t do interviews face to face and only do concerts “face-mask-face.” Who ever gets to meet you in person?
No one. I even wear my mask in the shower.

Another band that keeps an anonymous profile is Swedish heavy metal band Ghost. I came across an article that was all about comparing you guys to them. Is that something that happens frequently?
All the time. Both of us think it’s funny. We even had a party with them in France after a festival. They are a bunch of great, fun dudes, that gang. I really dig them.

What’s the most memorable thing that has happened so far in your career?
The last tour, which ended a couple of days ago. We did the best shows ever and the people we played for were great.

How come it ended up being so great?
The atmosphere in the band is always very good but I think we have played better than ever and we also had a comfortable bus this time, which did the travelling a whole lot easier. But also that we played in front of plenty of full houses with people that seemed to get what it is we do. The energy exchange between us and the audience gets so much bigger then, which is better for everyone.

So what are your plans for the autumn?
We’re going to do three Scandinavian shows and then take it easy for a while.

All right, enough with the questions – now I want to listen to your mixtape. Could you help me get in the right mood?
Switch of your TV, Smartphone, computer, facebook, twitter, instagram, and blah blah blah. Just shut them all off. Open a bottle of Dom Perignon and relax.

OK. Why Dom Perignon?
Ah, that was a joke. It works with regular water, too.

1. L’orchestre sidi yassa de Kayes – ”Sebe te moyola”
2. L’orchestre regional de Kayes – ”Sanjina”
3. Ensamble National instrumental du Mali – ”Dia ye Bana”
4. L’orchestre Kanaga de Mopti – ”Sare Mabo”
5. National Badema – Tira Makan
6. Mystere Jazz de Tombouctou – ”Leli”
7. Kene Star de Sikasso – ”Fitriwale”