Ghost Society Interview: SXSW 2010

Ghost Society is a dream-pop quartet from Copenhagen. In January, the band released its debut album 'The Back of His Hands, Then the Palms,' a collection of short stories. Although their album and EP 'Dogs and Desperation' are currently released only in Denmark, the band will be descending upon the United States for a short tour, which includes a stop at SXSW, in preparation for the future wide release of their music. Spinner recently spoke to vocalist/guitarist Tobias Wilner and guitarist Frederik Sølberg about why sunglasses are essential to festivals and who they are excited to see at SXSW.

How would you describe your sound?

Tobias Wilner: Dreamy noise pop and good songwriting.

How did your band form?

Frederik Sølberg: Tobias and Lasse [Herbst] play together in Blue Foundation. Lasse is my good friend. We used to play in a band called Lake Placid. Sara [Savery] and Tobias started to write some songs. Lasse was asked to join them in the studio. Tobias and I had talked about forming some kind of noisy indie band. As Sara and Tobias' songwriting progressed, I was asked to join the band.

What are your musical influences?

FS: We listen to alternative '90s rock and pop – both the American and English scenes. We've all been listening to the Pixies and Sonic Youth, but we also listen to My Bloody Valentine, just a bit. Also, maybe the alternative music scene of the '80s – early Dinosaur Jr., early Pixies and early Sonic Youth. We listen to a lot of different kinds of music. We've just been listening to electro just before you called us -- Detroit techno actually, a guy called Drexciya. I don't think he directly inspired us, but we like it. In music, you have many kinds of influences. There are direct influences and floating influences.

Your band was Tape Quartet before. How did you come up with your new band name?

TW: We thought there were more stories in Ghost Society. Ghost Society is not about dead people. It could be about your relationship with your dad or something. It can influence your whole life. It's about all these ghosts in you.

FS: Our band name refers to the "ghosts" of our past that we all have. If you have experienced a relative or a friend that misbehaves, this experience might stay with you. And later in your life, it comes to life in another relation. We are formed by these kind of experiences and in a metaphorical way, we become a society formed by our past -- a ghost society.

What's in your festival survival kit?

FS: We've never been to SXSW. I think there's a big difference between a city and music business festival and a sleeping-in-a-tent festival.

Is there a festival similar to SXSW in Denmark?

FS: There's one in Denmark called SPOT. And what do you need to bring? I think, sunglasses. So you have it for when the sun is shining and you can avoid people you don't want to be in touch with.

TW: Sunglasses.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

FS: Last time somebody told me I had a guilty pleasure, we were talking about Robbie Williams. I said I liked one song by him and my friends laughed at me.

TW: I like Elton John. 'Daniel' is a great song. 'The River' by Bruce Springsteen is so good.

FS: That's not even a guilty pleasure. There was a big pop hit in Denmark a year ago. It's kind of cheesy and corny. It's called 'Kun for Mig' which means 'Only for Me.' I really like it. I think it's really good. It's about this girl. Her boyfriend leaves her in the club and she just gets drunk. Her name is Medina. It will be a guilty pleasure of his as well.

Beatles or Stones?

FS: I would go with the Beatles. I like the Rolling Stones. I think they're pretty cool. I think in the '60s they were even cooler. Songwriting and production-wise, Beatles definitely. Definitely more John Lennon than Paul McCartney. George Harrison is also cool. Ringo Starr is okay. I think he's sometimes underrated. It's because he's so silly. He seems so silly, right? He doesn't seem cool.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

FS: I was in another band. We played in Hamburg, Germany. We played in the red-light district. I played in a band called Lake Placid -- a cheerful, happy indie pop band. We played in this bar that was run by a Finnish goth. It was all goth people. There was this goth DJ with fishnet gloves. That wasn't even the worst part. We were carrying out our gear at 10 o'clock in Sunday morning and all the bars were closed in the red-light district. There were 20 British soccer fans around 40 years old. There was this guy – I've never experienced this before or after – this guy was puking while walking and screaming. It was terrible.

Are you classically trained or self-taught musicians?

FS: Definitely self-taught. I never went to class. When I started playing music I was fond of this lo-fi, D.I.Y. thing. I never learned anything. It was just about expressing yourself and not paying attention to skills or anything. That's why I'm not the best guitarist. When you listen to a lot of music, you get inspired. The technical part is not so important anymore. It's more like understanding your own expression and communicating that compared to [imitates guitar shredding].

Which bands are you looking forward to seeing at SXSW?

TW: I want to see Small Black.

FS: I would like to see the XX. I really like them, and I haven't seen them live yet.


Nancy Chow is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.