The Obelisk Questionnaire: Raphaël Jaudon of Goatfather
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Raphaël “Grizzly” Jaudon of Goatfather
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play drums for a bit more than 10 years now. I’ve been in a few bands before, playing mostly post-metal and black metal, and at the moment I’m the drummer of a stoner band named Goatfather. Well, I guess that’s an easy way to describe it. But as soon as it comes to genres, subgenres and so on, I’m not quite sure anymore! The band is born from all the musicians’ stories and personalities, so our music incorporate a lot of different atmospheres. That’s what I like to do. I’m not the kind of musician that elaborates the whole concept in his head and then tries to make it happen exactly the way it was designed. When we met we had no idea what the music would become: it came up after a great deal of rehearsals, listening to and playing with each other.
Describe your first musical memory.
Both of my parents are classical musicians, so I feel like I’ve been surrounded with music all my life. When I was a newborn baby they put my cradle on the top of the piano while my dad was playing. I slept just like that, but I woke up as soon as he stopped playing. So, this must be my first musical memory: feeling uncomfortable when the music stops!
Describe your best musical memory to date.
This is both a musical and cinematographic memory: the scene where Denis Lavant is dancing to the song “Modern Love” by David Bowie, in Leos Carax’ Mauvais Sang. He’s listening to the song on the radio, and all of the sudden he starts running like a madman in the street, half dancing half moving randomly and hitting the air with his fists. I discovered this movie when I was a teenager and this scene struck me deeply. The song so perfectly fits the situation that it can take over the character’s mind and body. Anybody who likes music lives just to feel moments like these.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I always thought I was immune to stage fright. I see my fellow musicians getting more and more nervous before getting on stage while I always stay calm and focused. Well, it was true until the first time I played on a festival stage, with thousands of people staring at me. That was hell of a test (and hell of a pleasure too)!
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Artistic progression is a tricky thing. On the one hand, it leads you to become more confident and proud of yourself. The more you practice, the more you learn new ways to express the feelings you have in mind, the more you feel ready to complexify your compositions. But on the other hand, you must be careful not to lose the spontaneity that drove you in the first place.
How do you define success?
I’m not a huge fan of the word “success”. Sometimes you just want to express a feeling, coming straight from your guts, and people happen to identify with it, no matter how many likes or listeners on streaming platforms. That’s the most precious thing in a musician’s life, and we’ve all experienced it at least once. The moment you start considering your music in terms of numbers or success, I feel, that’s where you begin to lose yourself. Sometimes even “small” bands happen to have this kind of thoughts, and it makes me very sad.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The more I hang around in the musical scene, the more I witness disrespectful behaviors that I wish we had wiped out long ago. There’s still a lot of sexism, racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia around us. Every day you learn that some band you like has acquaintances with fascism, every day women you like are abused during a show or a festival. I’m sick of it. The field of heavy music still has a lot of things to work on.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
When I look back at my life I realize all the music I’ve created is quite luminous, despite all the blast beats and the heavy tones. For example Goatfather’s latest album Monster Truck is full of hope and desire for freedom. In the future, I’d like to try making something really dark for once! Expressing nothing but despair, absurdity and the fear of death. I’m not sure I’d be able to do this, but it’s worth getting a shot.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Art reminds us that beauty exists and is priceless. In the everyday life we’re all stuck in boring routines and deceptive activities, and it makes me very sad when I think of all the people that will never have the chance to experience anything else in their lives — because of poverty, war, depression or any other shit that can happen. Let’s face it: 90% of life sucks. At least art and music can help us fill the rest with joy and previously unsuspected emotions.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Revolution!
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