Interview with Ghost Station

What drives musicians to go solo? One can only assume that it is, ultimately, a sense of creative freedom that underpins such a decision. Having previously dabbled in music and bands for almost 20 years, Essex singer-songwriter Matt Phillips decided it was time to take his individual material a bit more seriously. Thus, Ghost Station was born. Focusing on three minute melodies and ’90s nostalgia, Gigslutz grabbed hold of Matt to shed some light on his project.

 

 

Hi Matt – How’s your day been?

Not bad thanks considering I spent most of the evening stuck in a traffic jam! It’s all glamour at the top, don’t you know? Or so I’m told anyway. Whether Ghost Station gets to the top remains to be seen… They say half the fun in life is the journey getting to where you want to be, as long as you’re not stuck in a traffic jam obviously.

 

Ghost Station is a solo endeavour, do you enjoy the freedom that being a solo artist brings?

You call it solo artist, I call it the world’s smallest band! I write all the music and lyrics but getting it all on record with drums, bass etc is another thing altogether and that’s where Ghost Station suddenly multiplies and becomes a group. It’s run like a non-league football club in that respect, I have to get people in on loan from other groups so they’re only in Ghost Station for about an hour tops. Band members can be difficult to manage on a full-time basis, you need everyone committed 100%, so the current Ghost Station recording arrangement seems to suit just fine.

 

Can you give us an outline of your musical past? 

Well, I was saving this for the memoirs but you’ve forced it out of me. I’m from Chelmsford in Essex and my very first band was called Magic Bus, after The Who song; we made our live debut in December 1995, just days after seeing the Stone Roses in Cambridge. What a week that was! In our minds we were on par with the Roses. I’m sure the reality was somewhat different! We played all over the country for six years, gigs in Manchester and London, and played with Ocean Colour Scene. When that finished I went into musical retirement, without the millions and guitar shaped pool sadly. After a while, I got back into song-writing, did some acoustic gigs over a few years and then that paved the way for Ghost Station. The debut EP was Head for the Sun which got 4/5 in The Sun newspaper, and Tear It Up is the brand new single.

 

You state on your website that you make ‘pop music for the purist’; why do you think pop music is such an important component in music? And what makes a ‘purist’? 

I call it pop because I love melody. If it hasn’t got a hook then what’s the point? Everyone loves a catchy song but it has to be done with credibility and that’s the purist part for me. Look across the generations – bands like The Beatles, The Jam, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys have all had big mainstream appeal on their own terms and with their own music. That’s real success for me. The flip side of that is something like One Direction, which is just a money making machine. Nice lads I’m sure but they’re not making music that will stand the test of time and you can thank the X-Factor for that whole culture of mediocrity.


What do you think of present day ‘pop’? 

There’s a couple of unsigned bands that I heard through Twitter called Paper Boats and The Wellgreen, they’ve had decent singles out recently. I’m intrigued by the singer-songwriter scene in this country: artists like Jake Bugg, George Ezra, Lucy Rose, even Ed Sheeran. They’re talented kids but what inspired them to pick up an acoustic guitar, rather than an electric one, and why is it so popular?! Jake’s first album was much better than the follow up I thought. Morrissey’s album was really good before it disappeared from the shelves. Did you know that Paul Weller has been writing for Olly Murs? I saw a pre-fame Olly Murs miss a penalty in an Essex cup final once. I was chatting to him at an event last year and he remembered it clearly. All those record sales, yet the penalty miss was still in his mind…


The title track from your EP, Head For The Sun, harks back to the ’90s with its jangly guitars and carefree vibe – do you hold music from this time in a fond regard? 

I did at the time for sure. Britpop was like a religion to me. I don’t really listen to any music from that era now. When Blur did the comeback gigs I thought stuff like Tracey Jacks sounded really dated. I think Madness sound fresher and their stuff is much older. I used to see Suggs out and about in Soho quite a lot. He’s a big guy, like a nightclub bouncer or something. Upbeat music just seems to come naturally to Ghost Station.

 

How long has ‘Tear It Up’ been in the works? And has it been an easy ride?

‘Tear It Up’ is a song that I’ve had around for a while and the lyrics feature a line about Maurice Micklewhite, which is Michael Caine’s real name. I’m amazed at how many people don’t know this fact! We spent most of the summer recording and fine tuning the track at a studio in the Essex countryside. Essex is about 70% rural you know, it’s not all TOWIE, tans and teeth.

 

How would you describe your live show to our readers and do you prefer performing acoustically, or as a full band?

Well, Ghost Station hasn’t actually performed as a full band in public, the nearest we’ve got to that is the ‘Tear It Up’ video. I’ve done some acoustic gigs under the Ghost Station name including one at St Pancras International. To be honest I don’t like playing acoustic guitar and singing at the same time cos of the multi-tasking aspect. I do like being on stage though. My wedding speech was 19 minutes long, putting a mic in my hand is a dangerous thing.

 

What does the near future hold in store for Ghost Station

Unless people buy ‘Tear It Up’, then not a lot! It would be great to do a Ghost Station album but I’d probably need a label to stump up the cash for that one. Some full band Ghost Station gigs would be good as well. Many years ago, when I was working as a humble shelf stacker, a work colleague was convinced that one day I’d play on ‘Later with Jools Holland’. On quiet days, we’d even act that scenario out on the shop floor, he did a good Jools impression and I’d be there with a broom handle doubling up as a mic stand. Sadly, we’d get interrupted by some old dear asking if we sold manilla envelopes and we’d be rushed back to reality. We did sell those envelopes by the way…aisle one.

 

And, finally…Desert Island disc: what album could you not live without?

This changes constantly but today I’m going to say Pills n Thrills and Bellyaches by the Happy Mondays. You can’t beat a bit of Shaun Ryder!

 

Ghost Station’s new single, ‘Tear It Up’, is out now. Have a watch of the video here: 

 

Kayleigh Watson
Twenty-something tale-spinner and culture hound. Lover of rowdy rock, synth pop, Game Of Thrones and cake.
Kayleigh Watson

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