Freddy Ruppert (This Song Is A Mess But So Am I), begrudging Durham transplant Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) and Nika Roza (Zola Jesus) all joined up to form the super group Former Ghosts. Down one member, Ruppert and Stewart will be coming to the Duke Coffeehouse Oct. 9 in support of their debut album Fleurs, out Oct. 20 on Upset the Rhythm. I talked to Ruppert about his new project as he was heading to Phoenix for the first official show of the tour.
How did you all come together to form Former Ghosts? Me and Jamie had always talked about doing a synth pop-inspired project. Both our schedules were always so busy that we weren’t able to get together until recently. So, it’s something we’ve always wanted to work on together and always wanted to do. As far as Nika’s involvement in the band, I’m insanely in love with her voice. Like, I’m a big fan of the project she does–it’s called Zola Jesus. I just originally wrote her to sing on a song because I like her voice a lot. She sent the song back, and I was just completely blown away. And I just asked her if she could join the band because I’d be bummed if I didn’t get to work with her ever again because her voice is so great. That’s kind of how we all came together.
Former Ghosts is a pretty drastic departure from This Song Is A Mess But So Am I, so how did you approach this record? This Song Is A Mess kind of ran its course for me, and I couldn’t see myself doing that anymore. It got to a point where I felt like I was just dwelling on my mom’s death instead of it being a kind of cathartic thing anymore. I needed to move on from that. I kind of just put music completely aside and wasn’t doing any kind of music. Former Ghosts kind of started with falling in love with someone and writing songs for them, and then it kind of evolved into this project. As far as the sound and stuff, I’ve always been kind of interested in music that follows a pop structure. I wanted to do something that was more in a pop vein, but still had influence from a lot of early ’80s pop bands like on 4AD–things like that kind of inspired the project.
Fleurs blends your sound, Jamie’s and Nika’s into one cohesive sound rather than being one of those supergroup album’s that multiple disparate entities. Was it ever heard to get everyone to mesh? All of us–me, Jamie and Nika–all come from a sort of similar approach to music, and I guess a similar background in terms of music we listened to growing up. As far as the influences and the sound of the project, I think it all meshed together pretty well because we’re all coming from the same kind of place. It never seemed like an issue as far as what the sound of the project was going to be or if one person wanted it one way and another person wanted it another way. It all seemed to gel together pretty well.
And your involved with the whole Smell scene, correct? Yeah. Being from Los Angeles and growing up here, the Smell definitely played a big part in music for me.
Have other Smell bands like Abe Vigoda affected your music at all? Not so much. We kind of run in different circles as far as who comes to see what band, who plays in what band. I mean, I’m friends with a lot of those guys, pretty good friends with those guys in Abe Vigoda–they’re really sweet and really awesome. As far as those bands blowing up and getting so much exposure, I don’t think that’s really had an effect on Former Ghosts. We’re kind of in different realms in Los Angeles. But what’s so great about the Smell is Jim [Smith], who runs it, is so willing to involve all different genres. It’s great that almost any style of music will be there on any night of the week. It’s what’s really great about the way Jim runs it. It’s not like No Age and Abe Vigoda are the only things that have to do with the Smell. The media has kind of expressed that, but there really is a lot more going on there than just those bands.
You did some of the early Former Ghosts shows at the Smell, so how were those received? Yeah. I played solo there, and Jim’s been great. I don’t know though, good, I guess. It’s not something I really pay attention to. I’m not too concerned with it. People are supportive.
The tour is just you and Jamie. How are you approaching adapting with Nika? Nika can’t go because she’s busy with school and stuff and can’t get the semester off for the tour. But as far as it goes musically, we’ve got a laptop and two synthesizers. There’s some percussion. We’re kind of doing some different arrangements of stuff that’s on the album.
Will you be revisiting any Xiu Xiu or This Song Is A Mess material? No. We’re just doing Former Ghosts songs. Nothing from our other projects.
Given how deeply personal This Song Is A Mess was and that it was solo, have you enjoyed working in a group? A lot of Former Ghosts songs are just as personal for me. But I’m so used to playing in a solo environment that it’s kind of interesting and exciting to play with someone else and not feel like you’re up there by yourself. It has a different feel to it.
What are you planning beyond the tour? We’re actually going to start working on the next record, which will be all three of us way more directly involved and hopefully working more in the same room together. We’ll definitely be playing some more tours next year.
Former Ghosts will play at the Duke Coffeehouse tomorrow, Oct. 9. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and the show begins at 9. Tickets are $5 or free for Duke students.
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