Photos by Riley Buttery
Gliding to your ears comes the ethos of Godcaster in the shape of their debut LP, Long Haired Locusts. As a speaker of euphoria inspired by rock and roll, Godcaster doesn’t enter a world of simulation. They are as real as their sound: primal, present, and locked in a narrative that’s unique and simple. Godcaster weaves through observation and idealization a world that’s real for them, and sort of invites us to be voyeurs of their own escapism. Often intertwined with divinity and the pure aspect of one’s human world, the songs in Long Haired Locusts hum thunderously and fantastically.
We sent some questions to them in the name of social distancing, the answers are as mysterious as their presence.
Lola Pistola: Where does the name Godcaster come from?
Godcaster: Godcaster came to me (Judson) as an epiphany while I was washing dishes at work. It appeared in my head and brightened my eyes with it’s flavor and profundity!
Is divinity a common strand within the imagery of the band’s lyrics?
Yes.
What bands, eras, parallel worlds and other ways to escape reality resonate with Godcaster?
Led Zeppelin, The Who, and the Wood between the Worlds.
After watching the video for “All The Feral Girls In The Universe”, your mind instantly gets transported to a realm of mythology and fables, and even real stories of the original ‘wild child’. It seems the frantic and cathartic way the story evolves syncs with the experiences of the more fictional stories of these humans. What’s the connection with these creatures and popular culture? Or even culture and music as we are currently living – amidst pandemic, with a government totally incapable of instructing the masses, with no cohesive language to unite us.
Feral children are a bizarre and fascinating phenomenon that truly quake me in my boots. Human beings with real life hearts and minds raised by animals! All The Feral Girls In The Universe is a pop song about the hair raising woods.
Was the Godcaster crew raised by locusts? Or at least long haired individuals.
No.
What was the defining moment in choosing to do Long Haired Locusts as a live to tape recorded full LP? This not being recorded as part of a tour leg, were there any studio overdubs or instances that could not be recorded while the full band was playing? I’ve always found live recordings to be a nod to live performances and the directness and energy that comes from it.
We like to record as live as possible, but we’re no strangers to overdubs and various studio tricks. Godcaster is very much a live rock band so we always want to inject that buzzing screaming crashtalk into the wires, phones, and speakers.
Are the lyrics in Long Haired Locusts revelatory? Are they a key code to the Godcaster world?
Yes. But there is no world but the one under our feet, and boy is Godcaster shrieking at the dust!
What’s the history behind the current lineup in the band?
Bruce and I (Judson) have been doing bands since we were squirts (roughly 7 and 10 years old) with all different types of sounds and people. For years the motus apparande was “Who can play what when and for how long???”. The band boasted an extremely ephemeral cast consisting of our willing and able fantastic musician friends. Truly a revolving door of unique allies. Finally, Godcaster (In addition to the aforementioned Bruce Ebersole and Judson Kolk) galvanized with: the one of a kind, freak of nature David Mcfaul (also a close childhood friend), the frenetic, screaming Von Lee, and the crashing, exploding Sam Pickard.
As a listener, and traveling with the songs in Long Haired Locusts you feel an inexplicable energy where you can see this imperfect and fantastical world filled with madness and cohesiveness, and yet the hike never stops. I mean, it does, eventually with “Outro” where you’re sort of handled gently in the same way an unexpected cocoon in the middle of a forest would be. How do these songs fit into Godcaster’s world without exhausting the soul?
Godcaster is in a perpetual state of simultaneous ecstatic invigoration and dirge-like exhaustion. Like lying prostrate on asphalt while the beating sun whispers sweet insightful nothings into your every pore and orifice. I say exhaust the soul, make it cry, make it crawl. There is no world but the one under our feet, and boy is Godcaster shrieking at the dust!
The illustration for the album is filled with lizards, human-locusts, instruments – is this a reflection of the band’s truest identity or a map to the outer world?
It’s neither, it’s what the collection of songs look like to me (Judson).
Long Haired Locusts is out now via Ramp Local. Follow Godcaster on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, and Bandcamp.