Interview With Tha Ghost
interview by mako tws for various websites
this interview was takin on AIM, I am makotws ... so enjoy and see what's up
makotws : Okies all, first off I'd like too thank you for agreeing to do this interview for us. Could you please introduce yourself to our fine community?
Ghost: hey the pleasures all mine i am tha ghost formerly of the godless monsters and currently 1/2 of sons of satan
makotws : part of a group i cant wait too hear the release of, that's for sure ... that single y'all dropped around christmas was killer
Ghost: well thank you sir were definitely trying to take the genre in a bit of a new direction incorporating more rock while still keeping the integrity of the rap aspect in tact
makotws : nice and we'll get back to the group here in a few , i promise ... lol ... so how long ya been rapping?
Ghost: since late 1999 but ive been writing poetry and short stories since i was about 7
makotws : nice , that shit definatly helps , you ever turn any of those into music or just go through it too see how far ya progressed in writting?
Ghost: yea i actually use a lot of concepts that i touched on in my earlier writing sometimes i even dip into some of the poetry just to grab a different flowing rhyme structure
makotws : that's kewl ya dont just let'em go to waist ... also interesting too see shit like that ya know ... now a question ya probably been asked a billion times, How'd ya come up with ya name?
Ghost: well i never really had thought of making a serious run at rapping enough to consider a name but i used to freestyle with a bunch of people at work during lunch break and i was always doing darker lyrical content most of the folx i was rappin with were black so they gave me the name ghost cuz im white and scary lol
makotws : lmfao ... now that's a way to earn a name ... lol ... so did they enjoy the darker side of music that you portrayed?
Ghost: well most of those folx were religious so they never really understood why i didnt just use the typical mainstream hip hop style content but the first rule of writing is to write about what you know and are comfortable with but they saw that even though what i was doing was different it still had its merits and they actually pushed me to pursue rapping more seriously
makotws : that's very cool that ya had backing like that, suprised they didnt all freak out or push ya to change your style
Ghost: well i never really looked the part of a rapper anyway lol so they knew right off the bat that something was gonna be different with my style i think
makotws : lol ... not many people look like a rapper, i could go down the list of the mainstream shitty acts , yet it's cool they seen potential ... i know you put in alot of work to help the Wicked Underground move forward and made lots of fans and more enemies ... how close are you with your fan base?
Ghost: i try to stay in contact with my fans as much as humanly possible but theres only so many hours in the day but anytime im at a show or anything of that nature and im approached by fans i make it a point to answer any of their questions and have a couple drinks or smoke a lil sumthin with em
Ghost: i never really understood artists who dont take the time to show appreciation to those who brought em to the dance so to speak
makotws : i know what ya mean , there's a few i ran into that were total shit but i have met a few (roc, skrapz, f.r.eeze to name off the top of my head) that were fuckin kick ass, so far the artist's i've meet doing this shit have been nothing but kick ass too, besides a rare few. nice ya down with ya fans, i've seen pics where you are getting blitzed with ya fans ... which i think is damn straight up killer
Ghost: hellz yea i love to meet the people that like my music cuz its like we already know each other in that we can both identify with the same songs, its a good ice breaker lol
makotws : definatly, like hey, you member talking to soinso in chat or at km or myspace, that's me bro ... lol ... i know ya done a few shows so, who are some of the acts that you've done shows with?
Ghost: wow heres so many great acts ive had the privilege of playing with tech n9ne pdm lavel project born marz king gordy roc sycksyde all of skr scum insane poetry cap one and im just scratchin the surface
makotws : that's fuckin sick , lots of killer acts right there and great opportunity for some sweet contacts (which has panned off by listening to your radio interviews ... lol) , woulda been kick ass to see ya on stage at the Indie GoreFest over the summer
Ghost: yea i didnt even know i was gonna be onstage till the night before the show lol
makotws : shit looked like a kick ass time just from the video footage and pics i've seen ... lol ... i know im definatly going to have to try and make a few shows this year ... You've mentioned the group, Godless Monsters, how'd that come to be and is it still a group?
