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What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

I was inspired to make music from a very early age because music was always such a massive part of me and brothers’ lives when we were kids. My parents were really into a lot of great music from the 60’s like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix and later my Dad introduced me to Tom Waits and Dire Straits, whom he both really loved. I started making my own recordings of little original pieces that I wrote on saxophone when I was about ten and then recording became all I wanted to do by the time I was 15. I quit all other extra activities and sports because I just simply couldn’t care less about anything but music. I would bring my guitar to school most days to practice in study hall and then when I got home, I’d usually lock myself in my room and record for hours, sometimes days. It was all I wanted to do with my life. It was always a solitary thing, just like it is for the most part today, which I like.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

I wrote, recorded and mixed Sootie entirely by myself over a two month period in the beginning of 2018, Only having a $600 budget for the album, I recorded the whole album at home with very little equipment. This album is much different than any of my previous albums because it is entirely electronic (besides a few songs with real bass). I really wanted to feel like an amateur and explore a brand new style that I could get lost in, but at the same time have a blast creating.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

My biggest influences music-wise would be Low Roar and John Grant. I toured with John Grant back in 2010 and since then he’s been a constant inspiration to me. I’m also very influenced by this incredible Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard. He wrote a 6-book series called My Struggle and it’s fascinating.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I honestly don’t even know how to categorize my music because I genre hop so frequently. It’s mainly since I never want to do the same album twice because that would be too boring for me. I want to constantly take musical risks and push myself into places where I don’t belong. It’s fun to not know what the hell you’re doing or where you’re going to end up. I like to surprise myself.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

3 desert island albums: Rage Against The Machine – Self Titled, Queens Of The Stone Age – Lullabies To Paralyze, Midlake – The Courage Of Others

3 desert island books: Karl Ove Knausgaard – My Struggle, Donna Tartt – the Goldfinch, Dave Eggers – Zeitoun

3 desert island movies: The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Moonlight

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Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

While I enjoy both performing live and recording in the studio, I prefer recording in the studio because there’s more room for experimentation, especially since I’m a one man band. Since I perform alone, I’m very limited as to what I can do live and I’m not very good at the whole live looping thing.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

Well the story that just popped into my mind randomly was I remember playing a big festival with John Grant called Latitude in the UK back in 2010. We were on the mainstage so there were probably 10,000 people there. It was definitely the biggest show I’ve ever played in my life and so I had a big high after finishing that show. So after we go backstage, I open my email and see one from a high school band also called Galapaghost and in the email they tell me that there can only be one Galapaghost and they don’t see my project going very far. So they actually wrote me a song asking me to change my band name because they deserve it more than me. It just made me laugh. They Galapaghosted a year after that. I should go back and reread that email.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

I think the most unique track off of my new album Sootie is ‘Sunfrost’ because it has a very ethereal feel, which I really like. I wanted to come up with something soft and innocent that had a very childlike feel to it. I chose to do the whispered vocals because I thought the song had a lullaby quality to it. As a child and as an adult I always loved to get lost and end up somewhere I never expected to be. I also just loved fading into the background and watching life from a distance, kind of like a spectator. The line “too soft for this world” is my favorite lyric of the entire album because it’s the most honest.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

I’m currently recording a bunch of new stuff, all electronic still, which I’m really excited about. I’m going to be releasing a couple new singles in January. I also have a good friend named Anton, who’s an incredible artist who’s doing all the artwork for the singles.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

I ask myself many questions, but the one I’ve been asking myself the most recently is: what place do I want to travel next?

I definitely want to go to Vietnam or Thailand because I’ve never been to Asia before.

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

Recommended listening:

Connect with Galapaghost:

Website: http://gpghost.com/

Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/Galapaghostatx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Galapaghostatx/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/galapaghostatx/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7LG3ShiJbP55dBzcEV1NTn