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HT: Does a fetish for vampire movies and Halloween have any influence on the type of music the band writes?
Kerith: Yes, we like to incorporate those kinds of things into our image and our lyrics. But it's all a metaphor, and shouldn't be taken literally. For example, we sing about vampires, but that's a metaphor for living with something you can't rid yourself of and it consuming you and sucking the life out of you.
HT: I Am Ghost hail from Southern California, where there's a heavy saturation of bands. What steps did the band take to make the music sound unique?
Kerith: Well, we knew we wanted to combine lots of different elements, most obviously violin, keyboards, and 3-part harmonies with female vocals. But there's a lot more that makes our music unique. We have an image, and we actually stick to it. We take our live show seriously and are all about stage presence and giving the kids something spectacular to watch, not just listen to. And we didn't want to pigeon-hole ourselves into any one genre of music, so we combined elements of punk rock, post-hardcore, emo, and gothic to produce what we think is a unique sound.
HT: We hear you're classically trained? How long did you train for, and did you ever think that your skills would be utlized in a band like I Am Ghost?
Kerith: I sang in classical choirs from junior high all the way through college, and I even directed a 200-person gospel choir during college. That gave me lots of experience arranging choral parts and writing harmonies. That definitely came in handy for the EP, and will be even more useful for our next album, which will have full choir on some songs. I started playing violin in 4th grade and took private lessons from then on through 9th grade. I played for a couple prestigious youth symphony orchestras, and continued to be a part of my school orchestra all the way through high school. My classical training has definitely come in handy, but improv is way more important in a band like this. I learned how to do that in my church, playing along with the music, which was a lot more youth-friendly than most church music out there! I started listening to bands like Jars of Clay and Dave Matthews Band, who utilized solo violin, and I started learning their violin parts off the CDs. I didn't think I would ever find myself in this kind of a band until I went to a Yellowcard show. Finally I could picture myself doing something similar. Within a month, I was a member of I Am Ghost.
HT: When a band starts out, they get their name out the old-fashioned way - through self promotion! What will you guys do with your free time now that you don't have that responsibility?
Kerith: We actually still work hard at promoting - adding kids on myspace, putting together press packs, and flyering at shows. But we don't do it nearly as much. Now our concentration is on writing the new album. There's lots to work on outside of band practice, like experimenting with effects pedals, coming up with better leads, and arranging orchestra and choir parts.
HT: Your mission is to change kids' lives. Have any fans expressed your mission objective and how it changed their lives?
Kerith: I have heard a few people comment that a particular song, or our music in general, has changed their lives. For example, one girl going through a particularly rough time coping with the death of a close family member couldn't sleep at night. She would put on "The Dead Girl Epilogue" on repeat and she would be able to sleep. Another person said that "Lady Madeline" shed light on how she had been ruled by other people's influences, and she decided to break away from that and be who she wanted to be. I think it's amazing how music moves people these days, and I'm proud and honored to be a part of it.
HT: How important is it to have a look, especially with the genre of music you play?
Kerith: I think it's really important for us to have a look when on stage. In fact, our band has rules about what can and can't be worn for live shows, and we strictly follow them. As for our fans, there isn't really a look, since they stem from so many musical backgrounds. We look out into the audience at a show and see such a wide range of kids, and we think it's way cool. How awful would it be for us, who proclaim, "Be who you are; don't waste your life trying to be who the world makes you!" to see kids trying to make an 'I Am Ghost mold' and fit into it...
HT: Online message boards are lame, and a lot of the postings you'll find are negative. How do you guys take that kind of feedback?
Kerith: Honestly, it has different effects on all of us; some take it harder than others. I actually try to stay away from the negative reviews and just not read them. If they had any sort of meaningful feedback or constructive criticism, I might be more likely to read them. But so far all I've seen is a bunch of jaded reviewers, many of whom weren't good enough to make it as musicians themselves, who earn a living tearing people to shreds. Come on! That's not something we can take seriously! In fact, sometimes Brian and I share a good laugh over a terrible review's gross inaccuracies and obvious misconceptions!
HT: For everyone out there reading this, what should they look for from I Am Ghost in the future?
Kerith: We're keeping our image the same, but steering away from the whole death scene. Too many people were getting the wrong idea, and that imagery is now being used by so many bands that it's not unique anymore. For our next album, think EPIC!!!
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