Ghouls - Sound In The Signals Interview
For anyone who hasn't heard of your band how did you guys get together and what made you guys want to play in a band with each other?
We each individually moved to London from our hometowns not knowing each other and then met each other mostly through the local music scene and/or University, except for Maz who we met after he replied to an advert we had up on Gumtree at the time. I think we started playing music together because that’s what we wanted to do, that and tour/travel about playing it. Our band history is slightly unusual in that a band called ‘Ghouls’ formed back in 2011 but it wasn’t the band that is Ghouls today but like anything it’s just been a natural evolution and I think that, as the unit we are now, we’ve never been more keen to play and write music together and then tour about playing it!
Your latest EP Great Expectations came out last year and it seems to be really gaining some interest. How long did you guys work on the EP and what was the recording process like?
The EP was a really cool process and it really didn’t take very long at all. Last year in April we released our album but the songs we recorded on that album were songs that had been written for a while and we were just really keen to release some new songs that were fresh. We recorded 4 songs in 3 days so before we got into the studio I personally was very stressed and I think some of the others were, but as soon as we were in the studio the process just came together like a jigsaw, a lot of credit is owed to Dan Lucas of Anchorbaby recordings because he just worked so efficiently. We’re really pleased with the way it came out.
Have you been pleased with the response the EP has received so far? Has anything happened that has taken you guys by surprise in terms of reception or fan enthusiasm for the EP?
Well the EP definitely shows the progression towards the sound that we really want to make. When we wrote the album the band had previously been playing songs that had a different direction that had been influenced by previous members, especially genre-wise, but with the EP we able to really harness the sound we were looking for. The EP is definitely more the direction in terms of sound that the band is headed - I’m very excited about the next release we do, as I think we’ll take this progression even further and the sound will have developed even more.
Your band draws on a ton of influences, and in some ways reminds me of a band like RX Bandits, how do you guys write songs and how do you think you've been successful meshing all the elements to create your music?
I think the best thing about our writing process is that we have no particular band or artist that we want to sound like. A lot of bands have a kind of idol band or a couple of idol bands that they, sometimes intentionally - sometimes unintentionally, sound exactly like. We’re not like this at all. But at the same time, it’s not that we are trying to create anything boldly new. We just each bring our own element to the table and see what comes out, the process is completely natural and that’s why I think we work well. That’s not to say we don’t have ideas of how we’d like our songs to sound and we definitely draw on influences from bands we like. We’re just not trying to be anybody but ourselves.
You did a video for “Gone Fishing". What was the video shoot like and what was one of your favourite parts of it and on the other side what was one of the more stressful parts of shooting the video?
The video was shot by our good friend Karl, aka Reel35. Working with Karl is particularly laid back, sometimes to the point where you get stressed because it feels too laid back and you’re not sure if the video will work but then he’ll send you over the edit and its always beyond what you could expect, he’s awesome at what he does. We want to keep the video for Gone Fishing simple and easy to do so we thought lets just go to the park, drink some beers and go fishing. The coolest thing is we filmed it where I grew up and the ‘school scene’ is genuinely where I went to school which is cool because the song is all about what I did whilst I was growing up in that area and going to that school.
You announced a really neat show you have coming up for an event called Late Summer Skank that is being billed as a day of ska+punk. What can fans expect from that show and is there any one band on that line-up you are really excited to play with?
It’s a really cool show to be a part of and we’re actually friends with a lot of bands on that bill. Obviously it’s going to be cool to play with Random Hand, sadly it could well be the last time because they’re calling it a day but I think it will be a really fun show anyway. The Fleece in Bristol is such a cool venue too and by the way ticket sales are going, it looks like it could sell out so that will be really cool. We’re good mates with Imperial Leisure and Tree House Fire so it will be cool seeing those guys and also The JB Conspiracy, who we’ll be touring Europe with in the summer, will be there so I think it’s going to be good vibes.
You recently premiered the lyric video for "Being Me". That's a song I really like off the EP. Can you tell me why you decided to do a lyric video for the song and what the song writing process was for the song in particular?
Well we were going to film a proper music video for it but due to logistics we just couldn’t get it together which was a bit of a bummer but we figured a lyric video is better than no video. As a band it’s one of our favourite songs and we just want to make sure people are aware of it. I think it’s worked out well though because it’s a very lyric driven song and the lyrics really matter to me personally so it’s cool that people can actually see the lyrics instead of it just being audio. Hopefully it will mean more people listen and learn the words so they can shout them at us at shows.
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Check out our band, come see us at a show, hang out, be our mate, or don’t - It’s cool either way.
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