1 - Greetings Julien.
The Austrasian Goat, is a new Project, can you give is a brief descricion of it to us?
Hello. AUSTRASIAN GOAT is my own vision of a musical black art that some called black metal. I need to develop some ideas in 2006, in a great period of depression and frustration. I’m the one and only member of the “band”. Sometimes friends are invited to contribute to songs, but i’m the mastermind.
2 - You were a member of ShallNotKill, a band that musicaly was very different from The Austrasian Goat. Why did you decide to create The Austrasian Goat, and why the inclusion for more “depressive” black metal scenario?
SHALLNOTKILL was a band. I was just a part of this band. I love to play in a band (i use to play in MENY HELLKIN now), it’s really interesting to create and combine ideas with other people. But THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT was create to develop very personnal ideas and “concept”, i didn’t want to make consensus. This music is a piece of my thoughts and state of mind, sincerely, without compromise. I didn’t choose to play a certain kind of music. I needed to play dark things. Like a catharsis.
3 - The Self titled was released some months ago, how have the reactions been to the album till now?
It’s unbelievable, but some people seems to appreciate. It’s a suprise. It’s hard for me to imagine that other people would like to listen my stuffs.
4 - In 2007 there were 3 The Austrasian Goat releases that come out, the S/T and the two splits - one with The dead Musicinen and other with Ondo. Were all of these planned or were they opportunities that appeared and you decided to take them?
The only thing that was planned was the release of the first album. THE DEAD MUSICIAN is a friend, and he offered me to do this split, in order to experiment new stuffs, some weeks after the making of the first album. Two weeks later, my friend Denis from the label Burning Emptiness offered me to record a song for a split with ONDO. I didn’t know ONDO, but i really appreciate the communication with this guy, his conception of music, art and life. I’m very honored to share a record with him.
5 - The sound you have with The Austrasian Goat is associated with a genre in the black metal “scene” that in the last years has grown a lot, although TAG doesn’t have the “solitude, suicide” association. For you, what are the differences between the Austrasian Goat and those groups?
To be honest, i’m not very familiar with the kind of music you’re talking about. I listen a lot of different musics, and in terms of black metal, i’m a little bit “conservative”. I mean: i mostly listen old stuffs, like the first DARKTHRONE albums. THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT is not focus on depression or suicide. THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT is a personnal conception of black metal. Depression is just a part of it. I don’t care about the “stylistic association”.I’m honest with myself, that’s my definition of “truth”.
6 - One of the things that i enjoyed in the S/T was the cover of the Grief song that you decided to do. Why did you decide to cover that particular song? Usually I’m used to find the cover songs as the last track on an album, but you decided to put it in the midle, why?
I’m a geat GRIEF fan. I love their records, the music, the artworks, the lyrics. I always wanted to record a GRIEF cover, for long time. I think that unconsciously, i this idea was the starting point of THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT. I really appreciate the lyrics of “i hate the human race”. I’m totally into it. That’s why i decided to place this song in the middle of the record. The hate of humanity is cental.
7 - I have the idea that TAG is a very active project in terms of writing music because of the amount of releases that are planned and were already released. Of all of the songs you've composed and released last year, were they all recorded in the same sessions of the S/T recordings or are you always composing and recording new tracks? Do you release all the tracks you record?
I don’t think that THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT is so ”active”. I’d like to have more time, more good ideas... I create the first record in something like 15 days, i needed to make it. This was very compulsive and intense. I developped tones of idea. I only use something like 20% of them to create something i feel confortable to diffuse. Most of my works are shits. Since the end of the album, i try to record new songs, and experiment stuffs. Some of these songs will appear on different splits. I try to have a ”uniform concept” on each of these release.
8 - The Concept behind The Austrasian Goat name is very interesting, Can you explain us how you came up with it?
AUSTRASIA is the old name of the land i live in (Lorraine, in the east of France). During the first part of the middle-age, Austrasia was the home of merovegian kings. This land was unfeuded to christanism, or kings. This pagan land was attached to France during the XVII century. This is a land od bloody christianisation, this land was touched by deceases, and most of all major conflict of history, especially during the XXth century. I’m not “regionalist”, not at all. But i think that this story, the mood of this country impregnate me. I wanted to speak about this land, the forgotten stories, etc. And i wanted to understand how this place influences my way of thinking. I’ve fund some answers, but i’m still passionate by this area.
9 – About the future of The Austrasian Goat, I know that a 3” is going to be release in the near future, any more stuff coming out?
A split 10’’ with NEVER PRESENCE FOREVER (dark ambient/noise) will be available in february, via the american label Small Sacrifice. The german labels Blinddate ans Streaks records will publish a vinyl reedition of the songs from the splitys with ONDO and THE DEAD MUSICIAN. I just recorded a bonus track with my friend Oré from ORANGE BROWN making female vocals.
I’m now working on 4 songs for a 3” limited CD-r release (by Univeral Tongue), and 3 songs for a 4 way split CD with ROANOKE, BENEATH OBLIVION and THE SLAUGHTERED lamb (by Black Goat records). I have to record the vocals and to mix.
After that, i’ll try to record new songs for 2 split 7” and, mainly, to focus on a new album.
10 - Thanks for you time and honesty Julien, any last words?
Thank you very much. www.theaustrasiangoat.com
