New interview by noisetrade.com
General Ghost is a new band comprised of Kyle Rictor and Jon Howard. Their music is a hybrid of Pedro The Lion and Death Cab For Cutie; seriously. The band recently released a new song, “It’s Worth It I Promise” on NoiseTrade as well as 2 EPs full of fantastic music (‘If, Then’) (‘Give Me To The Waves’) already in 2013. Here’s some questions to help introduce you to the band.
What’s the genesis of General Ghost?
We met about 2 years ago via Twitter believe it or not. I (Kyle) was touring on a solo project I had just finished and Jon had been listening to it and wanted to meet. We met and both expressed a strong desire to do something that would eventually look like General Ghost does now. We started writing songs in this giant old house called the Joy Mansion where Jon had converted a spare room into a studio. This is really where General Ghost became General Ghost. We started recording and writing as much as possible. Minus moving studio spaces not much has changed in the way we work since that initial meeting.
Is your newest song, “It’s Worth It I Promise”, part of an upcoming album?
Honestly, it’s not really a part of a new album, although we may include it in our next EP or full length. Jon and I both tour with other artists. We’re traveling a lot of the year and this year more so than others. We are DYING to get another EP or full length done, but our touring schedules have made being in Tennessee at the same time a terribly rare thing. We’re still waiting for our next round of 7 days to block out!
We made a third EP right before touring kicked up this spring. We sat on the songs for about a month and both came to the conclusion that it wasn’t right for the next release. Not putting out 7 or 8 songs you just busted your ass on is one of the hardest decisions we’ve both had to make thus far. But when you know, you know and what we made did not fully reach our standards of expression. We wrote and tracked It’s Worth it I Promise as a two fold message. First it is a song to our wives who are the unsung heroes behind any touring musician. Jon and I are gone a lot and could not do what we do without the sacrificial support of our wives.
Sometimes we’re apart for a month at a time. All the while they support us and wait patiently for us to come home. This song is our message to them that the reason we have any song to sing at all is them and that all the pain of being apart will be worth it in the end. That we’ll tell our kids about this. Secondly, it’s a note to our fans who have waited patiently for the next album. We wanted to let them know that making more General Ghost records is at the top of our priority list. Because of that, we want to get it right. We released this most recent single to say “Wait for us. Hang in there. It will be worth it. Promise.”
What’s you philosophy on releasing new music, do you still believe in full albums or are EPs and singles a better way for artists to release music?
We don’t hold a very strict rule of thumb to how much and when. There is a cacophony of sound bites, blogs and newsletters making conjectures about the way people are consuming music now. Some of it is really insightful and can be extremely helpful. But when it comes down to it, the only real constant in this business is the individual expression of the artist. Not singles or EPs or albums. Just the artist’s impact on the listener. That’s what art has always been about. Communicating a thought or a feeling or a vision. Jon and I always check our internal compass before pulling the trigger on a release. Is it a complete thought? Does it say enough or too much? Will they even get to this track before switching to the next band they love? When we answer those questions as honestly as we can, we have to just trust the how much and when part.
You’ve described writing as something you do quickly as not to over think it, can you elaborate?
I was working 2 or 3 jobs at the time General Ghost got started. When it came time to make our first real release we both knew we would be limited on time due to my work schedule. We decided the only way to do it was for me to take a full 7 days off and we would work for a solid week. Whatever came of those 7 days would be our first release. We went in the first morning at around 7:00 am and started writing. At the end of those 7 days we had written, recorded and mixed our first EP ‘Give Me To The Waves’.
A couple months after releasing Give Me To The Waves we were ready to take another week off and make our second EP. I requested off another 7 days from my day gigs and we repeated our new found “process”. 7 days later we had our second EP If, Then. We worked this way initially out of necessity due to time constraints, but it’s become a standard now in our band. We work fast and in defined chunks of time. I could try and hypothesize why this method happened to work out for us but the truth is it’s all we had. It’s like, if you move fast enough you don’t have time to overanalyze your art. You make what you make and people will hate it or love it. There wasn’t any time to be afraid people would hate it. We just released it and hoped people would find some value in it.
What’s the song people seem to connect to the most? The one you hear the most feedback on?
Probably the title track from our last EP ‘If, Then’. It’s really our mission statement as a band. “I’d rather fail every time than to know I’ve never tried, never lived, never died just for an easy life.” It’s really about taking a risk and pursuing your passion. Not for any other reason than…you have to. Everyone needs to hear that. Don’t chase an easy life. It’s a myth. Your muscles atrophy and pretty soon it’s almost impossible to just get out of bed in the morning.
What do you have coming up for the rest of 2013?
Well, as I mentioned earlier we both tour with other artists. Parts of the rest of 2013 are dedicated to those artists. I have a side project with my wife that I’m always working on and Jon stays busy with producing and mixing other projects. Jon and I would be heartbroken if January came and we didn’t have a new General Ghost release in the hands of our fans. If I know us at all, that means 2013 will bring a new General Ghost release come hell or highwater or debt or a nervous breakdown. We are so ready to tour. Currently gathering the funds necessary to make that happen.
