An Interview with Goodmonster

An insanely addictive new single from Goodmonster brings together elements of this sort of rustic folk approach, combined with classic rock attributes, and this indie sort of drive, and it all works perfectly and fits together like puzzle pieces, as the artist is able to portray a story of a mythical figure from his personal perspective, and what really hits hard about this track is the attitude and swagger that it actually delivers.

"King of the Sea" holds little back in the way of storytelling, but again, this is from the perspective of the mythical king of the sea himself. He comes at you from that character and, in doing so, pulls you right into the song.

The track opens up with " I'm the fucking king of the sea, I sit alone on my throne in the deep", so right off the bat, you're just sucked right into the story.

It's amazing how detailed and descriptive the lyrics can get so that you're able to paint a picture in your head as the song unfolds.

The storytelling aspect of this track is the most powerful of everything.

It's almost like a mythological bedtime story. It's got grit, energy, and it's robust and vivacious. The attitude-riddled character is just right in your face the entire time, and it's impossible to turn away from.

The whole thing is full band, but it still has this sort of rustic underbelly. It has a haunt to it, which is something that I had to sort of shake off after the song was over.

You have live percussion, and the drums are just slamming almost the entire time, acoustic guitars, organs that really fill the space and add layers of texture to the song, and vibrant vocals.

You can tell this was the track that was super well thought out, and in terms of the lyrical content, brilliantly strewn together so that you get the story, you get the detail, and you get the aggressive and all-powerful god-like sense from it all.

I'm not sure I've heard a song quite of this nature, but it was insanely fun.

One of the things I loved about this is the organ work in general. The organs have a depth to them during the big and boisterous parts. The choruses or the intro of the song. During the verses, the organs go from deeper notes to higher ones and are a bit steadier, so that you pay more attention to the lyrics and the acoustic guitars, which are double-tracked and layered up.

So, there's a lot of those textures going on, as I mentioned earlier. It's a ton to soak in, but it feels awesome to do so.

The vocals have a lot of punch to them, but are very melodically driving, of course.

They have to be a bit aggressive simply because of the premise of the track. The whole point is that he's the god of the sea, and you just don't want to mess with them. He's all-powerful, and you will regret your approach if you want to mess around.

The song talks about the world above. The people outside of the ocean, and how he might just swallow them all up, almost like it just depends on his mood that day.

The track is not without its experimental sections. After the second chorus, it breaks off into a very drifting and elemental soundscape, with acoustic guitars that have a slight distortion on them, bringing a bit of a fuzz tone or decimated aesthetic, and that goes off into delayed and echoed overlaps and overlays that all sort of take effect and become sporadic and deliver a bit of tension.

As I said before, this is a song that is quite haunting if you really listen. The music follows suit. The instrumentation and the way it's performed and delivered give you the mood for those lyrics damn near perfectly.

By the end of the track, the final string of the course is going on repeat and is the most intense of them all.

It's like the sea god himself has stood up out of the ocean for all to see so that they can fear him.

This was so good.

Trust me when I tell you, you haven't quite heard a song exactly like this. Robust and lush, full-bodied, intense, massively charismatic, and delivers quite an experience.

I would definitely suggest listening to this one with headphones on so you could soak it all in properly, or just nice and loud.

A song with this kind of fluctuation in intensity is not supposed to be listened to at a very low volume whatsoever.

At any rate, definitely do not miss this track because it's unusually fantastical and irrefutably infectious.

The band is helmed by singer and songwriter Dylan Reisch, and upon listening to the song, I absolutely had to have a chat with him.

I wanted to find out where all of this actually came from, and what might be coming up next.

So, while you listen to this track, have a read through of our interview with Dylan below.

Let's talk about "King of The Sea"! This song was an awesome blend of rustic edgy gothic folk with loads of character behind it! Where did this track come from? 

As a kid, I (Dylan, singer/songwriter) was obsessed with mythology. This song was spawned from imagining the power a sea god might feel, but also their loneliness, forgotten by a modern world.

I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

I'm a sucker for lots of different types of music; Gang of Youths’ emotional surge, Hozier’s shadowed folk tones, The War on Drugs’ wide-open guitars, and the haunting, night-time quality of Lord Huron. All of these great acts speak to the record in some way.

Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio?

It's all home recorded. OG (bass and bvs) and I worked in tandem over a few months, iterating, adding parts, editing and finally mixing. We wanted a big sound, and it's great that we didn't need a big budget to achieve that.

How did this all start for you as an artist?

Goodmonster began with the idea of "I may be a monster, but I'm a good one". The writing and production are a redemption space, where by voicing the imperfections, regrets and sorrows we feel, one can also take the chance to let go, heal, and rise stronger from those ashes.

Also, we just like making really fun, interesting music, and not caring too much about what other people think (but still a little bit, we're all human with human feelings).

Are you performing live right now? 

We may have some dates in the new year. Watch this space.

Now that this is out, what's next for you?

Our next single, Scream, drops on January 15th. It's a big one, get excited!

Who's in your headphones right now?

Lord Huron - The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 and a mix of Petey USA songs that are really hitting the mark in my late 30's.

What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

A big wave of a sound, like an ocean rising up and blocking out the sun. Hubris and humility, admiration and anger, largesse and loneliness.

Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

Thanks for sticking around. There's more to come, and we look forward to stepping through this next chapter with you.

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