Ghost’s Tobias Forge on New LP, Touring America
It has been a pretty eventful 2018 for Ghost so far, and their fourth studio album, Prequelle, hasn’t even come out yet.
Prequelle follows 2016’s EP Popestar and the breakout 2015 LP Meliora, and in a recent conversation with Beasley Media Group’s Meltdown from WRIF, Tobias Forge discussed the general theme of the album as well as where it stands within the Ghost catalog:
“I think it’s the most accomplished one to date, and I think it definitely matches what used to be that record, which was “Meliora.’ I think ‘Meliora’ was a big step forward. I really liked making that. I really enjoyed how we made it and working so closely with the producer of that record, Klas [Åhlund.] Unfortunately, we didn’t get to work with him this time around, but we worked with Tom Dalgety, and that was a nice experience. I think both me and Tom both felt the urgency, the importance of this record and important it was for both of us that it turn out to be special…this record in many, many ways is about survival. Lyrically and thematically it’s about survival, but it was also made in that sort of state of mind.”
Ghost’s popularity has been steadily on the rise in the United States due in large part to their seemingly continuous touring schedule, and according to Forge, there are some definite perks to performing and traveling throughout the U.S.:
“I’ve always been very fascinated with America. I’ve always been very drawn to America. I always grew up with a lot of American culture. Obviously, intermixed and intertwined with, you know, I’m Swedish…but I always knew I had a mental home here, and every time I come here, I feel very much at home…If I could only do one market for the rest of my life, I’d definitely say America, but I’d also say that from a practical reason. America is very big. You get a consistency here that you won’t get anywhere else, because Europe is many different countries…Going through Europe is definitely different from one day to another, and I love that, too. But there’s definitely a steadiness, and for a control freak like me who like when things are the same every day, there’s definitely a security you get…From a touring, working point of view, it definitely is easy touring America. And it’s fun! People are very nice.”
Prequelle comes out June 1 and is currently available for pre-order in multiple formats and bundles at Ghost-Official.com.
To listen to this interview in its entirety, go to WRIF.com.
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
