The scene needs bands like Silly Goose.
Bands that are in this for the sheer thrill of being in it. No pretence, only party. That’s been the way of the world for Jackson Foster ever since he kick-started this adventure whilst he was still in high school. Wanting to share his love for nu-metal with his own generation, at an age where most of them weren’t even alive in the genre’s heyday, has transformed into something so much bigger than the sum of its parts.
And with new album ‘Keys To The City’, the band are taking some of their most considerable strides to date. Still jam-packed with chandelier-swinging anthems but swaying into even heavier and darker territory, it is the most complete, calloused and cathartic material the band have put their name to yet.
As they prepare to make their debut on UK soil, serving as support for Hot Milk on their upcoming headline tour, Rock Sound caught up with Jackson to discuss how adapting to the new spaces they are being thrown into has only made him hungrier for more.
Rock Sound: A large part of the last year or so of Silly Goose is you being able to play shows with so many different bands and be introduced to so many different scenes and communities that will find something in your music. What has it been like to absorb so much in such a quick amount of time?
Jackson: “I feel like we are a band that can play with a lot of different genres. Sometimes we’re the heaviest band on the bill, other times, as was with our recent tour with LANDMVRKS, the least heavy band on the bill. I never know how it’s going to go over, but I feel like every night we really did make a bunch of new fans. I feel like it’s the first tour where I have got home after and feel like we made a little bit of money, too. But I’m just thankful for the opportunities each time. It was also the first time we have used in-ears for our set, so it was definitely a learning curve and a step up. However, every tour we do is more of an experience than the last, and I like to think that we have been able to hone our craft a little bit more each time.”
RS: That very much shines through when you consider where you are with your new album as well, which feels much darker, heavier and diverse than the party-starting style you have become known for up until now. Where did the decision to shift in this direction come from?
Jackson: “Sometimes things just come together, and we figure out what we are working with once the record gets close to being completed. I went into this record with the mindset that I wanted to try more things than we had done before. In the past, the focus has been primarily rap. However, there is a lot more screaming and singing this time around, which was really cool for me. I also like how this record doesn’t end in the same place that it started. I feel like it takes you on a little bit of a journey. When it first starts, it feels like the Silly Goose sound that people are accustomed to, characterised by party songs, good times, and a touch of light-heartedness. But then, as it progresses and we get into songs like ‘Now Dance’ and ‘Playin’ Games’ and ‘Heart Attack’, there is definitely this angrier side that I got to explore, which I was really stoked on. It’s the first time we’ve got to dive into that sort of sound, and now I feel like I want to dive into it even more. There are a lot of different attitudes, and that’s pretty cool to me.”
RS: Coming out of high school, which is where you formed the band, you’re still growing and adapting to the world around you. The things you thought and the way you felt at the start of all of this were always going to be different to where you are now, so your music should move in the same way.
Jackson: “I really have felt that way. I’m 24 now. I still love writing party songs, but I don’t want to do the same thing over and over. As we get older, we will continue to try new things. Each record will always represent the state of affairs at that time. You have a song like ‘Give Me My Money’ on here, which is us basically saying, ‘Hey, I can’t get by’, and that theme has found its way working into a lot of our music these days. Then there is ‘Heart Attack’, which is me saying how I’m sick of being taken advantage of and how I don’t want to cater to someone else while I’m trying just to be myself. That’s what comes to mind for me when I think about where the anger that we feel now is coming from.”
RS: For a band that started as a way for you to introduce a sound that you loved to a generation of people who may not have been familiar with it, to now be somewhere you can talk about such things is a huge step. Being able to speak up for what matters to you should always be a priority, even if people think you’re just here to have a party.
Jackson: “I’m very excited because people haven’t heard me be angry in our music that much. And I feel like it’s going to go over really well. I feel like there are people who have been waiting for me to get angry as well. And the songs we had been playing in the lead-up to the album’s release translate so well live for us. It’s also something I have had to work on regarding my voice. I feel like it held up pretty well on the LANDMVRKS tour. It wasn’t until the very last show where I could feel it going that little bit. It’s been about learning to get myself to shut up if I can feel scratching during the day. I’m just doing my best each day and hoping that everything works out.”
RS: When you’re moving as fast as you are, it’s easy to find yourself at the other side of an experience and be already hoping you had done things differently. But because you are learning so many things at the same time as you go, you’re able to keep ahead of so much. That’s a blessing in disguise, really.
Jackson: “And we’re all very in this together. We’re all picking up these things and learning as we go along. Something I have learned now that I am in the music industry is that everything isn’t all up to me anymore. There are multiple opinions involved in what we do now. But everything we do is also a lesson waiting to be learned. I’m not always right, you know? And now, some of my least favourite songs on the record are my favourites because somebody else pushed for them. But even though I am learning to be more agreeable, at no point are we going to lose who we are. This is our project, and we still want to be able to have fun with it, no matter what. I’m not one to bite my tongue when it comes to that.”
RS: When you consider where you were at this point last year and comparing it to where you are now, how much do you feel has changed, both internally and externally?
Jackson: “I feel like we have just got better as a touring package. We have become a tighter, more well-oiled machine. But in terms of who we are and what the band is about, it’s still very much the same. I do feel like the band has definitely grown, and that feels great. Silly Goose has always been about slow growth. We’ve gone steady, and then our popularity goes up when something big happens. But I like being that steady band, because it remains continuous. We’re still able to go to cities that we have never been before and have people there who know all of the words. That will continue to blow my mind.”
RS: And again, the fact that this all came from you just wanting to show people a style of music that you loved. Ultimately, you’re Silly Goose’s biggest fan because it is so in line with everything that you loved before you existed.
Jackson: “I’m our biggest fan and biggest hater at the same time, and I love it that way even if I can overthink things sometimes. It’s really cool to be able to be that, though. And it’s even cooler to see young kids, people younger than me, at our shows, knowing the words and being obsessed with it. To see that and feel like a new generation is coming up behind us. That’s always awesome. I love this, and the more people we can reach, the cooler this will all be for me. I get a great deal of thrill and excitement from people being along for the journey with us.”
