We’ve recently featured Brother Goose and their latest single, ‘Lone Ranger’. Now we’ve had the chance to chat to frontman Calum Lintott and found out what makes them tick…be prepared for a few surprises!
EP: Â Give us the potted Brother Goose story. Who are you, how long have you been a band, what’s the meaning behind the name and so on?
CL:  We formed in early 2013 after finishing college in Southampton, England. After posting an Ad on social media about my interest to find a drummer to jam with, one of my classmates at the time Joseph Ramsey sent me a shitty video he’d filmed on his blackberry. Trust me, it was diabolical… First thing I did was laugh, for 15 minutes or so. I mean, I didn’t even realise he knew how to play the drums and in truth just how cool the Dude was… But the ‘audition video’ if you want to call it that, was just a mess of hair and distorted out of time drum noise, but I kind of fell in love with him. We’re now best friends and BG would never be the same without him. It’s a true bromance. Originally it was just Ramsey, and me, Calum singer/ guitarist. We used to spend hours upon hours after college lost in all kinds of unusual melodies in our college’s rehearsal rooms and regularly got complained about because of noise and perhaps the unfair amount we used to utilize the facility. But our motive was, you snooze, you lose and we’ll create music, and we did, lots of it.
After 3 or 4 months of a kind of constant barrage of bad playing mixed with very rough amateur songwriting we decided it was time to step it up a notch and Ramsey and I went on a search for someone who could play bass and someone who could play keys, it didn’t take us long to find Christopher Barlow, and Joss Harvey. Chris we found through a friend who recommended him to us and Joss we always knew had played bass and seemed a natural fit at the time… So that was the original line up of the band, since then things have shifted about slightly.
We know have a new guitarist in the wonderful Joshua Betteridge, he kind of brings the sparkle or fairy dust to the Brother Goose noise. We also have a different bassist, Luke Rigden. Luke is also our producer and has featured as producer on all of our current works, he’s bloody good as well… So somehow Ramsey and I have managed over the past few years to create kind of our own little dream team if you will, everyone has their place and everyone has their own musical beginnings, it’s these things meticulously entwined that creates the sound of the Goose.
The name Brother Goose was inspired by a friend of the band, from another Southampton born band, Delays. The keys/synth player Aaron, had always called us Brother Goose, not sure why, he’s a mysterious person, but it kind of stuck. So here we are in the present day, Brother Goose. Too late to change it now…  Anyway, we kind of love it. Oh and by the way in a past life we were all geese, had our own little gaggle and everything…
EP:  What sort of music do you play, for those of our readers who may not be familiar with you?
CL:  We like to call it ‘indie disco rock ‘n’ roll’. It’s guitar driven, melodic, feel good music, with wondrous hooks that will make you feel majestic and transport you to a fizzy synthtastic world of wonder.
And who doesn’t want that?
EP:  Talk us through “Lone Ranger”. What’s the meaning behind it, how did it come about?
CL:  The real message behind the track is, who needs love… When you have music! It’s basically about falling in love with guitars, writing songs and playing in our band. If you’re feeling heartbroken or down in the dumps or alone, have a listen to BG we’ll cheer ya’ll up!
EP: Â Who or what inspires you the most, and why?
CL:  It really depends how I am feeling on any chosen day as to what inspires me at that exact moment, It could be the hustle and bustle of the city or a bird singing in a tree, it’s very in the moment and very different every day. It’s a good way to be, especially if you’re a creative type. Take inspiration from everything and everyone, then your creations won’t ever stop and will always be new, different and personal. Live in the now!
EP: Â What’s been your career highlight so far?
CL:  One of the best things we’ve ever done as a band was be asked to write the official song for the FA Vase final last summer.  It was insane, insane in the membrane in fact…
I cried on the day. A lot, overwhelmed doesn’t cut it. The song, ‘Brothers In Arms’ was played loads on national and regional tele and radio in the run up to the game and at the stadium multiple times on the day of the final including when Sholing FC lifted the trophy. Was great.
EP: Â 2014 was a big year for you – what’s ahead for you in what’s left of 2015?
CL:  We’ve obviously just released our new single, ‘Lone Ranger’ but we are writing writing writing constantly at the moment. We’re playing at Independence Festival in November, but don’t have many live dates booked up as of yet… this will change soon as we’re looking to tour towards the end of 2015! But at the moment, we’re writing music like mad men, and it’s some of the best stuff we’ve ever written, we’ll get in the studio over the next couple of months and slowly things will start to appear!
EP: Â Favourite venue and why?
CL:  THE JOINERS! Simply the best sound in the country… hands down. Not only that but the owners, the people that go, the vibe, everything. Wish we could live there…It’s a haven for bands like ours.
EP: Â You’ve recently had a lineup change. How’s it going now?
CL:  We’re stronger than ever. Luke Rigden our new bassist was our producer on everything we’ve created up until now and when we asked him to jump on the bass and give us some of them low tones he couldn’t resist. He’s a cool dude.
EP: Â What advice do you have for those just starting out in the music industry?
CL:  As Shia Lebouf would say, ‘ just do it’. Don’t sit around and make excuses, the music biz is a hard game, very hard and full of a lot of people that will make you want to give up, but if you really love it and you’re doing it for the right reasons, you never will. The big thing is to just create, make something, then next time make it better, there’s no better feeling in the world than writing a tune then hearing people sing back the words you wrote. It gives us the ‘Brother Goosebumps’ every time.
EP: Â Who’s your dream collaboration, if any, and why?
CL:  Jedward would be top of the list. But if they don’t want us then I’d probably have to say Thin Lizzy, because then we’d look and feel super cool forever or someone more current like James Bay or Amber Run, who both make our heads fuzzy with the tunes they are currently creating.
EP: Â Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
CL:  Playing gigs around the world ideally, that’s the plan, touring, still writing and generally having a grand time.
EP:  What question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview but nobody ever does?
CL: Â That one… How did you know?
Thanks for chatting with me!
Check out Brother Goose on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and SoundCloud.
[youtube http://youtu.be/XztsSHfVjWM]
