God’s Country

Product Information

S: Yeah, in my opinion it’s the greatest version of whatever it is - I guess you’d call it metallic hardcore - that’s ever been made. Raygun Busch: Absolutely! My brain is only truly working when I’m talking about movies, music, books etc. There is a song on the record I am immensely proud of, that is sort of extremely personal in a lot of ways despite essentially being Friday the 13th fanfiction. The Grimace song alternately draws from the films Mysterious Skin and In a Glass Cage (not to mention real-life experience)—There’s also some songs on the record that draw from real life events from our region of the country, true, but they are merely impressions, not meant to be a history lesson by any means. Sort of the In Cold Blood approach. Everything about you has been consistent through your existence as a band. Your recording, production, and artwork all go hand in hand with one another because you do everything yourselves, right? What is the importance of having everything being self-contained like that to you? RB: We’re all here [Oklahoma] because this was the last place in the country to settle. We had forced every indigenous person here and Montana, and then we were like, “actually, we want this No Man’s Land that we’ve put you into.” And that’s where we live. We’re a long time away from that, so it’s not like knowing whose land you're on is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. You remember that mini-movement that happened a few years ago, there was an app and all that shit? That stuff is really important to know, but a lot of people maybe don’t think about it. LM: We will grind a song down a ton, so there’s a lot of repetition and stuff. It’s the only way I really know how to write music - I’m not good at writing a full song and presenting it. I don’t really want to write like that anyways, I like to do it with people. My ideas are not always right, so I like to have people with good ideas to input as well.

NR: I was going to bring up Portrayal Of Guilt. You did a split with them in 2021, and you’re going on tour with Lingua Ignota soon right? In light of this award, we sat down with the band over video call to shoot the shit about the reaction to ‘God’s Country’, Chat Pile’s journey up until this point, and what the future has in store for the group.RB: I didn’t know that, but that’s cool. That’s what I want to get my fingers into - Doja Cat featuring Raygun Bush. You said that “lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of THC” were used for this album. Approximately how much THC would you say? Are you more of a sativa or indica band? Raygun Busch: Honestly, if I had been left to my own devices at the beginning, it would have been way sillier, more gorey, way more stupid. I was encouraged to keep everything a bit grounded, because it would seem more disturbing, and dammit, the boys were right. I sincerely hope we are not viewed as edgelords, but I do consume a lot of media with pervasive dark themes because that’s what I like. Before we talk about the record, let’s talk about Tenkiller. What was it like scoring a horror movie? Would you like to do something like that again?

The music is serious - what we’re doing is serious. So you’ve gotta have a little fun somewhere else, you know what I mean? Stin: Ya, more than anything, we’re trying to capture the anxiety and fear of seeing the world fall apart. Raygun is especially talented at that, even if the lyrics are fantasy based at times. I think that that specific type of anxiety comes through no matter what. Raygun Busch: It was borne from necessity but it’s really the only way to do things, right? We’ve each been recording our own music since at least our teen years. There’s really no reason for anyone to ever pay someone to do shit that a computer has made pig simple for the masses. The internet and computer programs have completely equalized the medium–You can make a record or a movie or whatever you want (easy as writing that book always has been lol) if you really want to. Tangerine was shot on iPhones and Tangerine is one of the best movies of the century so far. Deathconsciousness by Have a Nice Life was recorded using Garageband for chrissakes!

Intro

S: For me, I have no delusions that we will have any positive effect on the world. I truly feel that way. I see it more as an expression of frustration. It’s more a cathartic screaming out. Not to use a pun, but, why? Why do things have to be this way - in our world, in our existence, since the beginning of time and until the end of time? I view it more as a powerless screaming, but you guys might feel differently. LM: But also, religion is so broad. You don’t have to be all in or all out. As long as stuff is honest, that’s what I’m getting at - if religion is part of the person who’s making art, and they’re keeping it out for some reason, then I’d rather they put that in there if that’s earnest to them.

Stin: Yeah, Ray took the words right out of my mouth with the whole “manifest destiny” thing. It’s obviously a very American thing, but it’s hyperly an Oklahoma thing as well. I feel like we’re the last domino of that type of mindset, and attributing that kind of entitlement to God plays a big part in how bad things are. How do you see yourself in relation to those kinds of bands, those acts who quote-unquote “make a point” in their music? LM: I’ve always dug music which is like that lyrically, like The Mountain Goats and Daniel Johnston. I enjoy lyrics which are more like people talking rather than insane, dense prose. The more naturalistic-type stuff in general has always been very appealing to me. So I like when we get some of that in the lyrics, because that’s the type of stuff that I listen to. That’s ideal for me.LM: Yeah, I love stuff like that. That’s something that’s appealing to all of us, and I feel like it works. When we started writing instrumentals and got Ray in on vocals, it worked together. Having the theatrical angle with it - or maybe even literary, because there are a lot of characters and stuff in the songs - works, it’s cool. LM: When I like metal, it’s stuff like ‘Traveller’ by The Lord Weird Slough Feg. That’s an awesome heavy metal album. But I didn’t really get into metal through older-style thrash, so I’m kind of haterfied when it comes to the Eighties metal vibe. LM: It was just fitting when we were whittling down titles. Ray has this big list of stuff that we’ve pulled mostly all of our titles from. ‘God’s Country’ was on there.

Stin: With all of it, we very consciously try to express and represent the feeling of living in the southern plains. Even the more Beavis and Butthead, ’90’s alt-metal musical leanings are meant to evoke a sense of place. It’s very culturally ingrained here. S: That’s a literal Steve Albini diatribe. He’s a big fan of Danielson and Danielson Famile [a project with a strong Christian element to the music]. People have given him a hard time for working with a religious band, and then he’s replied, “well, if that’s your worldview, why would you not incorporate it into your music? It would be disingenuous not to do so.” LM: I am one-hundred percent there as well. I remember us making it, because it took forever - well, I shouldn’t say forever, but it took a while because we self-recorded. But we sat on it for a long time too, so it’s like a weird cycle. We’d made it, and then it was finished for eleven months, and then we finally put it out. In that interim period, I’d heard it a million times. Now that it’s out, it’s awesome that people are super into it, but it’s kind of old material now, you know? There’s other stuff that we’ve been working on. So yeah, it’s weird - it does feel like it’s own thing. It’s cool though. NR: Given that you chose to frame the record by calling it ‘God’s Country’, what do you think it does to the psyche of people or a community to be invoking God on their existence like that?

Reviews

S: And for us, you know, there’s a lot of comedy to be mined from extremely dark content. If anything, we have something of a skill of being able to ride that line, so that’s maybe where some of the camp comes in. I mean, ‘grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg’ is a funny title for a song, but the song covers incredibly dark subject matter. So if there is a camp element, that’s where it lives with us. S: We’ve only played like five shows since we recorded the album. Already it’s like, “oh, well all of those are old songs. People want to hear new stuff.” NR: As this is the end-of-year roundup for Norman, have there been any records/artists/general musical things which have particularly stood out to you this year? And if so, can you see any of them filtering into future Chat Pile work?