Range is an undervalued trait in modern music, a lot of our favourite artists are virtually one trick ponies. And that’s fine, Lil Uzi Vert is the best at what he does, but he’s not exactly a ‘well rounded’ artist. Lord Ghost, on the other hand, is a diverse artist that’s starting to turn heads. Toying with grunge, R&B, trap and emo, Ghost has tracks that sound ready made for the pop charts and others that are more likely to soundtrack a bout of drink fuelled depression. What all of his tracks have in common is the sense of a palpable mood, a raw atmosphere that really hits hard.
Discover Lord Ghost’s music and more about him in his first ever interview with RIDE…
First off tell us who you are and where you come from?
I was born in Sacramento, California but moved away before I was even 2 years old. I’m from Tacoma, Washington. It’s a smaller city outside of Seattle. I’ve lived in this general area since about 2007. Before that, I was living in Laramie, Wyoming.
How would you describe your sound?
It’s hard to put a distinct style on my music, but I like to think that I’ve molded my own sound over the years. I would say my music definitely has some Grunge Rock influences with more of a rap and R&B like cadence. I make all of my own beats so I like to add different spices sometimes to switch up my sound.
What inspires you to make music?
I love discovering new music and new artists, I feel like that always keeps me inspired to create something new and different. I like to step out of my comfort zone and try new things periodically, that way I’m always evolving as an artist. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Jean Dawson, Deb Never, Crumb, and Corbin. Those guys make some really beautiful music and always inspire me to create. I can always lean on some Nirvana, Led Zeplin, The Doors, or even some Jefferson Airplane whenever I’m feeling uninspired.
How did you first get into making music?
I fell in love with music at a very young age, I was blessed enough to be cultured in pretty much every genre because my entire family listens to all different types of music. When I was about 13, I found a little radio shack auxiliary mic that my mom used for calibrating her surround sound system. I took that and duct-taped it to an old fan stand. Then, I downloaded a demo version of Mixcraft onto my mom’s computer and started recording myself and all my friends off of beats we would find on SoundClick or YouTube. 4 years later, I downloaded a cracked version of FL Studio and taught myself how to make beats, selling them online to other artists through sites like SoundClick. Now I’m on Ableton and I’ve been going hard ever since.
Tell us about your latest release
My latest release is Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound. This project was kind of difficult for me to make at times because I wanted to make sure I was always pretty drunk off whiskey the entire creation process. Every song on the record is played by me on my acoustic guitar. It’s big for me because I don’t really know how to play the guitar all that well or even know how to read music. I just tuned my guitar a half step down and played what sounded good or what spoke to me the most. I tried to write some grungy melodies and made sure the project sounded dark and gloomy overall. I wanted to write about heartbreak and moving on from anything that’s ever really hurt me. I like to consider it an unplugged or even an acoustic project because I didn’t use any programmed trap drums over the entire project, only drum samples from vinyl if anything at all. This project is one of my favourites that I’ve done in a while, I look forward to seeing it age well over time like fine wine.
How have you been dealing with this pandemic?
Mostly just staying inside a lot. For me, I’m more of an introvert anyway so It’s not that big of a change for me to just stay at home all the time. I spent most of my time creating new music, playing video games, or binging new shows on Netflix. Combine all that with a 12 o’clock whiskey, and you’ll make it through anything. In ways, I feel like it’s been a blessing in disguise to have the stay at home order, because artists are forced to have nothing but time to create new music.
Are you releasing any more music in the near future?
Tons. I have plans to release 2-new projects before the summer is over. The first one being ‘Blue Velvet’ which is named after one of my favorite David Lynch films. This one isn’t going to be as dark as some of the stuff I’ve done in the past, it’ll be a little more upbeat so I’m excited for people to hear how I can change it up.The second one I plan to drop is ‘The Drunken Episodes of Kurt Codeine’. Kurt Codeine is basically my alter ego when I switch up from an alternative deep bellowing cadence to more of a rap-like flow. On this project, I plan to go a little harder than I have on some of the stuff in the past. Meaning more hard-hitting trap beats and party music while speaking on my adventures being drunk and partying as Kurt Codeine.
Finally, why should people listen to your music?
People should check out my music if they want to hear something new, different, and somewhat refreshing. They should listen if they want to have something to grasp onto while they are going through something tough. They should listen if they need something to drown out their sorrows when the bottle of whiskey is empty. They should listen if they ever were a fan of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Corbin, Danger Inc., or Wicca Phase. They should listen if they want to have some new and sublime music to show all their friends. They should listen if they love anything in the underground scene. Lastly, they should listen because I can speak to them and tell them diverting stories through my music even after I’m dead.
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