We caught up with I Am Ghost at York Fibbers to talk about how they got together, their current tour and album release and much more.

Hello and thank you for taking time out to do this interview.

How did you guys form as a band and how did you come up with the name I Am Ghost?
Steve wrote a poem where the last few sentences ended in I am Ghost. As be was writing it he thought wow! That would be a pretty cool band name. We all met and the whole band was formed via Myspace.

What are your influences and whom would you say contributed to your current musical style?
The coolest thing about the band, is that everyone has their own influences. I come from more of a punk rock background. Steve is more artistic with his lyrics. Everyone was their own bands that they listen to, so when we all come together it makes the I am Ghost sound.

When did you start playing music and what made you pick up your first instrument?
I started with playing the piano when I was about eight, but it wasn't rocking enough for me. My dad played bass in the sixties so I used to steal his bass out of the closet and started playing it. But he got sick of that and bought me my own, I must have been about thirteen when I started playing bass.

In October you released your second studio album (Those we leave behind) how was the recording process compared to Lovers Requiem and musically how do these albums differ from each other?
Yeah Lovers Requiem was kind of rushed because the band had to go on Warped Tour right afterwards. So the whole recording, pre-production and mixing process was only three weeks, which is really not a long time. That record was also a concept record, everything kind of told a story within the record. As far as Those We Leave Behind we had a good six weeks with the producers to nip pick everything and get it the way we wanted. This record Those we leave behind is more of a straight forward rock record still with the I Am Ghost sound.

Out of all 14 tracks on Those we leave behind, what is your favourite and why?
My favourite? That's kinda like choosing your favourite child, can't really pick a favourite one. I do enjoy playing Bone Garden and Don't Wake Up those are cool songs. I'm really excited to see what people think about the Saddest Story Ever Told, that's are new single and video.
When does that come out?
We're hoping around Januaryish so pretty soon.
Has it already been recorded?
The video was recorded right before we hit this six week tour. We just saw the second cut from the director like five minutes ago and it's come in pretty good.

Do any of the new songs reflect what you have been through as a band, for instance the meaning behind Those we leave behind?
Yeah there's definitely meaning I mean Steve definitely takes weird and real life experiences and adds an artistic, poetic twist to all of the. Those We Leave Behind is not necessarily about past band members but about people you meet in life that come and go. Family members, friends, relationships and how you are able to not make the same mistakes.

How did the departure of Brian and Keith affect the band musically?
Well a lot of the writing prior, was done by Timmy and Steven so we experienced with them being gone, more freedom to do what we wanted to do without them chiming in because they didn't agree with earlier content or other things like that. They were more classically trained so they wanted to do all these things that were maybe unnecessary in the long run.


The last time you visited the UK it was on the Kerrang tour, is it good to be back and how have the shows been so far?
Yeah we love the UK, it's pretty much my favourite European country to come to and it's really good to be back and I think we've waited a little too long to come back but we definitely wanna make plans to come again within the next six months to follow on from this tour.

Do you have any rock and roll stories from your time on the road?
Rock 'n' roll stories? Steve was rushed to the hospital due to a bad lung infection and the doctors told him that he must cancel the rest of the tour and not do anything. And he said 'fuck that!'and he came out and still played the show, that's pretty rock 'n' roll in my opinion. And Tyler, the bass player from Blessed By A Broken Heart was arrested in Glasgow, Scotland for getting into a fight with a security guard because he saw the security guard hit a girl and that's not appropriate at any point in time. He's still in the wrong because you can't really hit anybody so he got arrested. But he's got back!
How is Steve today?
Steve's good he's in the bus resting up. He lays low and then gives everybody his all for that set time we have and then back on the bus.

What do you think about the current state of the music scene?
The music scene? There's so much of it, its really quite hard to fall in love with one band now when you have all these bands coming out of the woodwork. With technology being so accessible for anybody to record whenever they want it and the internet and Myspace you know. In the span of one day you can write, record and have your music accessible to millions by putting it on Myspace. It's difficult, the music industry's going through a change right now between what will be the next big as far as obtaining the music. CD's are dying out, downloads are taking over. It's insane to think that in the future you won't buy a CD anymore, you'll just buy the artwork and the music off the internet. Then do what you want with it.


How would you describe your live show and what is your favourite song to play live?
What we understand, is that money is tight for everybody so when kids decide to spend their allowances or the money get from their jobs, on our show, we want them to walk away thinking 'Wow we got our money's worth!'. So we definitely push the stage presence and we like to draw the kids in so that they feel like they're a part of what's going on. So we're not just playing in front of them but we're playing for them. So that's what we wanna do. Favourite song to play live would be ....Don't Wake Up is a cool song play live, it's nice to have the kids singing back at you.

If I Am Ghost were not a band, what would you guys be doing now?
Well, let's see, if I Am Ghost weren't a band. We would be in other bands trying to do what we do best which is play music.

Out of all the shows you have ever played, which one would you say was unforgettable?
Unforgettable? We were playing in the Czech Republic and they must not get outsiders very often into their country because we had a very warm welcome I must say. (Chad) They were all having sex!

What do you do in between shows on long tours to keep you busy?
Well, there's always a fight to get on the internet that's for sure. We always try and do things to make it seem like it's normal life. Sometimes if there's time, we like to go out and check out the city because a lot of the time we only get to see the venue or the surrounding streets and then we're back on the bus to the next city so it's good to get out and see the culture and meet people.

Have you had a chance to look around York?
Yeah we went to a cool shop down the road. We saw this bar that's supposed to be really haunted.

If you could be in any other band past or present for a day, who would it be and why?
For a day? I would be in Green Day because I know how to play every song they ever wrote and have the equipment to match what he's got.

Its not long now until Christmas, what do you want Santa to bring you?
I want Santa to bring my family because this is the first Christmas I won't be home.

As a band, what has been the highlight of 2008 for you?
2008? I call it 2000 and great! Because it was really awesome. It was cool to record the album, shoot the video, come to Europe it was just an amazing year and 2009 is looking like it's gonna be even better so I'm really excited to keep trucking along.

Where do you hope to see I am ghost in five years time?
Rock 'n' Roll Hall of fame! I see I Am Ghost in five years to be remembered as a great band.

Okay, one final random question; if you had a choice, what animal would you be out of a Zebra and a Giraffe?
I wanna be a Giraffe because I wanna hang my head high and eat them upper leaves because they're probably the sweetest ones right otherwise I'll have a short neck and get the lower leaves so I wanna be a Giraffe!

Thanks for your time, is there a message you would like to give to your fans reading this?
Yeah, don't give up on your dreams. It sounds like a kinda cliché but do something every day to work towards something that would make you happy because happiness is what it's all about.

Interview By Ellie