Godcaster’s communal residency integrates their multimedia quintessence

Godcaster, a celestial six piece art-rock band plunged its audience into a deep reverie at their most recent NYC residency at the iconic Nightclub 101. Choosing an episodic approach to their four part performance, commissioning dear friends for a unique, sequential, and quivering encounter.  

Judson Kolk (vox, guitar) Bruce Ebersole (vox, guitar) formed the band when they were ten and seven years old respectively and would later solidify their current lineup comprising of Von Kolk (omnichord, flute, keyboard, guitar, tambourine, vox), David McFaul (autoharp, sample pad, keyboard, vox), Jan Fontana (bass, sampler), and Ryan West (drums, vox). Each member adds their own colorful skillset into the band’s overall macro authority. We sat down to discuss their residency experience, collaboration with Kevin Barnes (of Montreal), upcoming tour, and more! 

How was your experience with the residency? Any favorite parts? 

VON: The weekly element made it feel like a little community, similar to when you play in a DIY space. There was this feeling of everyone kind of knowing each other and it felt like friends hanging out on a Tuesday night and we were always able to leave and say, “See you next week!” 
RYAN: I can’t stop thinking about how the venue looked previously versus how it looks now. It had this terribly bleak vibe to it before, but I love what they did to the place. It has light floors and everything is primary colored and it just feels fun, fresh, bright and really inspiring!

When I think of performing at large, and an artist’s autonomy over their presentation, I think it’s interesting that you chose to exhibit a play as your opening act. What made you want to incorporate Body Liars [Naz Bowman] into your show? 

JUDSON: We wanted something multimedia and were trying a few things that didn’t end up working out, but we knew from the start that we wanted a fanfare element every night that wasn’t a band playing. My mom came to the last show and said she was so moved at how everyone sat down during the performance and really gave it their full attention. 

RYAN: Yeah! It was so quiet and slow moving and it was cool to see everyone so captivated by it in a really intentional way!

DAVID: I can’t speak for all of us, but I had very rarely seen a play that I liked, but Body Liars really spoke to us all and we thought it was the perfect fit when we saw it. It was Naz’s idea to have a different part of one play open for each show so it was an incentive to have people come to more than one. 

BRUCE: We really trust Naz, and we thought it would be kinda fun to have something as a staple each time, something episodic, and we knew that Naz was up for the task. 

Tell me about your decision to choose to cover Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” each night. You curated quite the list of local talent and guests to help you perform this portion of the set, are they all friends of yours? Why that song specifically? 

JUDSON: I’ve been interested in doing a cover of “My Way” for a long time, it’s a perfectly written song with its emotional swells and ecstatic passion. I’ve also been minorly obsessed with the song’s storied conception and controversy. People think it’s a fascist song, a communist song, a capitalist song. I find it very fascinating how there could be so many extreme and opposing interpretations of a Frank Sinatra song. It’s amazing. Paul Anka said later of “My Way” that his intention with his lyrical themes was not “a celebration of the self made man” nor a critiquing castigation but both at the same time and everything in between. It’s deeply sad and melancholy and triumphant and pathetic and funny and gorgeous. It’s a look at life, in all of its sad imperfections and intoxicating beauty. A true life affirming song. We played “My Way” all four nights as the closing song and had four different guest singers sing Franky’s lead. Night one was Al Nardo and Bailey Wolowitz from Fantasy of a Broken Heart, Night two was Jackson Katz from Brutus VIII, Night three was Zach Phillips of Fievel is Glauque (he sang “Comme d’habitude!,” a re-worked demo from the original songwriter Jacques Revaux and a French Pop Singer, Claude François), and Night four was Cole Haden of Model/Actriz. All incredible heroes, all beautiful old friends of ours. I love “My Way.”

How does your on-stage attire/wardrobe direct or influence that multimedia element you talked about earlier? Do you feel particularly better wearing a certain garment? How does wardrobe influence your artistry— if at all? 

JUDSON: I think about wardrobe a lot! I think a lot about being a figure on a stage. I have been trying to make stamps that I can put on my clothes, I used to wear all white. I kind of like having a theme during a large chunk of time as something you can expect to see on-stage. 

