Interviews: THIRTEEN GOATS
This is a new interview with the Death Metal band THIRTEEN GOATS from Canada. Check out the interview and follow the band on his FACEBOOK PAGE.
1. Where did you get the idea for the band's name? Did you plan it or did it come out just like that?
The name “Thirteen Goats” refers to our mascot: an antichrist figure named Shepherd who wears a goat
skull mask and is accompanied by 12 demon goats as his unholy disciples. Together, they travel through
time and space, overturning established structures and basically just getting into all kinds of very evil
trouble. The character may or may not be loosely based on a world-hopping Stephen King villain, who I
won’t name explicitly because we don’t want to get sued.
The way we came up with the name was pretty random, though—we were just pairing up evil-sounding
numbers with evil-sounding animals until we found something catchy. It could just as easily have been
“666 Wolves” or something. We built the concept around the name after we came up with it. I think at
first, we just thought “Thirteen Goats” sounded fun.
2. Why did you want to play this genre?
We like extreme metal because it’s a challenge—for both the musicians and the audience. I have an
academic background in theatre, and I’ve always been fascinated by forms of live performance that
deliberately ask the audience to work a little before rewarding them. It’s like exercise for the brain. I
think a lot of technical metal is like that. It doesn’t provide instant gratification, but there’s a huge
payoff if you’re willing to invest in it to some extent.
3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?
Nope. Rob Fitz-Gerald (the other vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter) and I found each other over
Craigslist. He invited me over to his apartment and we wrote the song “Unholy Mass” (which is one of
two singles we’ve released so far) in the next 30 minutes or so. We found the rest of our original lineup
online as well, through metal-themed Facebook groups or mutual friends.
When we eventually had to replace our rhythm section, it was really random. I met a woman in a dive
bar who introduced me to Leo Verman (drums), and we literally abducted Cody Lewichew (bass) from
off the street because we saw him walking around with a bass guitar. We just walked right up to him and
were like “you’re in our band now”.
4. Each band member’s favorite band?
Rob is a huge fan of Cannibal Corpse, and I really love Death—specifically the era from Individual
Thought Patterns onward. Leo loves Meshuggah, and Cody’s really into Motorhead.
5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?
We’re inspired by a lot of things—I’d say the major theme running through our work is the
transformative power of darkness, but that comes out in a lot of different ways. We have a few songs
that tie into our identity as four guys who all have family roots in the former Soviet Union—I’m
Ukrainian, Rob’s Armenian, and Cody and Leo are Russian. Leo’s actually from St. Petersburg; the rest of
us were born here but come from immigrant families. So we have some intergenerational understanding
of how extremely dark times can lead to huge, sweeping changes, whether those changes are for better
or for worse. We’re pretty fascinated by that as songwriters, even when we’re not writing about our
cultural background—and I actually think that’s a huge part of the philosophy behind metal music as
well. Things that are disturbing—including music—are also often incredibly powerful.
6. Where was your last gig?
Our last gig was actually a Livestream during the pandemic—part of an online festival called Rock ‘N’ Roll
Pride. We ended up using a bit of the footage from that in our first music video, for the song “Return to
Ruin”.
7. Where would you like to play?
Wacken. Rock in Rio. Download. Coachella. We probably picked the wrong genre to play stadiums, but
you know what? You have to dream big. And hey, stranger things have happened.
8. Whom would you like to feature with?
I’ve always thought it would be really funny to get a bunch of extreme metal bands with animal-themed
names on the same bill—Lamb of God, Cattle Decapitation, Pig Destroyer, and Thirteen Goats. We could
call it the “Barnburner” tour or something.
9. Whom not?
We don’t hate anybody. Metal’s one big extended family, and people shouldn’t forget that. But also, no
Nazi bands. I can’t believe we still have to say that in 2022.
10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?
I don’t have tips for getting over stage fright because I don’t really experience it. Adrenaline, sure—but if
it helps, I’ve always thought performing was a lot less scary than just existing in everyday life. When
you’re giving a performance, you’re delivering something you’ve planned and practiced to an audience
that wants to experience it. In real life, you’re mostly just trying to deal with random shit that happens
on the spur of the moment, with limited resources and no time to plan properly. I think that’s a lot
scarier.
11. What bands have inspired you the most?
In terms of our sound? Probably Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Death, and Misery Index. But when it
comes to being in a metal band and making it work, I think we owe a debt to guys like Trevor Strnad and
Rob Flynn—they always seemed like genuinely nice people with big brains and big hearts who just
happened to love brutal fucking metal. You don’t need to be an aggressive person to play aggressive
music. I’m really sad that Trevor’s gone now. I think the world lost a really bright light when that
happened.
12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?
We haven’t had any weird requests yet—mostly just a lot of people asking when and where they can
buy merch or physical copies of the record. But personally, I can’t wait until we have crazy fans who are
getting our names tattooed on their asses and breaking into our dressing rooms to ask for foot rubs.
13. What do you think of your current fans?
We love our moms.
14. What do you think of our site?
I think it’s always great when people pay attention to emerging metal acts, because that’s what keeps
the scene moving forward. Thank you so much for keeping your ear to the (under)ground.
15. Something to add?
Yeah—you can preorder the record at https://thirteengoats.bandcamp.com/releases and pre-add it on
your preferred streaming platform at https://thirteengoats.hearnow.com/.
Also, be sure to check us
out online at:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirteen.goats
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/THIRTEEN.GOATS/
Thanks again for having us on your site. Horns up!
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