Ghost: well myself and demonic d met thru a mutual friend patt carr and we really hit it off and started making some music together a couple tracks at first then as we started to mesh more and more it became hey why dont we just do a group its like half the work lol, as far as it still being around.. thats kinda like a never say never thing alot happened to get us to the point we're at now d had some major health and drug problems that landed himin a coma and gave him 2 strokes and once he recovered from all that his heart just wasnt in it at the same level anymore hes pretty much moved on and only raps once in a while but if the opportunity ever came up to get a full length gmi album done id be all over it
makotws : damn, just when y'all finaly started getting good press and coverage , hope things go well for ya homie man, seriously rough and hard, hope he can make a full recovery. so GMI ever release a cd or ep, for purchase or online downloads?
Ghost: no nuthin on that level we used to just do singles and move em around buffalo and rochester and then for shows wed put 4 or 5 songs on a cd and sell those for a buck or two, i did however release a horrible solo album at one point
makotws : enough too keep a good buzz going on for y'all ... lol ... one of those one's ya hope never surface but kinda doo to show how much you improved and gain musically since then
Ghost: yea its definitely leaps and bounds even since the demise of gmi ive noticed a significant up in the quality of my stuff since i started working with stitch
makotws : easy to improve when you work with someone that can offer ya tips and advice ... specially someone as tallented and good as Stitch is ... So how did Stitch and Yourself decide to make a group cd?
Ghost: well we had been talking on killmusick for a while and when that gorefest show went down he actually got lost on the way into town so he called me up n asked for directions i got him to where i was at and it was already pretty late so i invited him and his girl to share the room with me n my wife we spent the night getting tanked and at some point i pitched him the rough idea for what is now sos i thought it would be a really cool departure to mix his southern style with my more eastcoast style and then we both had alot of the same rock roots too so we incorporated that in there as well
makotws : nice ... did you have someone else in idea for the project was Stitch the one you knew would be best for it?
Ghost: honestly the way sos is structured i dont think anyone else would really fit the way stitch does
makotws : what give ya the idea for SoS and how'd ya come up with the name?
Ghost: well the idea was basically just to push the barriers as far as they could go not just with the lyrics but the stage show as well and that in and of itself hasnt even touched on its full potential yet, as far as the name, i wanted something attention grabbing three words where the abbreviation would also be a double entendre i played with a couple things before i eventually settled on sos
makotws : nice ... what were the other names you was thinking of?
Ghost: oh man i have a bad memory but i think the one that got the most consideration was LSD but i couldnt come up with a decent acronym lol
makotws : lol ... nice, probably better ya didnt use that one, i'm sure a shit load of people woulda been bitching cuz it's close to Scum's label's abreviation ... I know recently the Sons of Satan did a show that got alot of controversy. What went down there for that happen and then get kicked off stage?
Ghost: well we got booked at a coffee house but this place also booked death metal bands so we thought wed be in the clear stitch set the show up and he said they knew all about the content and everything like that i knew we ere in trouble tho as soon as i got outta the car and looked at the crowd tho lol well we ere the first act so we get up on stage and start going into the set we did an intro with a few crowd participation hail satans in there then we go into the red dawn song god is dead and staff is running up to the stage trying to get my attention i finally take the time to listen to one of em and their tellin me to change the lyrics i tell stitch the situation and we just continued on doing business as usual we get into btrk and the venue owners mom is right down in front of the stage havin a fit by this time we had lost anyy semblance of control so we had started ranting about xian fascism or something and then people are rushin the stage tryin to get the mics out of our hands but everything got seperated before violence broke out one girl who was there to see stitch tried fighting the mom it was absolute anarchy i just wish i was more drunk lol
makotws : that's fucked up, yet what can do ... bet that shit was great to see ... that chick drop anyone or no? ... lol
Ghost: no there were too many people concerned with keeping us all seperated for any real fun to break out
makotws : sucks how people can be so closed minded with shit like that ... it's fuckin music for christ's sake ... oh well, to many closed minded assbags that's for sure ... do y'all have name for the SoS project or is it going to be self-titled and how many tracks we looking at?
Ghost: um the album will be called kult musick vol 1 the onslaught its gonna be around 10 tracks long 8 of which are songs then an intro/outro
makotws : many collabo tracks or no?
