Following the release of their third full-length, “House of the Rising Smoke,” we sat down with French Heavy Rockers Goatfather to discuss the band’s origins, evolution, and the sonic journey behind their latest album. From riff-Heavy explorations to immersive live experiences, here’s an inside look into the world of Goatfather.
Can you tell us how Goatfather was born and what motivated you to start the band?
The band originated in 2014 when Greg, our former guitarist, made a post on the French music forum Zikinf to find musicians for a new stoner band in Lyon. We first met in an hour-rent studio, and Raph (drums) and I (Yann, vocals/guitar) realized we knew each othe from high school.
How did the lineup come together, and have there been any significant changes over the years?
The 1st lineup took a little time to emerge. Initially I didn’t play guitar in the band, and I was the only one with a little stage experience. I recruited Gab (rhythm guitar) from Lugh, a local well established prog band, and Math(bass) arrived weeks before our first gig in May 2014. This lineup recorded our 1st demo in 2015, but Gab left quickly after that and I started playing rhythm guitar, which led to the lineup we often refer to as “Goatfather Mk1”, with Greg, Math, Raph and I. The 4 of us recorded “Hipster Fister” (Black Wave, 2016) and started touring France and making some festival appearances. Then, Math left the band in december 2017, followed by Greg in 2019. They were replaced by Quentin (bass, another high school friend and former bandmate) and Pierre (guitar, ex-Exorcizer). This Mk2 lineup recorded “Monster Truck” (Argonauta Records, 2021). Quentin left in 2024 and Violeine (bass, ex-Witchgrove) arrived just before the recording of “House of the Rinsing Smoke”. So yes, a lot of changes happened, and I guess our “Mk3” lineup is the best we ever had. As a self-taught singer and guitarist, I’m really honored to play with such fine musicians as Pierre, Violeine and Raph.
Which early musical influences shaped your sound, both individually and as a band?
Personnaly, I come from both a blues-rock (what I heard at home) and a punk-rock andgrunge (my teenage soundtrack) background. I really loved bands like Nirvana, Mudhoney, but also SRV, Rory Gallagher, Lynyrd Skynyrd… and off course, Black Sabbath. Then I discovered stoner and doom metal in my 20s and bands like Orange Goblin, Clutch, Electric Wizard, Corrosion of Conformity and The Devil’s Blood were a major influence for my bands Goatfather and Witchgrove. My 3 bandmates come from a more extreme background: black metal for Raph and Violeine (with a touch of grindcore), and thrash metal for Pierre, who also kows his classics (Hendrix, Judas Priest, Deep Purple…).
How would you describe the evolution of your style from your first release to “House of the Rising Smoke”?
“Hipster Fister” was a mix between stoner/southern metal (Down, Texas Hippie Coalition…) and hard rock (AC/DC, Guns and Roses…), Greg being the main composer of the album. I think we evolved to a more personnal style, with a bit more stoner/doom and psychedelic influences.
Stoner, Heavy, Doom, Psychedelic—how do you define your sound in your own words?
“Heavy Stoner” sounds good to me. There’s a lot of heavy metal in Goatfather, more than in most of the French stoner scene, and we also tend to be heavier, as “more metal”, than the post and psych-influenced music that’s dominating European stoner these days. I guess people understand what to expect when they read Heavy Stoner.
What was the creative process like for “House of the Rising Smoke”? Did it differ from previous albums?
It’s often the same process : one of us (often a guitarist) brings an idea, either a riff or a song, and we start to jam around it, and then we rewrite it into a song, that one of us writes on Guitar Pro at home. The we try the song, we jam again, we make changes, we write it again. When the song starts to take shape, I write the lyrics. It often takes a lot of intermediary versions to reach the final one, but it’s the process that works for us. What was different this time is that the album was supposed to be a 4-tracks EP. When Quentin left te band, we decided to create some new music before recruiting somebody else. I played the bass and we wrote 3 songs and a new version of “Son of a Witch”, which is an old song I had written before the beginning of Goatfather. In the meantime, Violeine had played with us on stage as a session musician, nd we decided to recruit her as our permanent bassist. We recorded the EP in January 2024, but we realized, and she played a major role in it, that adding 2 songs would be a better idea. So I wrote 2 songs, “Stoner Dream” and “Rainbow Rider”, we rewrote them together, but with a quicker process, and we recorded them in July.
Many of the tracks on the new album blend heavy riffs with Psychedelic passages. How do you approach balancing heaviness with atmosphere?
It’s not really something we do on purpose. It’s certainly a consequence of our writing process. The riffing parts are the more written ones, and the psychedelic passages are the result of the long jamming sessions. We often have to cut them shorter for the rec. But in the future, we’d love to put more jamming and improvisation in our live performances.
Can you share the story behind one of your favorite tracks on this album, and what makes it special to you?
