The new G.H.O.S.T 003 EP has finally landed to the delight of all of us waiting patiently. In-Reach thought it was the right time to have a little catch up with the boys and see what they’ve been up to recently…..
So for people who might not know much about you, can you tell me a little about yourselves?
We started off as 5 heads but are now down to a nice little 3-piece production group. We met some years ago whilst studying and have since been making tunes together. We mostly focus on that which is why we aren’t playing many gigs at all – apart from our weekly slot on RudeFM. We’re currently building our own catalogue of music and releasing on vinyl through our own imprint Goldman Records. All of us have always appreciated records in a physical form which is why we aim to deliver nice handcrafted packages for our music
Where do you take your main influences from when you’re making your tracks?
From everyday life! Most of the time before we start something new we listen to drafts, sketches and other samples each of us brings to a session. Sometimes we end up using bits from those drafts to bring into a new environment, and guess what, sometimes we don’t and start from scratch As you could guess as well there’s a huge variety of musical influences which are too long to list!
You lot must be very busy what with making tracks, holding down full time jobs and running Goldman records, what drives you to do all this?
Yes, we are quite busy as you just pointed out that we all have normal day jobs. This sometimes has an impact on how quick we can react to things happening with our label. But at the same time it also naturally gives space for other things and helps building our schedule for releases etc.
Having time and not having time can have huge impact on your creativity and often it is actually better to leave things for a while to rest before continuing on it: for example we think a track might be finished one day but after giving it some time and space we then often realise that the heat of the moment overrun us and that certain things still can improve before we call a track finished. If this makes any sense…
Do you have a favourite plug in, or go to one that has to be used on every track?
One plugin that we use on every song and pretty much on every single track within that song is the good old Equalizer. Without EQs all music would sound absolutely awful. There’s no point in whacking some crazy processing on a channel strip unless you equalise said channel first…
What advice would you give to aspiring producers?
Hmm. In general probably something like:
– don’t stick to recipes and formulas
– do your own thing
– don’t get caught up in referencing your music to others. As Mum’s always say, you are you and not anybody else!
And in terms of production:
– try out all the tools you have, whatever platform you’re working on
– experiment with those tools until you find your favourite ones – you’ll quickly get better and better at using them
What is your all time favourite dnb track, and if you had the chance would you remix it or would you leave it as it is?
Tom: Source Direct – Secret Liaison. Remix? No way!!
Lewis: to be honest I cant think of a favourite track as I have so many favourite tracks and Tom has already picked one of them, so I would say a track I always love hearing out is Bad Company – Ladies of Spain – No would never touch this tune!
Will: Stakka and Skynet – Decoy
So what’s next for G.H.O.S.T? And what do you planned for the future, or would like to happen?
Just more music from us! so keep your eyes peeled for the next G.H.O.S.T release which will be out in the coming months, also we recently signed up with Clinic Talent so for any bookings you can contact them here: www.clinictalent.com
Thanks to all at In-Reach for continuous support of our work! G.H.O.S.T
Make sure you check out the latest Goldman Records Podcast Vol. 03 below… It’s absolute fire!
G.H.O.S.T – Bandcamp shop
So onto the EP, it is three tracks of musical bliss which is definitely for the serious dnb heads out there!
Sometimeish has a superb mellowed intro with soul soothing harp strings and little tight hi hats just dropping in and out and a choir like echoed vocal moving it along. Then when all of this is filtered out at the break down you are hit with the ingeniously made old skool amen break which I have to say, really is top notch, that with the very, very low end bassline stabs make this track a banger, the track just evolves more and more as the amen becomes more complex, the same goes for the bassline too. If you like your breaks you’ll love this one!
Mini Ripper goes straight in for the kill, no messing about here with another sick made old skool amen break happening, a nice female vocal and lighter strings than on sometimeish this track is a bit more of a lighter affair. By all means don’t be fooled by this though because once the monstrous bassline kicks in it throws a killer punch, making for another high quality track.
Viracocha is a digital exclusive. With another sumptuously light intro which is mainly driven by the airy pad work, this one starts with a nice tight rolling beat and well balanced kick complementing the high end work and strings. This really comes to life once the tune drops, you are hit with another belter of bassline that just ROLLS! The introduction of the female vocals and switch up in the drum work keeps this rolling to the end. This perfectly tops off a very well made EP!
Finally a massive shout to the G.H.O.S.T boys for taking the time out from their hectic schedules to do the interview, it was an absolute pleasure 🙂
Big ups!
Words: Commotion