Ghost: there are 3 collabs on there which is whats been delaying the album (waiting on getting the verses back) but we got a verse from cap one already in and sicktanick and cyco are the other two were waiting on
makotws : sweet ... some sick names for collabo's. for a while there both Yourself and SoS was Signed to Wicked Intent Records. How'd that come to be?
Ghost: well after animosity closed down i was already doin the radio show for them (wicked intent) and syniister hit me up it sounded like a good deal so we did a lil bit of business there for a while
makotws : kewl ... yeah thought things was going to be sweet since ya was doing the radio and heavily promoing for them. Y'all are no longer on WIR. What went down for y'all to depart and was it on good terms?
Ghost: id like to think it was on decent terms what basically happened was i had gotten the group xplicit mindz signed to wicked intent as well and syniister had greenlighted their album for january and sos for feb in all fairness to syn he hit some financial troubles which were going to SIGNIFICANTLY delay both of those projects with the original release date for sos being halloween of last year i really didnt think it was fair to keep the people waiting till may or june for this album to drop so we basically came to terms on a release
makotws : ahhh , that definatly shed's some light in the picture, thank you for clarifying that up. Now word is SoS is on a new label. Can ya tell us how that went down?
Ghost: yea after the split with wir i was in a weird spot where i had been on 2 different labels in 6 months and not even had a cd come out lol i had always in the back of my mind thought i wanted to start my own label cuz i already had all these contacts and everything and at this point after seeing what being on a label was all about i felt i could handle my music better just based on the fact i know what im trying to accomplish with it and what demographics im trying to sell to also another big factor was that the promotion id seen from the labels id been on wasnt quite what i had in mind i mean myspace bulletins are great and all but in order to make money you gotta spend a little bit too, so killgod entertainment was born about 18 months ahead of schedule lol
makotws : definatly gotta push away from Myspace to help make a project really sell, as you said it's good and all but you gotta do alot of footwork also. get lots of people hyped for it. What is the vision you have for KillGod Ent?
Ghost: well right now were still in very early stages we just launched this week but im hoping to not only redefine the way the wickedshit is looked at but also by calling it entertainment instead of records it leaves me open to accomodate other mediums as well such as my writing and radio show and maybe more only time will tell right now were just kinda taking things slow focusing on getting the already scheduled projects out and then we'll see what happens from there the fans have been great though already setting up a street team and submitting graphics they really dont waste much time
makotws : definatly, good see ya got fans that are cool like that and willing to go the extra mile and actually help ya get shit off the ground and move forward. Do you have any acts that you might be interested in signing or not looking at that right yet.
Ghost: oh theres plenty of people id love to get onboard time will tell if any if that pans out right now as i said im mainly focused on doing the things that are already scheduled but i definitely would like to encourage people to send demos in if theyre interested in joining my little movement
makotws : sweet, where would one send their demo's and press kits too to try and get a good buzz with KillGod Ent?
Ghost: anything of that nature can be sent to thaghost666@hotmail.com
makotws : nice, hope ya get some sick ass tallent looking to get signed up. I know there's a few great young acts that need a label. lets hope they go your direction. So what's instore with your cd and when can we expect that to come out?
Ghost: well with my solo cd tentatively titled heretik im looking to expand on my style a little bit showing i can do more than just the anti religious stuff there will definitely be some of that on there but in addition to it youll have more story based songs more methodical murder type stuff and even some esham style acid rap i dont want to really put a solid date on it cuz i wanna take my time and make sure theres little to no filler in there but ideally it should be like late 08 early 09
makotws : nice ... sounds like a very well rounded cd. You have any collabs or features set for it or no?
Ghost: nothing really set in stone there will definitely be some collabs on there you can pretty much count on stitch being on it other than that id like to work with some people i havent had an opportunity to yet ideally id also like to get demonic d on there if he has the time
makotws : who are some of the artist's you'd like too collab with for this project?
