God’s Country

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NR: That’s the one. ‘No Love Deep Web’ came to me as a comparison for ‘God’s Country’. The albums are both so unrelenting and don’t sugarcoat the way they present things. They’re really forceful. But also, it seems like your music is more observational than theirs - both with the lyrics and also the way it’s all brought together. S: And for us, you know, there’s a lot of comedy to be mined from extremely dark content. If anything, we have something of a skill of being able to ride that line, so that’s maybe where some of the camp comes in. I mean, ‘grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg’ is a funny title for a song, but the song covers incredibly dark subject matter. So if there is a camp element, that’s where it lives with us.

NR: Given that you chose to frame the record by calling it ‘God’s Country’, what do you think it does to the psyche of people or a community to be invoking God on their existence like that? LM: Yeah, absolutely MDC. That stuff is very appealing to me, and so it makes sense for that kind of vibe to be in our music too. I think all of us listen to a little bit of stuff like that. Even Nirvana, they’re like that too. There’s so much of that kind of shit going on in Kurt Cobain’s lyrics, and they’re one of the biggest bands ever. That was definitely big early for me, hearing music that was in some way sarcastic, you know? RB: Some of my heroes on the mic are people like Jello Biafra, H.R. from Bad Brains, David Thomas from Pere Ubu. They all have a theatricality to what they’re doing. So if I’m bringing that, that’s why. NR: Yeah, as someone for whom those bands were doing things before I was born, I can relate to how the similarities between them and you are changed by the era we’re living through. Like, Crass probably wouldn’t have written a song called ‘grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg’, but that’s what happens when you get internet-brained. NR: It’s interesting that you mention ‘God’s Country’ taking a while to record and release, because it does feel like an album that’s been incubated. That’s a strength for me - it’s like the structure of the writing, and the interplay between the vocals and the instruments, wasn’t just thrown together. It feels well thought out.CR: During Covid, instead of actually trying to help people, our governor was like, “oh, let’s have a day of prayer for people in the state.” RB: I didn’t know John Darnielle was religious, that’s interesting. You know who I like a lot who is religious? Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian. He’s a real Christian, but he writes very interesting lyrics, sometimes about the church and stuff. LM: Yeah, I love stuff like that. That’s something that’s appealing to all of us, and I feel like it works. When we started writing instrumentals and got Ray in on vocals, it worked together. Having the theatrical angle with it - or maybe even literary, because there are a lot of characters and stuff in the songs - works, it’s cool.

S: And it’s hard not to be furious about it sometimes, in my opinion. Especially the way local politics work around here, and just culturally in Oklahoma in particular. I’m about to be forty years old and there are still moments when I have teenage, Satanist, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ rage in me about certain religious elements. Raygun Busch: It’s all mostly real-world based—even “Pamela” is an attempt to ground famous cinematic madness. “Why” is probably the scariest song on the record. LM: It was just fitting when we were whittling down titles. Ray has this big list of stuff that we’ve pulled mostly all of our titles from. ‘God’s Country’ was on there.For the writing process for the album, was it a conscious thing that you were all trying to get in a similar zone when making it? Or does it happen more organically than that? Holding up the other end here are Nerver. Who are pretty much what you’d expect a band on a split like this to sound like. By which I mean they bring a complementary serving of prowling ugly sludge punk noise to the table to show they are indeed Chat Pile’s Brothers in Christ. They’re from Kansas city which allows us European types to briefly marvel at US geography on a couple of counts. Being a mere five hour(!) drive away up tornado alley they’re relatively close neighbours to Chat Pile. Yet despite the states having all that room, Kansas city is somehow in two, both Kansas and Missouri. Why wouldn’t it be? Something else about your music that is impactful are the bass and drum tones you all have. They are so interesting, heavy, and punishing, but remain crystal clear. What do you use to get them to sound like that? You said that “lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of THC” were used for this album. Approximately how much THC would you say? Are you more of a sativa or indica band? LM: But also, religion is so broad. You don’t have to be all in or all out. As long as stuff is honest, that’s what I’m getting at - if religion is part of the person who’s making art, and they’re keeping it out for some reason, then I’d rather they put that in there if that’s earnest to them.

Artificial Brain put out a new record. I love them and I’m trying to throw some of the more spacey, death metal shit into Chat Pile. We’re working on a new song right now that is very much lots of blasts with weird, spacey death metal riffs. Gospel put out a record this year which I really loved, but they’re, like, super prog - I don’t ever see us doing that [laughs]. RB: My dad was a minister, for instance. Not baptist though - we were DoC [Disciples of Christ], which is way more chill, but still.Stin: Ya, sorry Raygun, that was me on the “lots.” I was having trouble expressing how hazy the recording was without getting hyper literal on the THC consumption. Mark my words though, it was a nearly worrisome amount. Raygun Busch: Goddamn, this question is too hard. I guess I’ll try to do an easy answer though there’s not way to not be reductive here: tax or jail for the rich; homes, medical care, clothing, food and education for everyone no exceptions; and of course, upturn law enforcement and completely reshape the criminal justice system in America (ie term limits, no death penalty, releasing those from jail for non-violent drug charges etc). RB: I didn’t know that, but that’s cool. That’s what I want to get my fingers into - Doja Cat featuring Raygun Bush. LM: It all depends on the way you think about it. So many bands - and so many bands I like, too - can just take the hard other way with their imagery, doing lots of Satan shit and devil shit in the music. I like the aesthetic, so it’s appealing to me. NR: As this is the end-of-year roundup for Norman, have there been any records/artists/general musical things which have particularly stood out to you this year? And if so, can you see any of them filtering into future Chat Pile work?

Now that ‘God’s Country’ has been out for a few months and it’s taken on a life of its own, how does the album feel to you?All I really hope is that our songs can recall the movies or books that rightfully won’t leave my brain like L’Humanite or Henry: Portrait of Serial Killer or Continental Drift by Russell Banks or Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, etc. RB: I certainly like it when people compare us to those bands [laughs]. I’m not gonna shoo away anyone that wants to put us up next to some of the best political punk bands of all time!