Interview: Ghostbound

Recently, DutchMetalManiac’s Tim van Velthuysen interviewed Ghostbound.

Hey, how are you?

Hello there! I am doing quite well, at present. Thank you for asking. How are you, my new special internet friend? 

Can you tell us something about the history of Ghostbound?

Our history is a confusing mass of contradictory elements coalescing into a unified whole. But in truth, Ghostbound has been a concept for about as long as I have been a songwriter, which amounts to anywhere between 10 to 15 years, depending on my mood. In 2013, I met and befriended Noah Shaul, our bassist, and we existed as a duo for a few years after that, even going so far as to record our debut record, All is Phantom, with the help of session musicians. As of late 2017, however, we expanded our line-up to a full band, and we’ve been toiling in relative obscurity ever since.  

For people not knowing Ghostbound (yet), how would you describe your music yourself?

I find the concept of “genre” to be tired, and I take great joy out of being part of a band that cannot be easily categorized. I daresay that we play a manner of atmospheric metal with nods toward black metal and post punk, but there are times when I feel that even that is a very prosaic way to describe us. A good friend of mine once described as playing “blackened torchsongs”, and I feel that that is as good a descriptive as any.  

When someone doesn’t know Ghostbound yet and you can choose one of your songs to present yourself, which song would that be?

I feel that And We Are Already At Sea, the lead-off track for our new EP, is a perfect primer for what we have to offer in that covers a lot of sonic ground throughout its duration. You can also go back a couple years and pull out a copy of All is Phantom and give The Gallivanter a listen; I have always considered that song to be our “mission statement.” 

What makes Ghostbound unique?

In a manner of speaking, every human being is unique, and I feel that Ghostbound is a very natural and honest representation of who I am as a person. I feel that anyone who knows me personally without listening to Ghostbound outright could give a pretty accurate guess as to how we sound. As I am a bit of a weirdo, so too is our music. I exist as a round peg in a square hole, and so too does our band.  

Any future plans you can already tell us something about?

At the moment, we are just riding the wave of releasing the new EP, Extended Play For My Sweet Mary Thyme. Of course, we are always writing music, so I’d imagine the full-length follow-up to All is Phantom might come sooner than one would expect.

Any upcoming gigs for Ghostbound? Maybe coming to The Netherlands?

Sadly not! Covid is still very real and very much out there in the world. Of course, we would absolutely love to come to The Netherlands. A number of the best bands on this planet hail from your good country (The Gathering, Dool, Gold, Vuur & Zijde, Turia, Fluisteraars, et al).  

How do you think your life would be without music?

I would probably get a lot more reading done, I’d imagine. But in all seriousness, I cannot imagine a life without music.  Sooner or later, some ingenious soul would find a way to bang two sticks together to create a rhythm, and music will be born anew.  

What advice would you give to young and starting bands?

Do not worry yourselves with the concept of “genre” and its many trappings. Focus on creating the kind of music you would like to hear in whatever form that may take. As soon as you start to define yourself as a certain kind of musician, be it a country musician, a black metal musician, or even a rapper, you end up boxing yourself in and, thereby, limiting yourself. I prefer to be outside of all boxes. I leave the boxes for my cats.

Thanks for your answers! Is there anything you want to say to DutchMetalManiac’s readers?

Thank you for your questions! We wholeheartedly appreciate the attention. You can give us a listen at our Bandcamp page and follow us on Instagram. There is also a Twitter account.

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