Interviews: MRS GOAT

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Post-Hardcore band, MRS GOAT from Germany. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

Matt (Drums): I think MRS GOAT is something that sticks to your memory. It equally refers to the image of goats as “metal and evil” as it does play with your mind by putting a feminine appellation in front of it.

Christian (Guitar): To be honest with you it was at least to some amount created with a random band name generator.

Gerrit (Vocals): Well, the number of times we get asked this question kind of shows that either society still thinks of it as a weird thing for a group of four men to identify with something that’s feminine - or that it is just a horribly weird band name. Or maybe both of that.

Raoul (Bass, Vocals): Also goat means greatest of all time.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

Gerrit: When the band was formed we never had a discussion like "Ey, we're gonna do Post-Hardcore right?". I guess it's a dynamic process to choose which influences you draw from and which ideas you allow to be part of the final song.

Raoul: I like the mixture of the heavy riffing and the catchiness of the more melodious parts; the little bit of pop-sensation in this kind of post-hardcore vein.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Raoul: Matt and I were classmates in highschool in our hometown Bonn and founded our first band together when we were 14. His younger brother Christian also picked up the guitar at some point. 10 years later we met again in Berlin and I saw Christian and Gerrit play a show with the original line-up of MRS GOAT. 

Gerrit: I basically ran into Christian when he and our former bassist Leon and former Drummer Ben were jamming a Rage against the machine song in a rehearsal space I worked in and I was like “Hey I know this song, let me grab a mic and join in!”.

4. Each band member favourite band?

Raoul: Certainly a tough one. Pain of Salvation would be a fair choice.

Gerrit: I’ll choose Biffy Clyro. Ask me tomorrow and I'll pick Architects or BMTH though.

Matt: That’s also under constant change for me. Today I’d say Currents, Polaris and old school Billy Talent and Linkin Park.

Christian: Billy Talent. Matt introduced me to them when I was 10 and I never stopped listening to them.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Raoul: I get inspired by weird books, thoughts, stories as well as social absurdities and pathologies. It’s like a basic need to process rage and other strong emotions in a creative fashion.

Gerrit: Usually I just start singing melodies into my smartphone or I just pick up the guitar and start riffing around. What really drives me to go further with an idea and potentially turn it into a whole song is when I feel somewhat emotionally connected to the subject of the lyrics or when I have a strong vision for the vocal interpretation. With our new Single 'Better Times' it was just like that. At the moment, my main inspiration in writing new music are most certainly threads of which I feel they should be publicly addressed or subjects of which I think they should be less of a taboo. 

6. Where was your last gig?

Raoul: The last real deal was a small festival called Beer’n’ Breakdown in the countryside close to the Polish border. However we played a streaming gig from the legendary Huxley’s Neue Welt in Berlin last fall.

Gerrit: Oh what sweet memory of a thousand mosquito bites. This was a great weekend at Beer’n’ Breakdown though! 

7. Where would you like to act?

Gerrit: You mean "act" like performing live? I think I can die in peace when I have played Taubertal and Greenfield Festival, Royal Albert Hall and this lousy club in my home area that everybody rented for their 18th birthday. I think it was called Soundlabor.

Matt: OnlyFans (Thank me later!)

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Gerrit: Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox or Tatiana Shmayluk of Jinjer.

Raoul: Or our local Cloudy June (check her out), who mostly does dark pop, but is an excellent metal vocalist, too.

9. Whom not?

Gerrit: Marilyn Manson I guess.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Raoul: I have to stick with Shia LaBoeuf for this one: Just do it. It’ll get better by itself.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Gerrit: I love the DIY mentality of While She Sleeps and I think in some ways we are heavily influenced by them. Things like designing and printing our own merch, building our own instruments and stage setup, not having a label deal and doing basically everything on our own from recording to promotion is something that I really admire about our band.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Gerrit: Objectively I don’t think that’s weird and I guess I miss it alot these days - but the first time someone asked me to pose for a picture after one of our shows it felt kind of awkward.

Raoul: I once was asked to give an autograph on someone’s leg.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Raoul: Sometimes there's a bunch of people, whom I’d never seen before, who would stand in the front row and just scream some of the lyrics at us, and that’s just a genuinely powerful connection.

Gerrit: I agree with that! What’s even better is that many of them are always in for a good laugh or some talking after the show. That’s what I really miss during covid. I mean I love using social media to keep them up to date and staying connected with our closest fans on a personal level. But the first post-show beer with our fans is something I really can’t stop daydreaming about.

14. What do you think of our site?

Raoul: I really dig how you go into detail with genres and sub-genres. Kudos for doing all that meticulous work!

15. Something add?

Matt: Our new single 'Better Times' is out on March 12th 2021! Make sure to give it a listen on Spotify and Co.! You can support us by putting the song in your playlist or by following along on Instagram. Also consider buying our self made merch!

Raoul: Just wanted to point out that Christian is not only good at the chuggy-chuggy, he also builds his own guitars and makes the perfect pizza dough.

Gerrit: Well, I guess there’s nothing left to say! Thanks for the interview! Maybe we’ll meet someday on tour when the circumstances change. Keep up the good work and stay healthy!