Brisbane metalcore quintet The Name Of A Ghost released their debut EP, ‘Words, Fights, Liars And Life’, in 2014.
For fans who have been awaiting their follow-up, vocalist Rich Brown says the wait may soon be over. “It’s all musically done and recorded, I’m just a bit stuck on the lyrics at the moment,” he laughs.
“I went to Japan in February and I was like, ‘I’m going to get lost there,’ and try to capture this whole feeling of being lost. But I actually couldn’t have felt more at home when I was there.”
Feelings of loss and loneliness run deep through the band’s forthcoming EP, demonstrated by current single ‘Hiraeth’ released in December last year. Hiraeth is a Welsh word describing the sense of missing a place to which you cannot return. “The song’s about missing a place that you can’t go back to,” Rich explains.
“I was looking through words that don’t have an English meaning and I thought they were amazing. I’m from New Zealand and I sometimes get homesick for New Zealand, but then realise it’s not as good as it ever was. You long for places you can’t go back to, like from your youth or your homeland, that’s how we got that.”
Since releasing ‘Words, Fights, Liars And Life’, Rich says the band have continued to develop and define their sound which many have described as ‘metalcore by numbers’, a label Rich wears with pride. “The biggest thing for us is continuing to define our sound,” he says.
“We have that classic metalcore vibe but we’ve been listening to other stuff and figuring out where to go from there. So we have the classic metalcore vibe with cool riffs and quite freaky stuff going on with the guitars as well. I also like quite heavy breakdowns so the guys try to keep me happy by writing heavy breakdowns for me.
“Being metalcore and keeping it straight is what we’re about. We like really fast songs, we write fast stuff, heavy breakdowns and continuous vocals as well. I pretty much don’t have any breathing space in the songs [because] I have a lot to say and there’s not much stopping about it. I’m trying to wear you down almost so that you get my message.”
Rich and the band will be playing/ screaming their message loud and clear when they hit the stage at New Globe Theatre at the end of May. Rich says that with such a long period between their first EP and the current single, The Name Of A Ghost is champing at the bit to be heard once more. “It’s going to be great,” he says excitedly.
“I guess the way to put it is our shows are fun, we talk to the crowd between songs and crack a few jokes. We’ve played shows where it’s been free entry and we get drunk people coming up to the stage, so I’ll talk to them. It’s the fun crowd interaction we like, sometimes it can be a little bit awkward but then getting the crowd into it is the thing. Then we get straight back into the ferocious music.”
The Name Of A Ghost perform at New Globe Theatre 27 May.
