Ghostfeeder Interview

http://ghostfeeder.com/ Ghostfeeder are a band hailing from Rochester, NY in the US. They have a unique electro rock style, combining decent guitar riffs with electro synth sounds that have a video game vibe. Ghostfeeder are currently in the studio recording their new album. Wicked Spins Radio caught up with Ghostfeeder. WSR – Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, can you start by you guys giving our readers a little info about yourself?

Derek – I’m Derek, I sing, write, and program for Ghostfeeder. Luke – I’m Luke, I play guitar. Jeff – I’m Jeff, I play drums. Myka – I’m Myka and I play bass for live shows. WSR – Your music carries an element of the video game vibe, what was everyone’s first console/computer and what was the first game you played? Derek – I know the first one that I owned was an NES that my sisters and I got for Christmas. The first game, obviously, would have been Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt. Duck Hunt is remarkable for being the most popular not-fun game in my memory. Luke – My family owned a giant Mac desktop that had space invaders on it, although they wouldn’t let me get a console because they thought I should be playing outside instead of sitting in the dark all day. Jeff – My first game system was a regular NES. I played Mario/Duck Hunt also. Myka – My brother and I shared an NES and we played the Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt game as well. If I am remembering correctly, we also had this Track and Field game with a large pad you ran on to play. WSR – What game are you currently playing and what is your favourite game of all time? Derek – I don’t play nearly as much as I used to. My girlfriend and I will play Black Ops online once in a while whenever I feel like being slaughtered by teenagers. Donkey Kong Country Returns and Rayman Origins are pretty amazing nostalgic experiences. My gaming heritage is in the 80’s and 90’s so I have a deep affection for the classics more so than the latest, greatest games. My favourite series of all time is Mega Man, and the music of those games had a profound effect on me growing up. Currently, really. Luke – I’m currently playing Starcraft, but my favourite game of all time is Goldeneye for Nintendo 64. Jeff – I don’t play unless I am with friends. Battlefield and Assassins Creed seems to be the preference when I play. Myka – Oddly enough, my favourite game of all-time is the original “Hitman: Codename 47” on computer and I am currently playing the latest instalment “Hitman: Absolution” on Xbox 360. WSR – Why did you decide to fuse the rock and electro sounds together? Myka – For science! Derek – I am a guitarist so I love rock and roll, but I also have always enjoyed electronic and industrial music. Ghostfeeder kind of became a way for me to have it both ways with one project. I feel like we kind of fill a niche that, to the best of my knowledge, isn’t being reached. We generally don’t push too hard in either the rock or electronic direction, so we walk a fine line between the two. At the same time, the door is open on both ends to really dive into either genre here and there. I like to think we fill the void between Mindless Self Indulgence and The Birthday Massacre, or, more generally, the void between chip tunes and rock and roll. Realistically, I mostly create a void between myself and my money. WSR – When and where did Ghostfeeder start? Derek – Ghostfeeder started in my old bedroom at my parents’ house in 2010. WSR – What was your inspiration in life to become a musician? Derek – Before high school I had no reason to really get into music. The lyrics didn’t connect with me. It seemed like every song was about love and kisses and hugs. I was content to listen to video game music that I recorded on a Fisher Price tape recorder. I won’t elaborate much further on that for fear of people giving me wedgies on the street. As I grew up into a typical angst-filled teenager, I started to gradually relate to all the junk on the radio. Luke – I guess I’ve been playing music for as long as I can remember. I started out on piano when I was 12. I switched to bass in high school then eventually moved to guitar because it was easier to shred on. I think I just wanted to show off. Jeff – I have played music since I was ten years old. I started with a trumpet and found drums later in life. Other musicians within my family inspired me when I first started. Myka – When I was an early teen, my mother brought me to church youth group meetings and one night I stumbled across the church pianist practicing. I was smitten by the sound. Unfortunately, I was far too timid to approach the pianist or even voice my opinion on the matter. Few years later, I was riding in the car with a couple of high school friends and someone suggested we started a band. They had picked their instruments and suggested I pick up and learn bass guitar to complete the group. WSR – What are your musical and lyrical influences? Derek – Nine Inch Nails is king for me. Trent Renzo has maintained, throughout his career, a level of discipline and integrity that I really look up to. Aside from him, I also dig Maynard James Keenan. I know most people are into him because of his voice, which is great, but he’s also an amazing story teller. Michael Jackson is another huge one. People don’t take him seriously enough anymore but he was pretty much the greatest thing to happen to pop and rock music. Peter Gabriel is a guy who has had an amazing career and written some of the best songs I can think of. The thing I like about him is that he’s gotten better with age. He’s gone from over-the-top costumed spectacle to humble, gentleman rock sage. He’s like the Gandalf of rock and roll. Myka – Trent Reznor and Thom Yorke. WSR – Apart from music what else in life influences you in the creation of music? Derek – Probably the usual human emotions that we all have. Fear. Love. Frustration. Music is really the best way I have of dealing with myself. I tend to write about things in a hyperbolic fashion because life is rarely as dynamic as it sounds when delivered through song. People don’t want to hear a song about a mundane event. They need devastation. I’ll take aspects of what I am writing about and push and pull them to make more drama. Whenever anything bad happens the desire to pick up my acoustic guitar is overwhelming. Myka – Outlet for emotions. Sometimes, just a distraction from thought. WSR – Has there been any event in life that has affected you so much that you created music? Myka – I believe all experiences collectively are channelled when we sit down and try to create. I presume it would be the most recent or memorable experiences that inspire. Derek – Of course. There is one song in particular I just wrote that dealt with someone very personal with me, but that I think a lot of people will be able to relate to. Lyrically, it’s probably the most honest thing I have ever come up with. WSR – Can you explain to our readers the reason why you decided to call yourself Ghostfeeder? Derek – There are two different answers to this. The short answer is that I felt like it sounded cool. The name is a slight homage to both Peter Gabriel and Nine Inch Nails. There is a longer, more pretentious answer to the question, but it’s probably a lot less truthful than the one that I just gave you. WSR – You are currently recording your new album, what new can your fans expect to hear and when is the release date? Derek – I think this next release, Hard Times For Dreamers, will define the band in a new way. Whereas on the previous releases I think I focused a lot more on providing interesting sounds or textures, my aim with the new stuff has been “write the best songs possible.” I think it will be a much more accessible collection. I really tried my best to keep things moving and make sure the hooks are catchy and memorable. I tried to bottle our live sound a bit more this time around, using more minimal compositions and more realistic samples. Lyrically, it’s about growing up, getting older, and realizing that no matter what people tell you, sometimes dreams just don’t come true. We are looking into some opportunities for distribution on the new cd at the moment which might very well slow down the process. If we do a self-release then it should be available in January of 2013, provided that the Earth doesn’t end in December. WSR – What do you feel has been Ghostfeeder’s defining moment? Derek – Probably when our respective mothers and fathers decided to have children. Luke – Probably when I joined the band. Jeff – Although we have had a lot of good moments, I don’t think our defining moment has come yet. Myka – I agree with Derek’s answer. WSR – The internet and things like social media have really taken off in the last few years, but how has the internet helped or hindered you? Derek – I think the “wow, free music is great!” mood has shifted because everyone is used to it now. It’s taken for granted. As an artist, there are great opportunities out there to be heard in ways that weren’t possible years ago. The problem is that every other musician out there is also aware of that so everyone is lost in the mess. You have to really work hard, have enough money, or know the right people to stand out, and even then sometimes you won’t. Peoples’ lives have become awash with music. FREE music, nonetheless. The result, I think, is that music has become devalued. People listen to it in the background. They talk over it. They download it for nothing and forget about it. When something is free forever in an unlimited fashion people don’t appreciate it no matter how good it is. If cars were free everyone would drive Bentleys but no one would wash them. I think that the internet is a double-edged sword when it comes to the arts, but more and more lately I am beginning to see the downsides to it and how it really plays into peoples’ base demands of entitlement and something-for-nothing. At this point, I think it has helped us spread Ghostfeeder overseas and to people who otherwise wouldn’t be aware of it. We’ll see how it all pans out in the end. Myka– I’d say it helped by connecting people and spreading information. I am able to reach people and an infinite amount of knowledge because of it. But, at the same time, it hinders by disconnecting people and aids in the distraction from living life. As Derek mentioned, it’s a double-edged sword. WSR – Ok let’s have some fun now, we’ll start on the video game side seen as we mentioned it earlier. If Ghostfeeder was a game, which game would you be? Derek – I think Ghostfeeder would be Pac-Man except the ghosts would eat him. Myka – Mega Man. If a new rendition of the game came out and was extremely graphic and realistic. WSR – Oh no zombie apocalypse is happening, what are the first 3 things you do and what is your weapon of choice for your zombie killer?

