Adam Holtzapfel - Forming in LA in 1996 toward the end of the grunge movement and the height of Nu-Metal, what was that like as a doom metal band trying to make a name?

Greg Rogers - I don’t know. We didn’t really think about it too much. Me and Guy had split away from The Obsessed. We like heavy shit clearly, but we also listen to jazz, blues, and all that stuff. Do something heavy, but has a little swing on it. Then (Greg) Anderson moved down with a bunch of riffs. Just hammered all that shit out. We didn’t think too much about what we were doing, we just kind of did it.

AH - How has the writing of this record compared to Flower of Disease back in 2000?

GR - This is probably the first time we were focused on writing a record. The first record was we’ve got a bunch of songs let’s record demos, so the first record is the demos. Kozik was like it’s fine like it is ya’ll don’t need to do anything else. We’re like cool we didn’t have to spend any money. Flower we just kept writing songs, well we got enough let’s go ahead and record something else. This one was a lot more planned, like we’re going to write a record and put it out.

AH - With never officially having broken up, was the new album a more of let’s get together and play? With Pete being in Scream and Greg running Southern Lord records and being in Sunn O))), was it more timing lining up?

GR - We did a reunion show in 2010 and it was really fun. We did another couple runs of shows over the years and it was fun. Anderson doing Sunn O))) and I had done some Obsessed stuff over the last couple of years. I wanted to keep playing. What happened was Obsessed did the Scion Festival with Corrosion of Conformity I was walking through the lobby and Mike Dean, the bassist for COC was like you should get Goatsnake back together and I’ll play bass. I was like fuck that would be cool, but I’m already thinking he lives way the fuck over in North Carolina. I called Anderson up and asked if he had anything and he was like yeah actually I do. I was like fuck let’s do something, and it turned in to maybe we can make a new record. We got Scott Renner who lives a lot closer and I’ve played with him in a band called Sonic Medusa. That’s kind of how that came about.

AH - So Kuma’s Corner has a burger named after the band, have you had a chance to try it?

GR - We did last night in Indianapolis. We’re proud to have that delicious burger named after us.

AH - What are some of your favorite spots to eat at or do you prefer to cook when you’re back home?

GR - I do cook a lot at home. As far as BBQ goes I like Big Mista’s in Long Beach, he’s a friend of mine. The food is great, not just because he’s a friend, but because it’s really good. There’s a place called Bludso’s the original was in Compton, they opened one a few years ago in West Hollywood. It’s more of a sports bar and craft beers, but still really good. I also like Mo Better Burgers off of 9^th and La Brea. It’s kind of a soul food vibe, but great burgers. They use short rib, sirloin, and chuck I think. Really fantastic and cool people too. Gotta throw in the Kogi Truck and Chego too, they do rice bowls and stuff and they’re fucking fantastic.

AH - When we were setting up the interview, you said you have 12 smokers and grills, what’s your most used weapon of choice.

GR - I do my cooking on two of them I use a UDS (ugly drum smoker) which I’m sure you know what that is and I use a 26 inch Weber kettle. I do most of my shit on that, but I’ve got a big old offset 50 inch with 20 inch diameter and vertical chamber that I got from Texas. I cook whole pigs and stuff like that. I use that for bigger cooks or parties, we have a lot of parties at our house. Fundraising cooks, I’ll cook like 100 pounds of pork, it all fits in there. Those are my three favorite, the others I’ll use to keep shit moving through them.

AH - Last but not least, what’s your favorite movie of all time?

GR - Oh man that’s a tough one. It’s probably Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I’ve seen it a million times; I watch it with my kids and parents. We watched it together recently and it’s great.