Palm Ghosts are a “dream pop / post-punk band” with a serious 80s feel. They’re dropping their new album, Lifeboat Candidate, on March 19. They told us about the new record, their favorite tracks and where exactly they got their unique name in this brand new interview.
Nashville Noise: First of all, I’ve got to ask about your name because I love it. Where did the name originate?
Joe: I came up with the name as a yin/yang type of situation. I always envisioned ghosts haunting an island. I pictured Palm Trees that weren’t scary or frightening and having ghosts amidst palms was a striking image to me. It was a mix of dark and light.
NN: I love that! You’re gearing up to release a new album, Lifeboat Candidate, which drops March 19th. What can you tell us about the album?
Joe: It’s a uniquely recorded album. I started working on this album with a drummer in New Jersey, and he would send me drum loops that he does on his iPhone. He would lay his iPhone on the ground and record them. I would formulate them into parts, I would play bass over the parts and text those parts to Jason who would record guitar over those parts, and he would text them to Ben to create the lyrics and reform the melody and text them to me and I would sing over them.
Jason: It was a different process. Usually, Ben has great ideas and we would go into the studio and lay the stuff down. It was a unique and cathartic way to work, and it brought out different influences from all of us.
NN: I know it’s like picking a favorite child but do either of you have favorite songs on this album?
Jason: My favorite was “Blind.” I advocated for it to be the first single. It has that tribal beat that I really loved about a lot of music like Don Caballero’s drumming or Zach Hill, where it’s crazy and frenetic. It made me play differently than when I am bouncing something else off of our older songs. Every layer I just loved about it and the vocal phrasing in the chorus was unique and different. It was completely unusual, but I loved every bit of it.
Joe: There is so much I love about each song. It changes daily. My favorite song from it is “The Kids” because it was the first song we did for this record. It was the template that I used for production for the rest of the record. I loved the vibe of it and the chorus. We were close to using this as the first single but “Blind” sets the tone for the record.
NN: I loved previewing the album. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite too! Looking past release, what else can we expect from Palm Ghosts this year?
Jason: We already recorded another album but COVID created problems for the press so we are just waiting for the vinyl to be pressed. That album was going to come out first, but we had to release Lifeboat first. As much songwriting as we do, it wouldn’t surprise me if we have a couple more EPS or another album. It’ll depend on what shows we can book and how frequently we can get out there.
Joe: We release a lot of stuff. Every week we have recorded one-two songs a week during the quarantine. We are going to keep releasing stuff. Since 2018 when Architecture came out, we have done four singles, 2 EPs, Lifeboat and we have another record coming out in the summer.
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