Interview: TV Ghost

By: John Barnum
TV Ghost
17 December, 2013

Hailing from Indiana, TV Ghost have made their way into the music realm with their experimental post-punk sound. This past September they released their 4th album, Disconnect, an intense and almost psychedelic experience of a record. Recently, we had the opportunity to talk to the group about their origins, influences, and future plans.

Question: Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about TV Ghost?

Jimmy plays keys, Tristan plays bass, Jackson plays guitar, Brahne plays drums and Tim sings and plays guitar.

 

Q: What brought you guys together?

Boredom and aimlessness. Not having anything else interesting to do.

 

Q: The name TV Ghost is pretty sweet, how did you come up with/choose it? Where there other candidates?

Tim suggested it after the first time we wrote songs together and everyone dug it at the time so it stuck. It was the title of a collage Tim had made a year previous.

 

Q: More about your name, it seems to really match your sound. Was this premeditated? In other words, did you know what your sound would be from the beginning?

No not really. Arriving at our sound was a pretty organic process. There were no real conscience decisions. We just got together to play music and learned about what we were making as it came out.

 

Q: You now have three albums out, which do you feel the most connection to? What songs are your favorite?

Well with the current lineup we have only written and recorded one album, Disconnect, so that’s the most likely candidate. As far as our favorite songs, they always seem to be whatever we are currently working on, the unfinished songs.

 

Q: You guys have already evolved much over the years, do you feel like you are still changing? How do you think you will sound five years from now?

All of us individuals hope to keep growing our abilities and refining our tastes as a lifetime endeavor, so yes, as a group we will continue a certain arc of evolution. As far as what we may sound in like 5 years, who can tell? Will we even all be alive and still working together then? Possibly, but I am no sage.

 

Q: Are there any artists in particular that have influenced your music?

All sorts. Anything that is experimental and well crafted. Before recording Disconnect we listened to a lot of Broadcast, Stereolab, Brian Eno’s pop records, Galaxy 500, Slow Dive, My Bloody Valentine. A lot more ethereal and delicate sounds that I think inspired us to incorporate more orchestration into our music.

 

Q: Following up to the previous question, what are all your favorite groups/artists?

Broadcast, Leonard Cohen, Velvet Underground.

 

Q: What is the process of creating a song for TV Ghost (lyrics, rift…etc.)?

It comes in different ways. Although improvisation is a big part of it. Sometimes we just come with something spontaneously and sometimes someone will bring some ideas that we all work and rework. We always feel it out by playing together on a few ideas at a time, for some hours and over the course of a week or so. The drawn out process gives us the ability to reflect on the structure as the songs slowly emerge and present themselves.

 

Q: I really enjoyed your latest album Disconnect, what was the inspiration for this album? What can you tell us about its production?

Woodhouse is the best producer we’ve ever worked with. Not only is he an amazing and sharp producer but we all really connected. That made 10 days of 12 hours in a studio so much more bearable. We recorded all of the instruments first in 4 days, all of that is live, no over dubs. Then 3 days on vocals and 3 days in mixing. The overall experience really opened us up to new possibilities in getting sounds and writing songs.

 

Q: What’s in the future for TV Ghost?

We will tour off this album in the US as long as we can, do Europe in Jan 2014, and start recording our next record at some point.

 

Q: Any message for the fans?

Thanks so much everyone and stay tuned.

 

For the time being, you can keep up with TV Ghost and their happenings on Facebook. You can also stream and purchase some of their music on Bandcamp.