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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Catching up with Ghostland Observatory
While they defy classification, Ghostland Observatory was thrilled to take home 72 percent of the vote in this week’s Your A-List poll as Best Electronica/Dance Band. It is the second year in a row the band has won this category.
“I am honored and very humbled by the support Austin continues to show us,” Ghostland’s Thomas Turner told me by email this week.
Call them electronica, call them dance, call them sex rock. Whatever you choose to call them, Turner and frontman Aaron Behrens only care about staying true to themselves and playing music that inspires them.
“We’re trying to stay away from trendiness and focus on something that’s more timeless,” Behrens told me recently over tacos at Izzoz.
The Austin band started as a small but intense flame in the Austin clubs four years ago before setting Zilker Park on fire at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2007, a set that had thousands drop what they were doing and take notice of the soft-spoken duo that runs on thunderous beats and lightning clap vocals.
Since their eye-popping, ear ravaging set at ACL, Ghostland has toured the States, shocked Scandinavia and released their third album, “Robotique Majestique.”
After their stadium-sized laser light extravaganza in 2007 that left fans and critics raving, Behrens admits he initially felt pressured to constantly strive to enhance the band’s production in an effort to match their memorable ACL set.
“But I’m starting to realize that there’s more to it than just upping the ante,” Behrens said. “It’s about being comfortable with who you are and what you are, and doing that 100 percent. We’ll still be reaching out creatively, but it’s about being comfortable in your own skin.”
That ethic of trusting themselves and being present permeates not just the duo’s live act, but also influences how they write and produce records. Asked when fans can expect a new album from the band, Turner said, “You never know. We never planned out the other three records so best not to change anything.”
In the meantime, Ghostland will perform shows from San Francisco to Tokyo, as they work their way through a summer schedule that will end up where it all really kicked into high gear for the two unassuming, married fathers.
As for what fans can expect in Zilker in October, Behrens says simply that the band will bring 1,000 percent to the stage, just like they do every time they take the stage, whether in front of 200 or 20,000 people.
Asked whether the newfound fame has noticeably affected the way they live their lives, Behrens joked that he now walks around naked all the time. Kidding aside, in private, Behrens and Turner’s flamboyance on stage is belied by a startling and refreshing humility. But that does not mean the two are not confident.
“We believe practice makes perfect,” Behrens said. “We put a lot of work and effort into what we do. Why should we step on the stage and not be confident about what we do?”
Ghostland Observatory’s next local gig is at the Whitewater on the Horseshoe in New Braunfels on July 17 and 18. Aaron Behrens and The Dirty Banquet perform Saturday, May 16 at The Hole in the Wall in Austin.
Others receiving votes in the Your A-List poll
- DJ Manny, 11 percent
- D:Fuse, 4 percent
- Trey Lopez, 2 percent
- Govinda, 2 percent
- Charanga Cakewalk, 2 percent
- Whatamelon, 2 percent
- Ohn, 1 percent
- Learning Secrets, 1 percent
- J.A.M.O.N., < 1 percent
- Bird Peterson, < 1 percent
- Zom Zoms, < 1 percent
- John Gomi, < 1 percent
Photo by Brian K. Diggs AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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