A Chat with Gentle, Ghosts (18.09.21)
Inspired by the likes of Wilco, The Lemonheads and The Hold Steady, Gentle, Ghosts haunts our minds with a bold, unique and eclectic sound. We speak with the UK-based artist about his new album How I’ll Break Your Heart, early memories, song placement and animal reincarnation.
OSR: What drew you to music?
Gentle, Ghosts: Wow, that’s a big one to start with! My parents played music in the car all the time when I was a kid – Motown and The Beatles from my Mum, Stax and blues from my Dad. My Dad sang in choirs and always encouraged us to play instruments. I started with the cello aged 7 but switched to guitar at 11 as GNR, Nirvana and Pearl Jam didn’t play the cello. Since then it’s always been there – playing in bands, working in radio, every commute and walk, picking up a guitar as soon as I get home. It’s how I process emotion, communicate, relax, find joy; it’s everything.
OSR: Who would you say are your musical influences?
Gentle, Ghosts: They’ve changed throughout my life and with different musical projects. The near constants though have been Gil Scott-Heron for his storytelling, The Lemonheads and Paul Westerberg for their melodies and wry lyrics, and Wilco for their spirit of independence and invention. The Hold Steady are my favourite band in the world and one of the few that make me want to play live myself. Over the past couple of years, the women from BoyGenius (Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker) can do no wrong, whether individually or together – great lyrics, killer melodies and magical arrangements.
OSR: What can you tell us about your album How I’ll Break Your Heart?
Gentle, Ghosts: I was working on an album when lockdown hit in 2020. With a lot of time on my hands, a flurry of new songs came out, ‘How I’ll break your heart’ being the first. None of them fitted with the songs I’d already recorded but set up a theme I thought would make for an interesting album – how we sabotage love.
The events happening at this time then started feeding into the songs within this theme. The BLM protests led to me thinking about my own behaviour during inter-racial relationships (including my marriage) resulting in ‘Do you want to get drunk sometime’. The Italians singing from their balconies during their nationwide lockdown and the strains of a relationship being confined within four walls led to ‘Balconies’. Over that summer the songs came together really quickly. It then took about a year for me to pluck up the courage to actually release them and get all the pieces in place to do so – artwork, videos, distribution etc.
OSR: Did you experience any challenges when writing and recording the album?
Gentle, Ghosts: Peace and quiet was the main challenge. I had to record at home as no studios were open. I’ve got two young kids, a bookshop and, at that point, another job so the space and silence needed to record was in short supply. Basically, everything was done between 10 pm and midnight in our living room.
OSR: What was the most exciting or interesting part of creating How I’ll Break Your Heart?
Gentle, Ghosts: Allowing myself to be open and, at times, brutal about my own failings in relationships was pretty interesting! It raised some past behaviour I’m not too proud of. That aside, making that commitment to take a song from written to arranged and recorded was exciting, and singing was terrifying. I’m not a singer! I’m a songwriter who had no one else to sing for them.
OSR: I know that song placement on an album is important. How did you decide to place certain songs on How I’ll Break Your Heart?
Gentle, Ghosts: The theme directed the song placement. I wanted to tell stories of how we sabotage love at all the different stages of a relationship – from the joyous chaos of the early days to the moments of boredom that kick in when you’ve been together for years and life starts getting in the way. ‘How I’ll break your heart’ sets up what’s going to happen, ‘Insides out’ and ‘Someone great’ (LCD Soundsystem cover) reflect on what’s gone wrong and the ones in-between follow a chronological order.
OSR: If you could be reincarnated into an animal, what would it be and why?
Gentle, Ghosts: A husky. They’re pack animals, love the snow and, in the case of Diefenbaker from 90’s TV show Due South, are deeply sarcastic.
OSR: What is your earliest memory?
Gentle, Ghosts: Listening to She’s Leaving Home and Michelle in the back of my Mum’s car aged about 3 or 4. She died in a car crash when I was 9 so I guess that’s why that moment, and probably music as a whole, stuck with me.
OSR: If you could spend the weekend with any living celebrity, who would it be?
Gentle, Ghosts: Stacey Abrams, the US politician and voting rights activist. She’s shown that with passion, effort and empathy you can turn the most challenging and unjust of situations into beacons of hope.
OSR: Do you have any message for our readers?
Gentle, Ghosts: Two song lyrics: one from my favourite band in the world and one from my home town heroes. From The Hold Steady – “I was a sceptic at first but these miracles work”. From Idles – “Joy is an act of resistance”. Times are hard for many, many people but we have to believe there’s hope and joy to be found.
Many thanks to Gentle, Ghosts for speaking with us. For more from Gentle, Ghosts check out his official website, Twitter and Spotify.
