It's my birthday week, and this Saturday will commemorate the 8th consecutive year of Ghost of Pop--as well as falling on the 32nd anniversary of John Lennon's death. Prabir Mehta organizes the event, and this year it will benefit HomeAgain, an organization that provides services to those who have fallen on bad times. Prabir answered some questions this weekend about the holiday appeal of Ghost of Pop, the fluid nature of songwriting, and what he does when listening to Miles Davis'Miles of Jazz.
Is this your first Ghost of Pop, or are you guys alums?
Goldrush has played the last two Ghost of Pops. I've been putting Ghost of Pop on for 8 years now, so I've tried to have one of my bands play at each one, because its more fun that way. I'm pumped that the lovely musicians I have played with in all my bands have been awesome enough to allow me a chance to play every year by giving up their time to be a part of the event and to raise a bit of awareness and cash for HomeAgain. It means a lot to have such great folks in town!
What are you most excited for when you play Ghost of Pop 8 next week?
The coolest thing about this event is it acts like a 'family reunion' of sorts. The past eight years have provided a wonderful opportunity to bring together a lot of my musical friends in the Richmond area. This show is for a great cause, but it is also a great party. Curtis from My Old Ways commented last year that it was a good 'kick off to the holiday season' in the musical scene, so its a lot of fun to see all these people coming together to spread the love and the word about a great organization like HomeAgain that works tirelessly throughout the year.
What is your songwriting process like?
Writing songs is super fun. It's a great process that involves a big chunk of alone time and some awesome group collaborations too, so the best of both worlds get wrapped in, pretty nicely. Sometimes it takes me a couple of hours and sometimes it takes a few months, but I like to have the song written before taking it to the band usually. Once the song turns into a complete thought, the band allows the awesome details of the song to come to the surface. We all work together in the arrangement of the song. We all kind of bounce ideas around on what the overall vibe is and the unique characteristics soon become apparent. Treesa and Matt and Greg all have a great ear for music so its pretty fun to watch them start to add parts of their respective instruments. Then we kind of play it for a while, then we shift focus from our own instruments to others, and then we kind of help shape each other's playing and parts. By the end of that process, if we all still like the song, then we keep playing it and once we take it 'live' and play it in front of people a few times, some other ideas may pop up. The writing of a song can last anywhere from a few run-throughs to literally years--just depends on when we feel like the song is "done." I'm pretty open to changing the songs even after they've been recorded. There is no real way to complete a song once and forever; there will always be different ideas that pop up, and that's when you harness them and keep on truckin'.
You guys just released a pretty sweet video. Did you have anything to do with the creative process?
The video was made by Kyle Mumford in Philadelphia, PA. The lovely folks at MAD Dragon Records were awesome enough to have him do the video, and we're pumped that it turned out so well. We went over a few ideas with them initially, but then we all agreed that the ambiguous paper use would be more fitting than the other ideas, so that won the band and production team's votes. From that point on Kyle was the mastermind behind it--we would make some suggestions here and there, but mainly the ideas and execution were all from the bowels of Kyle's awesomely creative mind. We're really grateful to have the relationship with MAD Dragon since it allows us opportunities like this one to collaborate with some pretty amazing individuals.
What are you doing this weekend?
This weekend's a low key one. We just finished tracking the drums, guitar, and bass to a new song and will pick up the violin and vocals next week, but the weekend will be one where we get to hang out as friends and not so much as bandmates, which rules also. The specifics of what is happening this weekend are yet to be decided, I assume some hanging and some rambling and some pun making.
What have you been listening to lately?
I've got Miles Davis'Miles of Jazz and Sly and The Family Stone's Stand on a loop at my house, on my iphone, and in my head. So great to run to, read to, cook to, dance to, think to, and ya know... other things.
What's next for Goldrush?
We're pumped to do Ghost of Pop and then start to put our heads together on a video for this new song we're recording. The song is called "Om Shanti"--I wrote it while I was visiting India this time last year. The trip was pretty intense. I had not been back in a few years, and though I was born there I truly don't think one can ever just "go back" without having some sort of emotional reaction to that place. India really is a whole different world, for better and worse all bundled up together. So, getting this song from the trip was a pretty fantastic blessing, a good way to keep that trip in the back of my mind (and sometimes the distinct foreground).
