(Photo Credit - Doug Bogan)
We spoke with Peter Anspach (Guitar, Vocals, Keys) of Goose for an Artist Spotlight feature! We were able to touch on a number of topics including the band's influences and how they got started. Check it out!
1. How did you come to pursue music and how long have you been at it?
"My mom is a music teacher and sang to me from before day one. I truly believe that her singing and dancing influence at a young age made me who I am today. I started my first band as a guitarist when I was in 8th grade, age 12, that’s probably the age at which I thought music was cool enough to really pursue as a curiosity. Eventually it would become my passion."
2. Could you walk us through your process of writing music?
"Writing is a very emotional and spiritual process for me. A lot of my writing recently has come from feelings of loneliness or feeling the emotional stress of others and wanting to alleviate that. It’s hard for me to just pick up and write lyrics, that process seems to only come in those emotional moments, and usually I am able to channel those feelings into something I’d feel passionate singing about. Musically, almost every time I pick up and instrument I stumble on a new music idea that I immediately record into my voice memos on my phone (I have thousands lol), then later I can tap back into those, and if something clicks quickly then its probably worth me making a demo, or playing the song for the band."
3. What artists have inspired you in your career?
"The list gets longer every day. I love being introduced to new music from my friends, and it helps that all my close friends are musically inclined, but also in different ways. Some of the most influential music I’ve experienced came for me in college. I was introduced to Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Tame Impala, and Mac DeMarco, all of whom expanded on my high school repertoire of Phish, Chili Peppers, the Dead, Beatles, and Zeppelin. Tame Impala specifically altered the way I played guitar forever. The tones on the first two Tame records are almost synth like, with tons of phase, reverb, and delay. I had used all of those effects, but after hearing Innerspeaker and Lonerism, I really dug into effects, which eventually led to writing songs like ‘Yeti’, which is a heavy delay tune."
4. Do you have any favorite music gear (guitars, amps, effects pedals, keyboards, etc.) that you love to use? If so, what’s the story on them?
"My main electric guitar is my baby. It’s a PRS Hollowbody II from 2011 that I got when I graduated high school. I purchased it online from a guitar store in Colorado. I had never seen anyone play one, or even played it myself so it was a totally blind purchase. I waited all day for UPS to deliver it, I think it finally got to my house around 9PM on a Friday, so I was stoked! I remember picking it up for the first time and how light it felt. Everything about it was perfect. Since then, a lot of other musicians I’ve come across a lot of guitarists who also use the HBII. Rick, ironically, got one around the same time, without knowing me."
5. Can you describe the vibe at your live shows? Also, what do you enjoy most about a venue when you do a show?
"The vibe at our show is indescribable. The only thing I can compare it to is a family dinner at the Caruso house (my Mom’s family) and everyone’s got a big bowl of pasta, sharing their love for each other. It just feels like home to me."
"I love deep venues, we played a show at the Intersection in Grand Rapids and honestly it was one of my favorite rooms. Things can get overwhelming when the ceilings are super tall, but when Goedde (our light guy) hits the crowd with the white lights and you can see people for what looks like miles, that’s a super rush."
6. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music?
"Playing music is so much for me and our band so just give it a taste, I’d recommend our YouTube channel for the full experience. There’s nothing better than seeing and hearing a band for the first time as opposed to just listening."
7. What’s next for Goose?
"We’ve got two Halloween shows at South Farms in Morris, CT at the end of the month, then a bunch of awesome things will follow, none of which are announced as of now, but we were so busy during the Summer, so I’m psyched to see a lot of our projects reveal themselves over the next few months."