Six Dumb Questions with Blackwolfgoat
I’m almost always a fan of artists stepping outside their comfort zone, and imagining what must have gone into the thought process for Darryl Shepard deciding to make his solo project Blackwolfgoat public is exhausting. The guitarist — familiar to fans of all things riff ‘n’ roll for his work in seminal Massachusetts aggressors Milligram and later for the tonal thickness of the mostly instrumental Hackman — is set to release Blackwolfgoat‘s debut, Dragonwizardsleeve, through Small Stone in January, and it’s about as far removed from his past work as you can still get and still be holding a six-string.
The album (review here) works in a variety of contexts, but at its heart, it’s a drone record through and through. Shepard, as the only member in the band, was well aware of the need for bringing a range of sounds out of his instrument, and Dragonwizardsleeve is all the richer for it. I wanted to ask Shepard about going from full bands to working on his own and being the only person responsible for all the sounds and output… so I did. That and about five other dumbass questions.
Enjoy:
1. How did the idea for Blackwolfgoat come about?
I was asked if I wanted to do a solo acoustic set for a show, which I do from time to time, except I was burned out on doing that and not really into the singer-songwriter thing at the time. I said I would do the show, except book it under the name Blackwolfgoat, which I just came up with by thinking of the most overused words in metal(at least three of them, anyway). Then I set about creating some songs using only electric guitar, which is something I had been working on for a few years but never fully focused on. I did the show and it went well, so I decided to keep at it. Then I was in the hospital for a month soon after that show with a serious blood infection, and once I got out I had to recuperate at home, so I worked on this material more at home. Also, I bowed out of playing with Roadsaw at this time due to my health concerns, but I figured that Blackwolfgoat would be a perfect vehicle for me to continue to make music. But this is something I have been working at off and on for years, going back to Milligram. The song “Death to America” off of the Small Stone version of This is Class War is a definite precursor to Blackwolfgoat. I really enjoy creating music like this, and I really want to pursue this further.
2. How do you know when a drone song is done?
For me, it’s really a matter of feeling it and not creating too much clutter. I don’t want there to be so many guitar parts going on that you can’t make out the different parts. It has to be coherent. Some songs only have a couple of layers while others have around ten or twelve layers of guitar. I guess it just depends on the mood I’m going for and what fits that idea. One new song I’m working on only has four or five guitar parts but they’re all playing different rhythms, so I need to keep that pretty simple so each part can be heard and it doesn’t turn into a blob of noise. If I’m playing something totally blown-out sounding and heavy, like “The Goat,” I might just have one guitar part going for most of it and then add a little to it.
3. Talk about recording Dragonwizardsleeve. How is it being the only one on an album as opposed to working in a full band?
Recording was very easy and kind of weird, because once I nailed a take, that was it, there was nothing to add to it. I didn’t get everything on the first take, but once I got something that I liked, we kept it and moved on. I rehearsed the songs a lot before going into the studio, much like a full band would, so once I went in I was prepared and didn’t waste time thinking “What am I gonna do?” I knew what I was going for and just put my head down and did it. It was just me and Glenn Smith, the engineer/owner of the studio, so it was definitely chill. He would put his two cents in here and there, just kind of helping out with some guitar tones and maybe how to end a song, because not every song could fade out. It was cool though, I actually enjoyed the process of having the final say as to what was good or bad or what something should sound like. In a full band everyone has input, which is fine, but this was definitely just me making the decisions and Glenn offering some suggestions.
4. The album works in a lot of different sounds and moods within drone. When you were putting it together, putting the tracks in order and all that, how conscious were you of keeping a flow between them?
I was very conscious of keeping a flow and also of having different sounds. I didn’t want every song to sound alike, and I feel like I accomplished that. There is some super heavy stuff on there and also some real mellow stuff. I think if you listen to Dragonwizardsleeve as a whole from beginning to end, it does have a definite flow to it and it takes you on a little bit of a journey. Personally, I like to listen to whole albums, not just single songs, so that was absolutely in my mind. A song like “Aspirin Forever” might seem kind of stupid by itself, but I think within the context of the album it serves a purpose. I almost left that one off the album but decided to keep it, and I’ve had a couple of people tell me that it’s their favorite song on the album.
5. How does a Blackwolfgoat live performance compare to the record? How do you work all the loops and layers of guitar?
Blackwolfgoat live is basically what you hear on the album. I play guitar through a delay/loop pedal, and just build the parts one by one. I don’t use a lot of effects, it’s basically just delay, distortion and a little phaser here and there, so I’m not doing a lot of tap dancing on my pedals during the show. Some people don’t know what to expect when they see it live, so when I have a few parts going and then I stop playing and take a drink, it’s kind of weird to see. I guess it’s the opposite of what someone is used to seeing live, in that there are parts of the show where I’m not playing at all but all of this music is coming out of the amp and some dude is on stage plotting his next move, instead of a full band where there a few people on stage and everyone’s moving around and whatnot. Blackwolfgoat is very minimal. I’m not trying to put on a visual show, but I think the absolute lack of anything happening on stage makes it intriguing in a way.
6. Any future recording plans you’d like to mention?
I’m definitely planning on heading back into the studio in a few months, I have about four or five new songs worked out, kind of continuing in the vein of Dragonwizardsleeve. I also have the idea of a song, something that’s been germinating in my mind, a longer piece, probably around 40-50 minutes of just guitar, but with different parts to it. I’ve got a bunch of ideas, this is like a whole new thing to me, so it’s pretty exciting. I’ve been playing in bands for over 20 years, and that was great and I’ve played with a ton of amazing people, but this is something totally different and I can’t wait to have the next song finished, and then the next, and then the next. I’m just itching to get back in the studio and record some of these new songs. I love recording.
Tags: Blackwolfgoat, Malden, Massachusetts, Small Stone
