Welcome back friends! Todays Beneath the Surface segment is brought to us by the exciting experimental electro-industrial, progressive rock duo, Ghost in he Machine. Having just released their EP ‘Enemy of The State’ we get down to the details below and find out what makes this daring duo tick. So sit back, stream the EP and lets get stuck into it!
– What would you say first sparked your interest in music/who inspired you to make music?
We grew up in the same neighborhood and were childhood friends. Both of our households had musical instruments already so as young kids we created a band. At that point, the instruments were more or less toys to us and we made noise. But not long after, inspired by bands like Ozzy, AC/DC, and Def Leppard we started learning how to play the instruments and began writing actual songs with some structure. A few years later inspired by bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Slayer, we really began to develop songwriting craft and technical musical skills.
– How would you describe the music you are currently creating?
Our music has always been tough to categorize. We blend a lot of genres and do things within genres that are a bit out of character. We can be quite experimental in a progressive and palatable way. While most of our songs have a metal or industrial undertone, the vocals or guitars might not fit the traditional mode. We feel the songs on the “Enemy of the State EP” definitely have an electro industrial core but don’t fit cleanly into that description either. We’ve used the term “rocktronica”, perhaps it still fits.
– What does your creative process look like?
It’s a big scattered and disorganized. We will jot down random ideas, either lyrical or musical and continue combing through them until a song idea forms. Then we will further poke it with a stick until it is a rough song. We do a lot of creative work in the production of it so the recording is quite interesting. At the end of that, the song is often very different from the idea we thought it was.
– Who would you most like to collaborate with? (let’s send it out to the universe and make it happen!)
We just did a collab with Honey B Sweet on “Operation G.I.T.M.” and think it turned out awesome! Her gangsta style rap really brought the song to different level. It would be cool to collab again with a rapper but we are open to working with almost anyone.
– What is the one message you would like to send out to your fans?
Thank you SO MUCH for your support. Life is busy and making music isn’t always easy. Feedback from you is what fuels us.
– What’s your top tip to rejuvenate your creativity/get over a writer’s block?
Taking a break. If it is just not happening, leave it. Let your brain unwrap from it and do something else. Then come back to it and you’ll have a different perspective.
– What’s next for you, what do we have to look forward to/ what are you currently working on?
We are releasing EPs about every quarter. Our next is tentatively scheduled for early January. We are working on finalizing mixes and artwork for it now. Mid next year, we expect to release our next full album!
