We've made no secret of our love for Team Ghost. After the release of a few EPs since their first single in 2009, we, along with their ever growing fan base have been eagerly awaiting their first LP. Rituals, their full length debut finally came out last Monday to critical acclaim and widespread radio play. We caught up with frontman Nicolas Fromageau ahead of their UK tour which kicks off on April 8th at Birthdays in Dalston.
Thoughts on returning to the UK….
Thoughts on returning to the UK….
Oh yeah!! Playing in the UK is always a pleasure for us. Most of our favourite bands come from England, and it feels like you have a lot of respect for bands playing live. The public is great most of the time. And we love your tasty food (no, no, kidding…).
Team Ghost's sound…
Well, it changed a lot since we are five of us now. Each member of the band participated in the composition. We spent a lot of time in Benoit's studio, as he has a lot of amazing synths, so we made the whole electronic stuff at his place. Then the five of us try and play as loud as possible!! So, I guess it's a mix between our electronic and noisy rock influences.
Main influences behind Team Ghost…
We've been influenced a lot by bands like Slowdive, Sonic Youth, The Cure, Joy Division, but also Brian Eno, Tangerine Dram, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh… Cinema is also a big influence, we are mad about John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento… But a beautiful landscape could influence us too...
Impact on touring and recording after being half of M83…
Well, it was a great experience. We had some very good times, and I learned a lot of things. Maybe I feel a bit more self confident thanks to these past years. Maybe at that time, things were easier for many reasons, but I really feel like enjoying touring again, releasing good records. That's my job.
The actual music sounds very complex at times. Is the song writing process relatively easy and how do you put the songs together?
I wrote most of the demos, but they changed a lot at Benoit's studio, and in rehearsals. Nothing really easy but nothing really hard. We all wanted to make the best music we could: Christophe wrote a lot of lyrics, Benoit too, and the whole band did his best. It's team work actually.
A lot of the songs titles on the new record have rather sad names, is their a sadness underlying in the theme of the record, or is that just the way it worked out?
Well, it's not an easy question! Personally, I've always been attracted by melancholy in art. Not especially gothic stuff, but most of my favourite books-movies-records are kinda sad or dark. I have to confess I don't exactly know why...
The album has been a long time coming for your long time fans, how are Team Ghost feeling about it? Nervous? Excited? Jubilant?
Hum, depends on days!! We did our best anyway, so no matter the way this record will be welcomed, we're proud of it. In my opinion, it's great!!!
Long gone are the days of the UK solely having Daft Punk; French indie music is becoming more prevalent in the UK. Who from the current crop of upcoming French bands could you recommend to Scene Not Herd readers?
Actually, I'm not really into recent bands, Benoit and Christophe make me discover some of them from times to times, (however) my favourites are Yeti Lane, Zombie Zombie, Fortune, Chateau Marmont, Turzi, Press Gang Metropol. Check them out, they're amazing.
And how about any UK bands catching your attention?
There's a new band called, hum… My Bloody Valentine? Their new album is kinda great!!
Your one desert island disc?
Just one? Hard question! I'd say Evol by Sonic Youth. Just one, you sure?
April 8th – London, Birthdays
April 9th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club – free show
April 10th – Glasgow, Broadcast
April 11th – Manchester, Soup Kitchen
April 12th – Brighton, The Blind Tiger Club
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