Ghost: thats a good question i cant say for certain till the tracks are mapped out a little better but in addition to a hodge podge of production id like to maybe get rellik saint sinna scum xplicit mindz skinny sick and then maybe 1 real big one id also like to one day do a track with kgp but hes a pretty busy guy
makotws : niiiice ... yeah KGP is always doing shit to help get this genre moving forward and heard and helping out artist's left and right. I'm suprised people dog him like they do. The dude should get NOTHING but respect. Which is a reason why i like promoing you. You give alot back to KGP and Killmusick. help get shit heard and rolling. Be nice to hear a track with you and Kapers
Ghost: yea i would love to do it killmusicks been a second home to me and anything i can do to help it out i always try
makotws : definatly ... so what is your stance on "beef" and are you currently beefing with anyone?
Ghost: the beef thing its good in the short term but too many people get mired down and it becomes a never ending circle im not really that concerned with what other people are doing to hold grudges for stupid shit but like in any facet of life certain people just dont get along honestly from what i hear quite a few people have problems with me for whatever reason but i got nuthin but love for the genre as a whole
makotws : yeah, it can stale real quick but in some instances it can be pretty damn funny and kinda push people to the forfront and be heard ... i know one of the lil "beefs" you had was in KM and had me laughing pretty good
Ghost: oh god which one lol
makotws : lol ... Guttamind , altho Vyce's was pretty entertaining too
Ghost: vyce i dont even remember what that was about but yeah we talked shit over and got past that guttamind i dont remember exactly what his deal was either but i think it had something to do with the drop it like its hot competition i was doing over there but yeah its not something i even give thought to he does his thing i do mine that type of deal
makotws : yeah it looked like it all ended well but was great entertainment for a while ... lol ... this a question i like to ask everyone and get their thoughts on things ... what's ya feelings on how the media always blackballs the horrorcore genre for stupid shit like what just happened in detroit around halloween, when that kid cut off that dudes head.
Ghost: i think its awesome any publicity is good publicity in my opinion i think more people should do stupid shit then maybe the public will sit up and take notice that there is real powerful musick coming out of this genre not just grease paint and rc cola
makotws : lol ... definatly agree with that answer, any promotion for this genre is good, specially when it makes national news like it did. yet the aftershocks that come with it suck, but the sales are all good when certain acts get named, i think mars sold the most cd's ever when he was mentioned in the black bear killings in minnesota ... lol
Ghost: yea its a double edged sword but you gotta take the good with the bad, anytime you can incorporate real life either straight up or metaphorically it helps give your musick a certain edge that you cant fake im all for doing whatever it takes to have kgps name or eshams name be as big as russell simmons or puff daddy
makotws : definatly man and they should be names everyone and their mother has heard of. specially KGP, fucker deserves it ... besides the SoS, your Solo cd ... what else do ya have planned for 08
Ghost: well as im sure youve seen im trying to get the ball rolling on a tribute album to kgp thats a little slow getting off the ground but im not ready to throw the towel in yet id like to get more shows goin down this year theres alot of fans who havent gotten to see unadulturated violence up close and personal yet definitely gotta get some merchandise crackin maybe a new artist or 2 on the label and possibly start workin on kult musick vol 2
makotws : suprised there was more artist's throwing their names into the ring to cover a KGP track. Hopefully with this getting out and more people seeing it, they'll toss their name in the ring and go for it. sweet, cant go wrong wtih more shows ... what kinda merch ya looking to set up?
Ghost : definitely shirts and hats posters stickers that type of thing id eventually like to get a book out as well
makotws : nice ... definatly could see sporting a shirt and hat, definatly a witner beanie for this time of year
Ghost: absolutely beanies fitted hats the whole 9
makotws : nice ... well that aboot drains me of questions for now ... lol ... you have any thing else to drop or shout outs?
Ghost: hmm shout outs to my lovely wife, stitch mouth, patt carr, demonic d, sylvia from the killgod street team, kap, and all the acolytes who bump the shit and represent at the shows stay tuned folx cuz were just gettin started id also like to thank you for givin me the opportunity to be the interviewee as opposed to the interviewer lol
makotws : Aight y'all, that Ghost of Sons of Satan and KillGod Ent. Once again we appreciate ya time and patience in doing this interview and Thank You very much!!! And we will all be on the look out for the good things you have in store!!!