“Stoner Dream” is certainly the most Goatfather-ish song of all Goatfather’s discography: it started as a joke. There’s this meme, I’m sure you know it, that says that a stoner song is a riff, a guy yelling “I smoke weed on top of a mountain”, and the the same riff comes back heavier. I had just sent it to a friend, and I was taking a shower (which is not something that could happen if I still played grunge!), and the riff poped in my head. So, immediately after, I recorded it, the I wrote some lyrics with all the clichés about stoner condensed in a song. I sent it to the band half as a joke, as we had just decided to record 2 more songs, and that was it.
Your riffs and rhythm sections are particularly strong. How do you usually compose songs—do riffs come first, or lyrics, or something else?
As I already said, it often starts with a riff, even if the heavier ones, particularly the palm-mute parts on “Eye of the Electric Mountain”, are sometimes written later in the process as ways to let more place to the vocals: Pierre and I often create complex or very melodic riffs that make good intros or bridges that sound to “full” when you add vocals.
Were there any particular challenges during the recording sessions for this album, or memorable moments you’d like to share?
I’ll speak for myself: I had not recorded guitar parts for a long time. Pierre had recorded all the guitars on “Monster Truck” and on the first 4 songs of “House of the Rising Smoke”, because my professional agenda didn’t let me enough time to work and record both guitars and vocals. Then when we decided to add “Stoner Dream” and “Rainbow Rider”, as I had more time and Pierre had less, I decided to track my guitar lines myself (I even played a solo!), which I had not done since Witchgrove’s “Goetic Songs” in 2019. That was quite a challenge.
How has the addition of Violeine on bass influenced the band’s sound and dynamics?
Well, first, she comes from classical piano, and she really knows how to work seriously. And she’s a very melodic bassist. She tends to add walking bass parts, variations, little melodic phrases that enlighten all the song. Quentin was a real rhythm machine, he sounded like a bulldoze, and that was perfect for “Monster Truck”. Violeine brings a different way of thinking waht a stoner or doom bass is, and she also makes nice backing vocals that will certainly influence thge writing of the next album.
Live performances are crucial for Heavy Rock bands. Are there any upcoming tours or festival appearances we should know about?
We’ve got a few nices gigs and festivals this spring/summer (Plane’R Fest in Lyon in June, Dong Open Air in Germany in July), but we’ll mainly tour next fall due to our personnal agendas. Keep tuned to our Instagram and Facebook pages to be informed!
Can you tell us about a particularly memorable or unusual live experience that sticks with you?
In 2021, we released “Monster Truck” between 2 Covid episodes, and the few shows we could play had limited audiences. Four our release party, at Lyon’s legendary Rock n’Eat, it was limited to 200 instead of 300. We had not played for nearly 2 years, we didn’t know if people would follow. Then we realized it was sold out. The album had been out online for a few weeks, and when we started to play “Punish the Punisher”, the audience began singing the main riff. It was such a surprise, I guess I saw a few tears on our faces. Or was it sweat? Who knows…
How would you describe the current Heavy Rock/Doom/Stoner scene in France, and how do you see Goatfather fitting into it?
There’s been a lot of change since the Covid episode. We used to have a big stoner/southern metal scene, with guys who played since the early 2000s, and among whom we were the youngest. A lot of them stopped after the lockdowns, even if bands like General Cluster or Headcharger still exist. Those who stopped were not really replaced in thiese aesthetics, but a new scene emerged followings the tracks of Mars Red Sky or our Swiss cousins on Monkey3, with bands in a more psychedelic and post/prog mood. Our friends from Wizard Must Die and Occult Hand Order, in Lyon, are a good example of that. And there’s still a rich doom/sludge scene (Atomic Trip, Witchfinder…). In this backgrounds, we’re a bit like the metalheads among the stonerheads, and I see ourselves as a bridge between 2 scenes that don’t communicate a lot except in a few festivals like Sylak Open Air that programs both. And that’s fine to me: we love both stoner and metal and we don’t want to cut the bridges with any of the two scenes and audiences.
Looking at the global Stoner/Doom/Psychedelic scene, which bands or movements inspire you today?
As strange as it may sound, we don’t listen to a lot of stoner. Orange Goblin were really a model for us and it’s a heartbreaking news that they decided to stop. Mars Red Sky and Stoned Jesus are also a big inspiration, and among more confidential bands, I really love Duel, and Slomatics and Goya who released awesome albums in 2025.
Outside of music, do other forms of art, literature, or personal experiences influence your songwriting?
Sure. B-series movies, as ou can see in “Convoy” and “Night of the Blue Smoke” Music videos (even if they’re early movies from legendary directors). And everything sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic… It’s often more an atmosphere than a particular story, but that’s at least the background of my lyrics.
Finally, what message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from “House of the Rising Smoke”?
Don’t take music to seriously, it’s mainly fun and good times. And particularly, don’t take “stoner” to seriously, don’t ruin your life with substances abuse. It’s not worth it and it won’t make you cool: if you’re listening to good music, you already are.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and stories. We look forward to following Goatfather’s journey and hearing these new tracks live.
Purchase “House Of The Rising Smoke” on Bandcamp: https://goatfather.bandcamp.com/album/house-of-the-rising-smoke
Read our Review of “House Of The Rising Smoke” here: [Review] Goatfather – House of the Rising Smoke