An Interview with Hail The Ghost

A brand new single dropped today from Hail The Ghost, and when you listen to this track, do it with headphones on because this is a mix of progressive, post-rock, and vastly cinematic sound that has a very unique way of engulfing you.

"Seeps" has a particular aesthetic to it. It's a bit of a slow burn, but that's because it's telling a bit of a story, and it's doing it with that expansive and spacious atmosphere it creates, so you slowly get pulled deeper into the track as it unfolds.

This is what I mean by cinematic. There is a lot of space to swim through, and when you listen to it with headphones, all of the textures and layers come through and actually swim around in the air that surrounds you.

It's all such a beautiful experience, and the way it builds and how it's put together is brilliant.

You have a great synth at the start of the track, along with some pianos and slide guitar notes that float through the song's ether, giving it those layers I mentioned earlier. So all of those elements come in pretty much right from the start, and that's giving you the vibe and mood from the get-go.

The vocals are telling the story with a bit of a solid undertone, but an amazing melody, and that post-rock influence really comes to light when that singing starts coming in.

Another thing that's very outside the box or just unique about this track is the percussion.

This also builds on that cinematic or even theatrical sort of backbone because it's not just standard.

It gives a deep-pocketed rhythm to the track, but it's widened so there's a lot of space between all the percussion hits. The kick, the snare, and how it's performed help build the song and push that spacious feel even further.

As the song keeps playing, the percussion starts to change, and you hear snare rolls and distant hits. Even some of the percussion is in the background or just drenched in reverb, still furthering that atmospheric and ambient tonality.

About halfway through the track, things begin to become more intense. More guitars start to come in, the percussion changes, and the energy rises.

You begin to take in all these new layers that are happening, and the melodies that they're performing.

With the rise of intensity you get sucked into the song even more so. You can feel a little tension, but it's still swimming in reverb effect, so it's all distant and right in your face simultaneously.

I absolutely adore where this song takes you. How it begins in one place and ends in another. The way this track brings you to that climactic and immense section is just beautifully done and has such a natural forward-moving flow that when it gets there, you are already part of the song.

There's a lot of emotion behind this track, or at least it feels that way to me.

I think all those levels of intensity, the calms before the storms, the arrangement and sonic drive of how the song grows, is something that all feels like it has a heavy-handed emotional backbone attached to it.

So, it has personality. There is character in this track, and it shines through right from the start.

One of the strongest elements of this track, aside from the vocals, is the amazing guitar work and how so much attention to detail went into the tonality of how those guitars sounded.

You can clearly tell that someone was being very intricate with building the aesthetic with those guitars and did an amazing job of accomplishing that.

This is truly a song that has a unique way of wrapping itself around you and keeping you right where it wants to.

As I mentioned earlier, you get engulfed in this bright but edgy atmosphere, and every element and attribute of the track is what gets you there.

I love a song that can be so dramatically graceful, like this.

With the release of such a wonderfully woven single, we wanted to sit down with Kieran O'Reilly to talk about where this track came from and what might be coming up next for the band.

Here's what happened.

Buzz Slayers: Let's talk about "Seeps"! This was very cinematic and felt emotionally driving to me! Where did this track come from?

This track was unique in how it came about really. Myself (Kieran) and Eamonn were writing in my house one evening and Eamonn was slightly frustrated in that he wanted to pursue a particular type of atmospheric sound from certain influences we have, so I just said, 'well let's just write a song now'; I went in and retrieved one of my lyrics books and we sat down and literally wrote the bones of the track there and then. It was probably the fastest song we have ever written, ironically enough. We then decided to take it to a studio rehearsal space where we finished the remainder of the writing with Ian (Piano/Keyboards) before we scheduled time in the studio.

Buzz Slayers: I'm hearing a few different approaches to this song! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

We have found ourselves having naturally evolved into a post rock band and without ever consciously intending for that to happen. We have a wide range of influences and but we all listen to different bands/artists, e.g. Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Daughter, Slowdive, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Horrors, Gem Club etc. We were never even aware what constituted the genre of post rock but it seems we are in that bracket now.

Buzz Slayers: Who worked on the recording of this song with you?

Martin Quinn, who is our long time collaborator, producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist and ridiculously nice guy and more importantly, friend is the man behind all Hail The Ghost's studio recordings. He owns/runs JAM Studios in Meath, Ireland.

Buzz Slayers: How did this all start for you as a songwriter and band?

Myself, Eamonn and Ian were actually members of the Irish band 'White McKenzie' which broke up in 2012 and we decided to start Hail The Ghost as we felt we could create something worthwhile together. 

Buzz Slayers: Are you performing live right now? Any touring in support of this release?

We're actually still writing and recording new material for Album 3 but we do plan to play live at the end of the summer.

Buzz Slayers: Now that this is out, what's next for you as a band? Any upcoming releases on the way?

We're going to finish the next album and once that's done, we're going to play those songs live because we really do want to let people experience these songs live but we also really want to play them ourselves.

Buzz Slayers: Who's in your headphones right now?

As I type, CODEX by Radiohead has just ended and SUGAR FOR THE PILL by Slowdive has just started.

Buzz Slayers: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

'Seeps' is (we feel) our best work to date and we are excited for our fans to hear it

Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

If you have people to love in your lives, ensure that you love them as purely as you can for as long as you can. 

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