If you could share the stage with any living musician, who would it be?
First of all, there are too many to really narrow it down to just one. Who would turn down an opportunity with Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson? I mean those guys are legends! There are also some amazing inspirational musicians right here in our backyard. I really could not pick just one, but here's a handful that I would be honored to have the opportunity with: Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Q-tip, Ben Kweller, the dudes from the Pharcyde, and umm... GWAR.
What are you psyched about for this holiday season?
Sweaters! Scarves! Hot Toddys! I'm a winter boy, I love me some jackets and such. Holiday parties are fun too, lots of people looking groovy and getting huggy.
Do you guys have any side projects you're working on?
I guess we're all doing a lot of things. Some are side projects and others are larger efforts. I'm currently trying to keep my musical focus on Goldrush so I'm using my "side project" time to get into things that are not in the music scene, though I do from time to time want to play in some other bands for fun too. I used to play in Long Arms with Greg and Treesa, which was a blast--they still do. Treesa and Matt play with the Richmond Symphony from time to time as well. Everyone's busy all the time. Treesa and I have a duo band called Tribe Of Soul that plays one show every now and then, just basically when its time to "get the band back together," but we basically only do reunion shows for Tribe of Soul at this point. It's that kind of band, the kind that has to break up after each show. Pretty fun. I believe we're toying around with the idea of doing a Tribe of Soul reunion show to do a holiday set. It should be sufficiently underpracticed and overly intoxicated, the best performances.
What is the best thing you've ever read about your band?
Good question. Well there is a British metal band called Gold Rush, so we get confused for them a lot, until people hear us and put together the obvious non metal sound. We did an interview at SXSW this year where they asked us a lot of questions, but all of the research came from the metal band's website so it's not so much the best thing I've read, but the funniest thing I've experienced was doing an interview for this magazine where one of the first questions was "How did you start the metal-truck festival?" The cool thing about this band is we don't need to focus on the details, or hell, even the truth. So, we came up with a pretty fun series of answers. Perhaps that's what should be next for Goldrush, starting the RVA chapter of the metal-truck show. Why not, right? Life's short.
Ghost of Pop is Saturday, 12/8 @ Gallery 5. Also playing are Herro Sugar, My Old Ways, The Trillions, Andrew Leahey & the Homestead, and a special reunion of SaU. You can also catch Goldrush @ Strange Matter on 12/14 with Black Girls and J Roddy Walston and the Business.
Night Idea has released a rough new track of a recording done at a recent practice called "Born in Debt." The song is part free jazz, part psychedelic, and all parts intense. Keep your eyes peeled for new music from these guys, as they are headed to record at Sound of Music Studios mid-month.
See Night Idea tonight (Tuesday, 12/4) @ Strange Matter with fellow Subterranea Collective artist Way, Shape, or Form and Andy D. 9 pm, $5.
photo by PJ Sykes
Zac Hryciak and the Jungle Beat have released It's Not a Big Deal, seven tracks of orchestral pop at its finest. The initial track, "Shoot Me to Sleep," gets things started off right with heavy percussion that feels like an out of control galloping horse and whip. Hryciak's vocals juxtaposed against Jessika Blanks' harmonies might make you fall in love.
The Garbers are finishing up in the studio, and the band has posted a little sneak peek at what's going down. Here is "Haiku," a melodic pop rock tune from the upcoming album What Not to Wear. Band members include Allison Apperson and Matt Deans of Hot Lava and Giustino Riccio of Bio Ritmo.
photo by Gary Ledbetter
Joey Cook is a singer/songwriter who just released Hey, I Love You, 14 songs of ukulele love. Her 1920s throwback vocals make Cook seem from another time. Checking out "Love Song #1," notice the line "We can be like June and Johnny/Or you can be my Buddy Holly/'Cause I've never had a lover quite like you."
By Sarah Moore Lindsey (soundsofrva.org)