Early Album

We have made our album available from our bandcamp page a little early. It's available as pay-what-you-want. You can still pre-order the vinyl and they should be with you at some point this month. We're still waiting on them y'see...

ONEBEAT interview with Andrew

Carrie from ONEBEAT interviewed Andrew a couple of weeks back. Here it is -

Last year, Derby two-piece Crushing Blows announced their intention to change their name to Ghost Twins. This year, they return revitalised with a full-length in their palms – and we're pretty sure it's contender for album of the year. We caught up with one half of the duo, Andrew Foster, who talks the name change, the album and beyond...

One Beat: First things first – no more Crushing Blows?! Tell us about the name change.

Andrew: There's no great story to it really. We were heading in a different direction sound-wise and wanted to release the album with a clean slate as it were. I must say, the response was overwhelmingly negative...

OB: You completed your debut album, Never Fear Total Failure, recently, what can you tell us about it? What was the recording process like for you?

Andrew: We're really proud of it. We've taken risks and done things out of our comfort zone, building abstract songs from synths rather than guitars, and using vocoders and things like that. It was recorded at Snug in Derby and I think it's quite a hi-fi sounding record.

The recording process was quite fragmented; we had probably 60% of the album written when we started recording it and the rest was us taking ideas away and doing a lot of work in between sessions. It wasn't easy but we didn't want to compromise.

OB: Your sound is really hard to pin down – there's so many influences coming through, and the result is a really unique sound. Can you describe the influences that you both bring to the band, and how you get them to work so well?

Andrew: We both like pop music with an experimental beat, whether that's the Velvet Underground or The Knife. Chris probably listens to slightly more left-field stuff whereas I love massive-sounding pop like Frankie Goes to Hollywood. We've always had a lot going on in our music and we're trying to make the ideas come together without losing all the rough edges.

OB: One of my favourite things about the band is the vocal contrasts, as you both take on your fair share of the duties. Would you say there are Chris songs and Andrew songs, or do you tackle the writing together?

Andrew: We generally start an idea on our own and then the other one will have a big say in where it goes from there, but I think it's important not to start putting your own ideas in just for the sake of it being collaborative.

OB: If you could single out one track on the album as 'quintessential Ghost Twins' – which would it be and why?

Andrew: Probably 2006  because it's the oldest song on the record and kind of shaped the sound of the album.

OB: You're taking the self-sufficient road with this record, like with your previous releases. Having financed the record yourselves, do you feel an added burden to succeed, or do you find yourselves more relaxed about it all?

Andrew: It's honestly never been a consideration. It would be very useful for us personally to sell some because it's cost us all of our money to make it! I think we would feel more pressure if someone else financed it but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

OB: Once the album is released, what does the rest of the year hold for you guys?

Andrew: We're getting our live set together at the moment so when the record comes out we'll play live to support that. If the album builds some momentum then hopefully we can get some tours together later in the year. If it's completely ignored then I think we'll throw ourselves straight into the next one. We'll probably have to record it on a phone or something though because we have no money left...

Ghost Twins' debut album, Never Fear Total Failure, will be released on digital and vinyl formats on 14 April. You can pre-order at http://ghosttwins.bandcamp.com

Featherweight Sounds.

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here and seeing as our debut album is now fast approaching it makes sense to get on the updates. Pre-orders for the album are now available on our Bandcamp page (look right for the link). The 'official' release date is April 14th. That's for vinyl and iTunes, etc. We will be releasing the album on our Bandcamp page a couple of weeks earlier than this though. We're not too sure exactly when, although we'll make sure it's out before the Holy Smokes gig with Islet which is on the 28th. The album will be available as 'pay what you want' on the bandcamp and I think it's safe to say that anyone who releases music via bandcamp prefers people to head there rather than to iTunes, Amazon, blah blah blah. So yes, the first gig for the album is on the 28th at The Chocolate Factory in Derby. We're opening the shindig and are kinda hijacking it as an album launch of sorts. An album launch where there are no physical copies of the album available. After Choco Facto we're playing Start The Bus (Bristol) on (Good) Friday April 18th. That's it at the moment but there will be plenty more to come. I'm pretty adamant on being a little bit more on the ball with this blog so come back soon. There shall be updates!

NEVER FEAR TOTAL FAILURE

Our debut album now available to pre-order from both the store and our bandcamp page (links on the right). The song 2006 is free download on BANDCAMP too. The album release date is April 14th for the vinyl. The bandcamp downloads will be available late March.

The end of the year.

We played the Assembly Rooms in Derby on Friday. It was strange as it was more a C Blows set rather than a Ghost Twins one. Same C Blows set-up, a few different songs. We covered White Light / White Heat by the Velvet Underground which was very enjoyable. We've set the release date for the album for March 25th. It'll be available digitally from then and the vinyl will be out a couple of weeks later. If we can get the vinyl out for the 25th that'd be great. There might be a backlog at the pressing plant though with Record Store Day being in April. We're also playing at The Chocolate Factory in Derby on March 28th. It's a Holy Smokes / Format night and Islet are headlining. It'll be our album launch. There will be more info soon.

Top 5 - Albums of the year.

As always at this time of year the 'best of' lists have started to appear so I (chris) have decided to contribute a list of my own. Here's my top 5 -

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual // John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts // Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork // Jon Hopkins - Immunity // Jandek - The Song of Morgan

Christmas Gig

We'll be playing our only gig before the release of the album in a couple of weeks time. Initially we weren't going to do anything for a while but our friends Lostalone asked us to open up their annual Derby Christmas gig. We did it last year and had a blast so we're opening a four band bill which includes Attention Thieves and again our buds Max Raptor. We should be doing something a little different for our set (we actually don't have a fucking clue what we're going to do) as we're still in the studio finishing the album. Either way it's going to be a great way to end the year. Tickets are available HERE.