Side Stage Magazine: How has touring been so far?
It’s been both a learning experience and the time of our lives. It can be totally different from the DIY touring I am used to. Then other times, to quote the drummer from Dying Fetus while we were in Germany, “Sometimes I’m reminded that I’m just a death metal douchebag.” Meaning that you should never take a good show or tour for granted because even huge bands can have down days.
You just released the second single, “Ambrosial,” from your upcoming album, Starmourner. How has your writing and recording process changed with this album compared to your previous work?
For the most part, it stayed the same. I wrote the entire album on my computer with my guitar and some software. The different lies in the actual recording process where I had our drummer do all of our drum parts, our bassist did most of the bass, and our guitarists helped produce and add some riffs here and there.
How long did the album take to write and record?
I wrote the album in a little over a week total time (not all in a row) more spread out. And we recorded the album over the span of three weeks with Josh Schroeder in Michigan.
How do you feel you have grown as a band since you first started out?
I think we’ve gotten a lot tighter live. We’ve also become more cohesive in our thinking and solving problems on the road and working out songs to play.
The first Ghost Bath album Funeral, explored the idea of dying, and being forgotten. Moonlover was based on human emotions. How does Starmourner fit into this trilogy?
Funeral is a stand-alone album, unrelated. The trilogy is Moonlover, Starmourner, and the next album not yet written. Each album explores both a different basic human emotion and a different part of the divine comedy. Moonlover: tragedy, purgatorio, melancholy, earth. Starmourner: ecstasy, paradisio, joy, heavens/the cosmos. The final part will explore both doom and inferno.
Was there any music that didn’t make it onto the record? If so will it ever see the light of day?
No. I have a very peculiar writing process in which I write a whole song in a single session of around 5 hours or so. Every song made it onto the record except “Ascension” which was instead recorded as a bonus track for Moonlover’s re-release.
Which song was the most challenging to write and record?
I would say “Angelic.” It is very simple and clean so any little mistake would show up. I leave some of the mistakes in as I like how they sound sometimes, but overall it was a bit tough to get it exactly how I wanted.
Any personal favorite tracks?
I think “Luminescence” and Seraphic. “Luminescence” has such an interesting sound to me and I really like the way it turned out.
You mentioned in an interview that on this record there are “stories, or parables, look into Jewish angelology and the hierarchy of angels as found in the Bible and other religious texts.” Which texts in particular did you look to when writing this album?
I think my main inspiration was the book of Revelation from the New Testament. The descriptions of the angels appearance and behavior is so surreal and interesting to me.
It’s been mentioned that your last album took about 3 days to record if I am not mistaken. At this point do you have any new material you’re working on?
I’ve written 4 and recorded albums since recording Starmourner, all unrelated to Ghost Bath and in various genres. I can never just sit still, I always have to be working on something. I also have written a sci-fi novel that I am currently editing. As far as Ghost Bath, I wanted to give myself a little breathing room. I also want to write this next one as a full band and we’ve been extremely busy touring and practicing for live shows.
Other than the record what else is ghost bath working on?
We are planning to license the record in Japan, which will come with an exclusive live DVD. I think all of us are in many projects music wise. We also have been getting into chess and the Japanese game of Go. So if you see us on the road and want to play, we always have our travel boards with us. And like mentioned above, I’ve been writing multiple albums and different things in different genres. As far as my book, I think it will still take a lot of editing before I get it out to the public eye.
What is your message to your fans?
My overall message? I guess my approach to life is to do everything I feel like doing creatively or otherwise. I would rather have tried something I am interested in and failed than to never try at all. That’s probably why I’m busy 24/7 with different projects and activities (like learning a new language, practicing a board game, writing fiction, making music etc.)