Derek – I would probably jump off the nearest cliff. It’s never a happy ending with zombies. Even if everyone lives they’re just left with a crumbled world full of other miserable survivors. Luke – Pick up my girl, head to the Winchester, then grab a cold pint and wait for the whole thing to blow over. Jeff – I would grab all the supplies I could and would take a boat to the centre of a body of water and float. Only ever going to shore when I need to. Myka – If I was fortunate enough to be awake and prepared for the beginning and not die immediately, I would get dark clothing on, grab a machete, and hide in the woods. WSR – Alcohol, one of the many fuels to the rock star lifestyle. What is everyone’s favourite drink and what is the most embarrassing thing you have done whilst drunk? Derek – I don’t drink alcohol, so I can’t really answer the question properly. I embarrass myself daily just being sober. I definitely love a good milkshake. Does that count? Luke – Any beer or a good bourbon. One time I went skiing down the street behind a car holding on by a rope. It wasn’t really embarrassing, just awesome. Jeff – I like Whiskey. Most embarrassing thing I have ever done would probably be urinating myself in public. Yes, I said it. Myka – Any type of Whiskey. I can’t recall ever feeling embarrassed, but I’m sure a sober witness has a memory. WSR – What is the worst thing ever to have happened to you when playing live? Derek – We arrived to play a show that we had booked months in advance only to get there and find that the venue was, in spite of the fact that our show was written on the calendar above their bar and our fliers were on their board, hosting some kind of horrible stag party. It was the most unprofessional thing I’ve seen. Sadly, some venues seem to treat musicians as annoyances rather than attractions. To be fair, they probably made more money off of the toothless rednecks and strippers than they did from us playing there. Luke – I got underwear thrown at me once – they were granny panties and I have no idea where they came from. Myka – I can’t remember anything too terrible, but losing connection to the amp and going silent is pretty horrible. Jeff – Just last year in the middle of a show I started having symptoms of a condition called Bells Palsy. I completely forgot how to play drums in the middle of the show. I felt like such a fool. WSR – Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, is there anything you would like to add? Derek – It was our pleasure. Thank you for having us. We’ll get the new music to you for a review as soon as it’s done. As long as you guarantee to love it, of course.