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Record Breaking Advice

Featuring Thomas Ross Turner of Ghostland Observatory 

Ghostland Observatory is an electroconvulsive therapy for complacency in the music world.  With head-ringing beats and hair-raising vocals the duo of Thomas Ross Turner and Aaron Behrens started making a name for themselves by taking over music festivals.  Given their eccentric ways, it is no surprise that they decided to create their own label and produce the Ghostland sound on their own terms.  I talked with Thomas about their writing and recording process, as well as his experience owning a label.

Creating the Ghostland Sound

Before Ghostland became the dynamic duo we see today, they started out with a more conventional rock band lineup.  They found that streamlining the personnel meant less problems, “Right before Delete.Delete.I.Eat.Meat... came out we decided to make it a two piece, and make it work like that.  Before, we tried to have a bass player and a drummer, and had to deal with people not showing up.  Had to deal with people missing practice or learning their parts.  So we stripped it down to a two piece and all we had to do was rely on each other.”

Once the pieces were in place, the two started cranking out tracks, "It was a real creative burst and lot of new experiences for us.  So it was happening really quickly."  Their first two albums, Delete.Delete.I.Eat.Meat... and Paparrazi Lightning , were released within a year of each other.  Although they were written very close chronologically, their mind frame when writing the two records was quite different, "Delete.Delete was more about making a record and seeing what happens.  Paparrazi Lightning was about making a record, but also making jams that people will bang to when we're playing live." 

At the heart of every Ghostland Observatory song is the innate feeling to move, “All of our songs are beat or groove driven.  So once the groove locks down, and it’s up and loud, there’s a foundation to build off of.”  Thomas is the "groove conductor," creating all the beats, synths, and electronic mayhem for Aaron to sing over.  Although their roles are pretty defined, the formula for their song writing changes from song to song, “Sometimes I’ll come up with a track, and Aaron will vibe on it.  Start banging vocals to it.  Sometimes he’ll have a guitar riff, and I’ll throw a beat down and we’re just workin’ it together.  We’re just kind of piecing it together however we can.” 

For the most part, Thomas sticks to the instrumental realm of their music, but he occasionally helps Aaron with the lyrics, “I make sure they are syncopating in the right way, hitting in the gaps the way they should.  Every once in a while, if he gets stuck on a phrase, I’ll try to help him out, but he’s always off on some space journey.  [Laughs]” 

As with any artist, they hit times when the music wasn't flowing free and easy, "Sometimes I'll be working on a track, and I'll be into it, but it won't be a Ghostland thing.  We're really particular about what works and what doesn't.  I'll get frustrated, like man, we're done.  We got no more juice.  And then we'll have two or three songs happen in a week."  Where Thomas turns during a case of writers block may surprise you: "I like jazz and Burt Bacharach songs, mid 70's Parliament stuff when they were dropping the Mothership [Connection].  I think Burt Backarach is one of the best at writing a song that people will remember forever."

Just Press Record

"Recording, producing, fine tuning, that's fun to me, becuase most of the hard work is done.  The rest is just shaping.  Giving every sound its place, its own character."  Bass can be hard to control on any recording, but given the beat-driven nature of their songs, they pay special attention to that end of the spectrum, "Low end can be a problem at times.  You want things to bang, but you gotta shift things around at times, because you gotta have room at both registers."  Thomas also says to take note from older recordings and keep it simple, "If you've got a good pair of microphones, really good musicians, and a really good sounding room, just press record and watch the meters.  There's so much breadth and so much warmth in those old recordings.  It wasn't complicated.  You just played good, you got it right, and that was it." 

A common piece of advice from musicians and engineers these days is to sit back and just listen to your recording when mixing.  On the surface, this doesn't appear to be very profound.  However, with all the monitoring equipment, scopes, and spectral analysers available today, there is a growing temptation to use everything but your ears to make decisions.  Thomas made a conscious choice not to let that happen, "The reason I got an analogue console is because as far as mixing, you wanna hear what's going on, you wanna close your eyes and hear the mix instead of watching it on Pro Tools.

Owning a Label

Thomas had thought about owning a label even before Ghostland Observatory.  "I always wanted to have an experiemental label with stuff that I was into.  When we recorded Delete.Delete, I decided to try it out.  See how it goes.  So, we started Trashy Moped as a mom and pop operation.  Me and my wife just did the day to day type stuff.  We got a distribution deal with ADA and it just kind of slowly progressed ever since."  Although being on your own label certainly has its advantages, it can be labor intensive. "You've got to be dedicated.  Not only do you have to show up for rehearsals and shows, write music, and record music, you have to handle the business side of it: deal with retailers until you get a distribution deal, handle inventory- it's just a business.  It takes a lot of your time, so you have to be motivated and not let it get in the way of your creative side."

Although Trashy Moped Records is accepting demos, Thomas has been hesitant to sign other bands because he is afraid he won't be able to give them their due, "Ghostland takes up so much of my time and energy that I've tried to steer clear of producing other acts, and adding other labels to the roster because I wouldn't want to neglect them.  I really want to get to a point where Ghostland is going and I have time to get with a band and help them find their sound.  Show them what I know and give them a little edge.  Even if it's just two or three band that have something unique going on that I can help them with, that would be cool.  I'm not trying to have 50 bands on the roster."

Until Thomas has time to mentor bands on a personal level, he gives some advice to take away, "The most important thing is not what you have, but how you use it.  You could have a cassette tape and an idea, and write some really cool stuff down.  People always have this idea that you have to go in the studio, or you have to record a certain way, or you have to have this or that- a certain keyboard or drum machine.  Whatever you end up doing, if it sounds good to your ears and other people's ears, then it works.  It doesn't really matter how you got it on tape."

Visit the Ghostland website.
Watch them perform "Sad Sad City."
Check out a video of some girl dancing to "Rich Man."

Check out other installments of Record Breaking Advice featuring:
Midlake

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