GhostChant Interview: this show will be a special night

Image: GhostChant

When dubstep disseminated into the dance music fraternity at the start of the last decade it shifted musical perceptions for the first time in nearly a decade, one of the true great genre developments in electronic music’s history. When things got really interesting however was when those musical ruminations fractured and collided with other genres, creating a murky world where only an umbrella term could be used to unify a largely diverse set of sounds – bass music.

It’s this sonic planet that GhostChant resides upon. His warped textures and snippets of emotional drenched grooves have been an integral focus on Liverpool’s resurgent warehouse party scene, the next generation to take influence and move forward the work of Burial, Jamie XX and Modeselektor.

Current single ‘Laid To Rest’ is out now on BBE (featuring remixes from remixes from BangaTang, Chimpo and Kolectiv, you can clock the video to it below), and he will be bringing his live show to the Kazimier in Liverpool on Tuesday 12th November, to support Submotion Orchestra. We grabbed five minutes with the producer ahead of the event.

For newcomers to GhostChant, how would you describe your sound and style?

Melodic electronic music that’s inspired by the sounds and rhythms of Garage and Dubstep.

We’ve seen that the name comes from your previous love of punk and hardcore. Although stylistically this is poles apart from your current output, do you ever revisit these tastes for inspiration?

Yeah a few more people have started to say that to me. It's nice, because I am still really into a few of the bands I grew up on when I was really getting in to music from 13/14, and they still inspire me. Not too big a fan of a lot of the new stuff that’s been out of the those genres over the last few years though.

What artists are you feeling musically right now?

Bonobo has been a favourite of mine for a while. My boy Menik has got some serious talent too, and released some very deep tunes lately. I've also been rinsing The Widdler's 'Origin (below) since a mate gave me it, as well as Submerse's new EP.

You’re due to perform shortly at the Kazimier. Is this your first time in the venue, and have you spent any time there as a punter?

I've never played there before, but I've enjoyed a few Eat Your Greens and Abandon Silences there. It's a quality venue, so I'm really looking forward to playing on Tuesday. As part of the live show we have guest vocals, keys, brass and horns lined up - this show will be a special night.

Where else have you had gigs recently, and what else is coming up? 

I had my single launch last Thursday down in the Hold at The Shipping Forecast which was a really good night. The crowd were great and so were the rest of the acts that played. I’ve got a DJ residency with Release so had a quality night playing back to back for the first time with other resident D3adline the other week with Klose One headlining at Haus, and I'm looking forward to the next one on the 20th.

On top of that I've got the live show at the Kazimier as you mentioned, supporting Submotion Orchestra on the 12th Nov, and another supporting Gold Panda at the East Village Arts Club on the 23rd November.

In terms of productions, what can you tell us about that’s happening at the minute? 

There is a lot of work going into the album for BBE that’s set for a release maybe March/April next year, and a few remixes and bootlegs I'm doing that I hope to see out and about fairly soon.

And finally, dream situation time. You’re allowed to create a solo album tomorrow working with three vocalist, two musicians and just one other producer. Who would you select and what do you reckon the song would end up like. 

The producer would be Simon Green (Bonobo), I would have Fink on guitar, and he could do vocals as well. Bjork to add some mad spacey melodies. Get Chet Faker on some vocals and keys too. Hopefully it would sound pretty deep...

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