Goose Members Talk Lessons Learned From Trey Anastasio & Potential For 2 New Studio Albums

Goose guitarist Rick Mitarotonda and multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach spoke with journalist Steven Hyden for a new interview published by Uproxx. The pair discussed the band’s intention to head into the studio soon with two new albums on the table, revealed how they met Trey Anastasio and recalled some of the advice the Phish guitarist imparted to them among many other topics.

Mitarotonda, Anspach and bandmates percussionist Jeff Arevalo, bassist Trevor Weekz and drummer Ben Atkind tapped D. James Goodwin to produce their latest album, 2022’s Dripfield. Hyden asked if Goodwin would continue to work with the band. “Yeah. We’re pretty locked in with Dan[iel James Goodwin],” Rick Mitarotonda proclaimed.

The guitarist noted they haven’t started to prep the follow-up to Dripfield yet but will soon. “We start working on it next month,” Mitarotonda added. “We’re playing a ton of music that hasn’t been recorded and we want to record most of it.” The pair explained they have a stockpile of “30 or more” songs ready to record. Hyden responded by querying the musicians on if they would release a double album. “There’s probably two records,” Mitarotonda revealed.

When pushed for details Anspach was sly and claimed “we can’t say.” Meanwhile, Mitarotonda’s response noted the situation was fluid. “We’ve got a bunch of material and we’re just going to go in and see what happens, and then take it from there,” the guitarist said. “There’s not a master plan yet.” Peter Anspach also disclosed Goose has “a couple” of new songs that haven’t been played live yet. The quintet aims to replicate their live sound in the studio this time around.

Another hot topic was the band’s relationship with Trey Anastasio, which began with the guitarist guesting with Goose at Radio City Music Hall last summer and included the joint TABoose Tour with the Trey Anastasio Band last fall. “As far as these things go, it was spontaneous,” Mitarotonda explained of how Trey came to sit-in at Radio City. “I think it was the day before or something, maybe a couple of days before. His people reached out to our people.”

Anspach noted Goose sent Anastasio a list of potential songs to perform together. “We agreed upon two, and I think we played five or six with him, which was great,” Peter stated. “Every song we’d finish he’d be like, [whispers] ‘Should I stay?’ Yeah!,” Mitarotonda added of the June 25, 2022 concert in New York City.

Rick Mitarotonda feels Anastasio had a plan in mind when he connected with Goose. “[Touring with Goose and giving advice] seemed like a solid part of his intention, to take us under his wing to some extent,” the guitarist told Hyden. “It was incredible. I think it was an extremely formative experience. Speaking for myself, I learned a lot, and we gained a lot of perspective and just a different energy since then.”

When asked about what specifically they learned from Trey, each Goose member recalled separate details. “It’s a bunch of personal stuff about just how life changes when you start doing well, things like that, which I feel in a lot of ways is a universal thing. But being a rock band and playing shows, it’s different,” Mitarotonda shared. “I remember really admiring the fact that he was fully about the show, just building and ending on a huge bang. And he just kept iterating that throughout the whole run he wanted to break the internet,” Anspach added.

The Connecticut-based musicians also spoke about Trey’s appreciation for drama when it comes to the arc of a live performance. Additionally, Anspach talked about his 2022 Goose Jam Of The Year which he had done previously in an appearance on the Always Almost There podcast, while Mitarotonda weighed in on the fallacy impresario Peter Shapiro funds “all of [Goose’s] shit.” Rick did reveal it was Shapiro who brought Jimmy Fallon to The Capitol Theatre last month. The comedian wound up leading the band through “Mustang Sally.” Head to Uproxx for the full feature and Hyden’s initial profile anointing Goose “America’s Next Great Jam Band.”