Ghostfeeder

Ghostfeeder is the type of act who experiments non-stop until they can find their perfect sound. Four EPs and lots of tweaks with live performances have allowed them to formulate a unique sound in the electro-industrial scene, and has also led up to their debut album World Fameless. Located below you can stream the track 'Let the Wolves Inside' from the album as a soundtrack for the interview located below with half of the duo Derek Walborn!

Hi, hi, hi there! Welcome to Brutal Resonance Ghostfeeder. Let's start off right away and talk history. 2010 saw the foundation of your project and as I can see via Facebook there are currently two members in the band: Derek Walborn and Luke Dangler. Tell me how you two met and what led to the creation of Ghostfeeder.Derek:  The internet has really erased all boundaries, especially when it comes to this genre. Long distance relationships are no longer deal breakers unless you are planning on staying local. After going on the road last summer with En Esch as a two piece, I moved from New York to Florida and decided to work towards focusing the project in such a way that it would be a regularly nationally touring entity. Since moving I have also played a handful of shows in Florida as a one piece. There are a lot of possibilities and flexibility with the project right now. I can perform solo and gear my set towards a very synthetic sound, or play as a two piece and have the guitar turn Ghostfeeder into an electronic rock duo. It’s very liberating to have the “band” be so easily portable when so many other musicians are constantly bogged down with their schedules, band members, locations, and logistics. I’ve been there and I am really enjoying how much more focused and simple the project has been this past year.
Derek:  Every release definitely has its own particular flavor and is a snapshot of my life at the time. When I wrote and recorded The Signal, it was largely just to see if I could. I didn’t know if I would pursue the idea any further or attempt to take it to the stage, but I knew I wanted to finally make some electronic/industrial music after years of being a guitarist in a couple of traditional rock bands. It was an experiment at the time. It’s a bit hard for me to listen to it now, but some of those songs still have staying power when it comes to playing them live. They have evolved to still fit in with newer tracks.
Derek:  World Fameless really takes a lot of what I learned in creating The Messenger and applies it to a more song-driven release. I tried to make every track on the album a potential single but still maintain its integrity as an album that can take the listener on a journey. Not many of the tracks are from my perspective, narratively. The record is front-loaded with some punchy, upbeat, very traditional-sounding Ghostfeeder tracks to get people involved right off the bat. Guitars are present, but not as up front where they used to be. They have become more of a textural element. The album changes the deeper you get into it. About half of the way through, the subject matter of the material takes a more introspective, much less satirical turn. World Fameless sets up a certain expectation early on, but then changes the game subtly enough that the listener never realizes that they went from rocking out industrially to being throbbed by a hybrid electronic/tribal dance beat that I created by recording myself beating pots and pans with drumsticks. By the end of the album, I think listeners will find themselves in a very different mode than they were in at the onset. I feel that this transition is also indicative of the direction I am moving Ghostfeeder in: with less reliance on the standards I have set up for the project in the past and more willingness to embrace the unpredictable and the minimal. I’m hoping this release will guide fans into a new era of Ghostfeeder by starting them with the familiar, and easing them into some new territory, hopefully leaving them satisfied, but eager to hear what’s next.


You recently released a psychedelic music video called 'Let The Wolves Inside'. This song is serving as a precursor to World Fameless. How has the song been received? I also see that you made the video; why did you decide to make the video in such a fashion? Was it just for style or was there a deeper meaning?
Derek:  The song has been very well-received, which means a lot to me because I feel like, sonically, it represents the turning point for the album as well as the project itself that I mentioned previously. It would have been safer for me to release one of the earlier, more immediate songs off of the album as the first single, but I thought it was important that people be “re-introduced” to Ghostfeeder. The video for 'Let The Wolves Inside' is, to be frank, a purely a visual effort and not tied into the meaning of the song. However, it does call back once more to the more synthetic, minimal, electronic future I have planned.

Derek:  The title is absolutely tongue in cheek and is meant to be a sarcastic look at the fact that hard work and endurance does not always guarantee success exactly how you want it to be, so deal with it! As a rule, I hate being cynical. I feel like it’s an easy, lazy way out of facing your own insecurities. If you say the deck is stacked against you all the time, then you don’t even have to try to make something of yourself. That’s not at all my style. However, I dipped my toe in the cynical pool for the title track of the album and it felt good to vent a little “frustrated artist” angst just for the sake of having some fun. I’m a huge fan of Mindless Self Indulgence, and the way Jimmy is able to make such sharp social satire while also being so self-deprecating is really, I think, an overlooked asset to that band. I give my adoration for that kind of lyrical push and pull some credit for the creation of the title track.

Derek:  I do feel that I was able to bring my ideas to fruition, although I think that much of what the title says expires as soon as the first song is over, lyrically. The title was meant more to be a snapshot of who I am and where I am at the time of this album’s release as opposed to a pervasive theme in the music itself.


I guess the biggest question when it comes to your new album is: How do you feel about World Fameless? Do you think it's your best work to date? Or do you find yourself wanting to go back and fix up the album here and there?
Derek:  World Fameless is definitely the Ghostfeeder album that people should hear first. It’s an ideal primer. I think it serves as a good introduction to the project as it covers a wide spectrum and shows the breadth of what Ghostfeeder can be. It’s in my nature to micromanage and nitpick myself into oblivion, but I definitely do feel that this is my strongest, most focused release thus far. 
Derek:  'Claws And Teeth'. I wouldn’t say that it’s the album’s “go-to” track, but it’s an important song to me, as it was written lyrically almost immediately after the attacks in Paris. I’m not sure if it’s me getting older and softer or the result of being regularly bombarded with tragedy over the past few years, but these mass murders and attacks are beginning to have a profound effect on me. Paris left me terribly angry and then the recent shooting in Orlando not only hit close to home geographically, but just made me so terribly upset. Never in my entire life has a news story brought me to literal tears, but that made it happen. With every new massacre, I just feel more and more hopelessly frustrated. For me, making music is the only way I can vent certain frustrations or soothe very specific kinds of sadness.

Derek:  There will be more national touring in the near future and into next year that I am not at liberty to disclose just yet, but I am very excited about it. I don’t have concrete plans at this point for the next record, although I definitely have some new songs in the works, as always, as well as a theme that I am considering exploring. The next album will, I think, have a lot more in common with The Messenger than World Fameless. I’m looking forward to possibly telling another story and further pushing myself into unexplored, weird, minimal territory. If you’re not scared, you’re not improving. That’s what I tell myself, anyway! I am also planning on shooting a series of videos of myself performing live in my practice space in the coming months. I’d like to give people that aren’t able to see me play in person a chance to get to know what a Ghostfeeder performance looks and sounds like these days.


And, lastly, I'd like to thank you for your time and wish you the best! The space below is yours to say what you wish. Cheers!
Derek:  Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you and tell everyone a bit about Ghostfeeder. I would like to remind readers that they can stay in touch with me by liking Ghostfeeder on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.