Interview :: Ginger and the Ghost

July 26th 2013

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Australia’s gypsy-pop darlings Ginger and the Ghost are home after conquering North American audiences with their dream-inspired sonic and visual artistry. Marrying graphic displays with an intricate interplay of light and dark soundscapes, the band is set to merge forces with Goldroom, Indian Summer, YesYou and Nas, before embarking on another international tour.

The Flog’s Mina Kitsos chats to Missy, one half of the mystical duo, about mixing beats, indoor galaxies and marshmallow furniture.

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“Ginger and the Ghost”?

We thought it would be perfect because of the alter egos that we wanted to create. It also sounded like a children’s story book and an adventure. We thought it was a nice, open descriptive name so that we could wrap ourselves around that.

The costumes and stage designs?

My background is installation art and I freelance doing installations and interior designs. Daniel and I both do lots of sets and props, so it crosses over into our world. We do re-use things but we change them and try to make them versatile so they have a new shelf life, but the staging that we’re about to use is really simplistic in the way that the materials are quite beautiful and simple, but the lines and the forms will change to the different stage shapes. We’re trying to make it versatile and clean because we have a projection based show.

The ‘dream-state’?

We gave it a name so that we could develop a feel and a look and also relate back to the songs in the lyrics and the feel of the music as well. It’s all about the subconscious and the moments before you fall asleep; what actually happens. I’ve been researching a lot about what happens. There’s a lot of symbolism like eyes and white clouds and spatial elements like universes and fireworks – really beautiful and colourful projections that reflect that dream-state as well.

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The sound?

Everyone always says that it’s really pretty and light, but that there’s a lot of darkness in there as well. I guess that comes from our roots and our inspirations musically. We love Sigur Ros and Radiohead and Bjork. The darkness and macabre elements come from within, but also from our influences.

The remixes?

We started asking friends and people in the industry for ideas about who they thought were quite influential and doing good remixes. It was through a family friend that we found Ta-ku. We contacted him, he loved our work and wrote the remix and it’s beautiful. It has been a really nice process. I’ve never actually met Ta-ku in the flesh. I choose wisely. I feel like we’ve chosen wisely with who we are getting to remix and who we are collaborating with in the future. I like the diversity that it brings. Taku puts such a crazy spin and dope-ifies our track so that it’s this killer, minimal, beautiful, glitchy trap music. It’s really cool to see it turn into a whole other creature. We’ve got some disco, some nu soul and some electronic minimal stuff. I think it’s nice to be put into another genre; maybe people that listen to Ta-Ku would not have listened to us organically.

The last album you bought?

Connan Mockasin’s EP and Purity Ring’s album. We wrote our album three years ago, so its just been sitting there ready to go. It’s really interesting hearing Purity Ring and seeing the direction that everyone’s going now. We were a little bit forward in the way we were thinking then.

The new ‘Red Balloon’ single?

With the resolute for ‘Choose your dream-state’ video that’s going to be released, we shot that all on tour. Our friend who is a cinematographer and a documentary artist came on the whole trip with us. When we got back we had so much footage and three different styles of footage in different areas and it almost went through three different styles of adventure. So we decided to split it and create three different stories through the film clip. Through the multi-video release, you’ll be able to choose what you want for the resolute.

Watch the first video in the series below:

The dream rider?

A bottle of scotch, rollerskates for everybody in the crowd, and an entire marshmallow lounge room.

The live show?

It’s a really beautiful adaptation of imagination. The stage and the music sets the tone for being able to float away, reminisce and become nostalgic. You’ll come away slightly haunted, slightly happy and slightly sad. It’s a theatrical display of our imagination.

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Who :: Ginger and the Ghost
What :: FBi Presents: The Desmond and Molly Jones Sessions
Where :: 98 Albion Street, Surry Hills
When :: Saturday, 27th July
How Much :: a ‘like’ on Facebook – or an RSVP if you’re an FBi supporter!

Read more from Mina Kitsos

 

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