RYAN: I would say that we might not be the furthest thing from a costume band, but we are also not very close to being a costume band either. But I do think all together, it does kind of make sense in a weird way the way we all present ourselves. 

DAVID: I like to dress presentable on-stage. I feel like it’s very rude to wear gym shorts or something. *band laughs* It’s like a respect to your artistry. 

VON: I think about what we are playing. For our self-titled tour, our set was more guitar heavy and I hadn’t played guitar in a while and I would previously wear skirts or something, but I realized I needed a place to put my pick and my glass slide so I started wearing this utility belt where I could put all my things that I needed for our set. So at that point in time, I was wearing a lot more utilitarian things with lots of pockets or that belt. But the new stuff is shifting to be a little bit more poppier and I am starting to dress more feminine again as opposed to wearing something more neutral/canvas. 

So cool! Can you talk about your collaboration with Kevin Barnes (of Montreal) and his production hand on your upcoming record? Did you have a preconceived idea coming into meeting with him or more of a blank canvas?

JUDSON: We became friends on tour and he had invited us to come record with him at his home studio. It was extremely surreal for us since he is our hero— like since we were kids. We had sort of an idea of where we wanted to go with the record and kinda had all the songs ready-to-go but it was nice to be able to have his input. It was so great hanging out with him and being around him. 

JAN: Christina Schneider also collaborated on a song too so it was nice to have a bit of a flavor of both of them on the album with her insight during the recording process. 

How about your musical influences and tastes overall, would you say that there are any overlaps between the six of you or does it vary quite a bit? 

David: I think we all kinda have a shared sensibility. We idolize a lot of the same bands. 

JUDSON: We all really appreciate sunshine pop, The Flaming Lips— they’re personally my favorite band! Ryan likes metal. *laughs* 

VON: Yeah, I think the link overall is sunshine pop, even though Ryan likes metal he still likes Sunshine pop! 

RYAN: They need each other! 

Who designs all of your cover art? It seems like you guys have a very distinct visual aesthetic that’s cohesive from project to project. Where do you draw inspiration from for the visuals specifically and does it differ from when you’re writing the songs or does that inspiration come from the same place?

JUDSON: I do that! *laughs* But the inspiration both come from different places. I’ve been working hard at becoming a better graphic designer over the past few years and I like using symbols and to have a color palette in mind, then somehow, it ends up feeling like the music in the end which is cool. 

Talk about your writing process. I am so curious about the methodology behind all of the layering, everything is very macro. Tell us more about the composition and the arranging of it all. 

JUDSON: I write the skeleton of the songs and then Bruce arranges. 

BRUCE: It’s all Jud as far as lyrics go, but it’s not like spoon-fed parts. Everyone contributes and comes up with their own parts and things.

What does the name of the band mean? 

JUDSON: It was a name I came up with while washing dishes at a place called Honey’s in Philadelphia. It’s supposed to mean Angel, like a biblically accurate angel and I was thinking of caster wheels, like a wheel inside a wheel and I also thought it sounded kind of Sci-Fi. 

What role does religion/spirituality play in your musical practice, if at all? Do you have a personal spirituality? 

Judson: Yes! It plays a role in sort-of the ecstasy of it all and to revel in the gift of music. 

What is your favorite part of being in this specific band? 

JAN: I like when we spend a lot of time on the road together and we’re playing a lot. It feels like we are building something and bringing to life a vision and showing it to people. It feels like we’re all communicating in a cohesive way, and that’s really rewarding because it feels like the audience picks up on it a lot. 

RYAN: I think I truly just like getting to play music with my best friends. But also— I really believe in the music itself. It makes sense to me and also I am just convinced. 

VON: I feel like mine is the same as Jan, I feel like he said it really well. I also really love having a meal together on tour, it feels like family dinner. 

You’re about to go on tour with Horsegirl, what part of the country are y’all heading to? 

BRUCE: We’re going out West! It’s Midwest, West Coast and Vancouver, B.C. I am excited for Boise, ID because we have never played there. We’re excited to get back to Austin too, it’s like our second home. 

Their new sunshine pop influenced album is set to release this fall. In the meantime though, stream their new single “Judy Living Daylights” here and catch them on tour in August! 

Words & Photography: ​Kassi Reyna

Image Editor: Savannah Lauren

---