The Ghosts might sound unfamiliar, but they've been around for over a decade - so it's about time they got the success they've been working towards. On the eve of their debut single release - out now, for all music lovers - Digital Spy caught up with drummer Jonny to find out how the band got together and have a chat about the radical evolution of their musical sound since their early days.
Tell us a little bit about how the band got together?
"We've been together for quite a disturbing amount of time, but not in a serious way. We got together when we were sixteen, in 1996, at school, just doing covers and stuff, Brit Pop, Shed Seven, that kind of stuff. Then we became an electronic outfit, called Polanski, which was more Boards Of Canada, like Radiohead, that kind of thing.
And then we became Ghosts about two years ago, in 2001."
Has it been quite a peculiar evolution for you, because your sound seems to have changed a lot since you started?
"Yeah, it has.
We've kept the synth-y electronic thing going even though we're now just a band, but for us it was quite a smooth transition, it slowly moved onto what it is now. It wasn't peculiar."
What are your musical influences now, having moved on from Shed Seven?
"Now it's just become everything, everything from Spiritualized - I love Spiritualized - My Bloody Valentine, Boards of Canada, everything we show in our music. Collectively it's bands from Fleetwood Mac, even Elton John, through to contemporary music that's being released like Guillemots, Beach Boys, yeah."
How important do you think it is for band members to get on?
"We get on really well together. I think once you've been on the road for years on end, things start to go awry, but I don't think that's a product of the people, it's the intense, endless touring and living together in a bus, or whatever. It makes people get tetchy with each other - but so far, no problems.
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Do you enjoy being on the road, or are you more of a one-off gig kind of person?
"No, I really like it, it's just really, really tiring, to keep control. I try not to get pissed every night - which is [hard], you come off stage full of adrenaline, you talk to people, they seem to descend.
But it's great fun, so long as you can get a grip on it."
What's your writing process like? Do you write separately or together?
"We write all as one group, it's very [democratic]. We spend a lot of time deliberating over the arrangements and the production of it. The songs can come together quite quickly, but then we'll spend weeks layering stuff.
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You're really into production, aren't you? How has this helped the group, strangely phrased as that sounds?
"I think it does!
The demos that got us signed were produced by me. I think it helps a lot, as the songs they're hearing need to be pretty good. They're fickle like that.
If it sounds good it can sway people's decisions on whether they like it or not to an extent. But I'm also a keen fan of production, and I co-produced the new album."
How did you get into that?
"I don't really know, actually. The way I am, I've always been interested in sound and stuff. Once you're in a band, there's so many things you do with sound it just seemed natural - I was self-taught, I just got better at it.
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You appeared on the last series of the Friday Night Project - what was the experience of that like?
"It was a very long, surreal day. It seems like a dream now, I can't really remember it, it was strange.
It was good fun but odd."
It's quite a drawn out process, isn't it, and you're not spoken to as the house band much, are you?
"I felt a bit used - they just use you for all of the little musical interludes!
But you're just sat up there, you can make quite a lot of noise, and we insisted some drinks get brought up. It got quite relaxing by the end, we were up there, just watching the strange scene around us, live comedy. It was good.
"
Could you tell us a bit about your current single?
"It's called 'Stay The Night'. We wrote it out in Sweden last year, after we got a publishing deal which allowed us to spend a couple of months in Sweden and get some music done.
Lyrically, I can't really tell you much."
Did you produce it?
"I did, I produced it, and I wrote the chorus on that song, that's my claim.
It was slightly changed from the way I'd written it, but I did the chorus."
So it's basically your song, really?
"Haha, yeah.
The others are going to kill me, because I've probably omitted some really major part they also had in it!"
Do you think it's going to strike a chord?
"Everyone around us is saying it'll do great, but that's what they're paid to do!
The radio's picked it up nicely, it seems to be going well. We've never really fitted into a scene and it might take quite a while to be successful. We were never scene-chasers in that respect.
Un-trendy, you might say."
Do you think the change in the chart system is a positive thing for the band?
"Yeah, I do.
It reflects the changes in technology that are occurring currently, and it had to be done. It probably will [help us achieve more success], because there's been such a steady decline in music sales over the past few years, so if it stops that happening, it's fantastic, because it makes all bands more successful."
Your album's due for release this summer - what can you tell us about it?
"It's all done. It's finished and mastered. It's an epic album of hit singles and epic six minuters all put together in one beautiful [album].
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Do you think it epitomises you as a band?
"It does! It epitomises us as we are currently.
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I read that you want to play Glastonbury - have you confirmed any festival dates for the summer?
"I've never been to Glastonbury, so it would be great to play the first time I ever went. I think T in the Park's on the cards, and one other, but I'd like to do as many as possible.
Festivals are great fun - the Isle of Wight festival's fun, and there are hundreds of festivals in Europe to play."
So the plan is to basically bum around Europe this summer and play lots of festivals?
"That would be ideal!
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What are the band's future plans?
"Obviously, success and great tours. I think mainly that the first album is a success, because you can't help worrying.
Presumably that the second album is better than the first album, because no one seems to be putting out good second albums at the moment. It's about putting out a good follow up to the debut."
If you could give us one musical recommendation, what would it be?
"I've been so detached from music recently, being out on the road, but if I had one recommendation it would be Guillemots. The Guillemots album is absolutely fantastic. [Also], Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen is my favourite album of all time, I think.
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Thanks for chatting, Jonny!
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