mountain goats: behind the songs

So I’m incredibly excited about our newest editorial piece. John Darnielle has been writing for eMusic for several years now, mostly about extreme metal or, er, other topics, but we’ve never really interviewed him or had him expound on any Mountain Goats-related topics. This always nagged me — The Mountain Goats have been one of my favorite bands since I picked up Nine Black Poppies back in 1995, and like any fan, I wanted to know more about the creative process behind John’s fantastic songs. Given that his latest, the terrific Heretic Pride, finds Darnielle returning to the character-driven narratives he does so well, I wanted to try to get him to talk a bit about the fictional lives he’s created over his 15+ years of recording.

I was a little nervous — isn’t asking songwriter to pick their favorite creations a little like asking a parent to pick their favorite kid? But John, as he always is, was incredible gracious, and grabbed hold of the idea with both hands. Today I’m thrilled to share the result: John Darnielle on his Five Favorite Mountain Goats Characters. For fans, this is a treasure trove: John gives behind-the-scenes tidbits on some of his most beloved characters (including two of my favorites: Jeff and Cyrus from “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton”). I hope you enjoy reading the piece as much as I did — it’ll be living on the eMusic homepage for the remainder of the week.