How did you come up with the band Name? Our band name doesn’t have any crazy story to it. We simply had a hat full of names. Terrible names. After struggling to pick a name, Tyler was just browsing through his playlists and came across the song by Citizen “Speaking With A Ghost”. We liked the sound of it and put our own variation of it as the final name “Speaking With Ghosts”.
Tell us about where you come from and how that reflects in the music? We all started in our own way in the Chicagoland suburbs, writing in our rooms listening to different artists. We came from different backgrounds and influences but all had the same common interest at heart, making music that expressed ourselves. We started off very DIY, hosting house shows, trying to make a name in the local music scene. This eventually linked us up with some Chicagoland promoters. The best way I can think to describe it is we made music for ourselves and our friends and the support we got from the overall community got us to where we are now. Chicago picked us up and as we met new people, made new friends, and we pushed out from there. We kept close with everyone in Chicago and together became part of a tight-knit local scene. It’s what shaped us early on and we thank everyone for helping us get here.
Tell us about the song-writing process, how do you create your music? When we write we’re isolated, our best ideas usually come when we are apart but are not complete until we’re in the room together. Not much has changed for us in that aspect. Our band members Craig and Tyler usually come up with some riffs to plant the initial thought. Both are capable of shelling out an entire song so they’ll usually ride an idea out, and pass it back and forth for feedback. When we get a general Idea, we pass it over to Bryce, who will revamp all the drums. We continue to fine tune it instrumentally from there until we hit a final instrumental version. From there I (Ryan) will begin to form out syllables that I think fit the song best. I tend to just let the words pull themselves out. It’s almost as if I were just writing what should already be there, adding callbacks along the way as a sort of homage. Words are interchangeable so there’s an infinite possibility as to what I could say. We also work closely with our producer Cory Brunnemann and let him go crazy on production elements to really tie it all together.
Who has influenced you the most? We all have different influences that we look to which helps us stay creative because there’s always a new direction for our music to push in. I love to listen to bands like Thornhill. Tyler is at heart a huge Blink 182 fan, and had a lot of pop-punk influences that made for an interesting transition to writing metalcore riffs. Bryce lists Gojira as one of his favorites. Pat resonates with Stick To Your Guns. And Craig finds inspiration in music from Erra. While you could say we all have different things we find appealing in music, bringing that all into one place is what makes us who we are.
What was the first song you or your band ever wrote? Tell us if you performed it, trashed it, etc.…. Our first song as a band was called Enemy, it came out in 2015 and it’s the jam that started everything we have today. It was the first piece of evidence that showed we could write together. We’re definitely proud of it, and it’s cool to compare that song to everything we’ve released since. There is some definite progress there.
What song are you most connected to or proud of ? Personally I get very invested into what I’m writing at the current moment. I have a strong belief that your most recent work should be your favorite work. I think that is because each time we set out to write, I try to push myself to accomplish a new goal. It could range from a new stylistic approach, to just hitting a new high or a new low. Big or small I find a huge sense of accomplishment and pride in self growth.
Do you enjoy playing live and what do you enjoy about it? Heck yeah! Playing live is great. This is going to sound weird but one of our favorite things about playing live is messing up. We’re far from perfect, and every bump in the road pushes us to do better- to BE better. Also, we have some pretty hilarious memories all born from live hiccups. Like the one time Tyler and Craig played 2 whole songs in the wrong tuning. They spent the entirety of the two songs staring at each other trying to figure out what sounded weird… & it was them…
What is next for the band? LOTS of new music. In absence of shows, we’re cooking up as many new jams as we possibly can. We already have a lot of ideas in the bank and we’re stoked to get them recorded!
Any additional thoughts or Comments you would like to add? During our time in quarantine we’ve learned a few things. It being August now, the last time we have all seen each other was March. While it’s important to make spending time with each other a regularity, we’ve tried to bridge the gap in other ways. Constant phone calls, texts, group chats (Sending memes to each other), we remind ourselves that we are still with each other. Repetition is how you make habits and we’ve learned to lean on each other. Just because we’re physically away from each other doesn’t mean we aren’t closer than we’ve ever been. We continue to write, practice our craft, and just genuinely enjoy this new normal. To everyone out there, continue to Shine Light & Inspire. Some need it now more than ever.
