What happens when technology starts acting up? When machines malfunction, and seize up for no apparent reason? And you’re absolutely sure that you didn’t spill anything on it... Unexplainable system errors, completely irrational program failures. It’s almost as if there are ghosts in the system. Just floating around the circuitry of whatever it’s trying to corrupt, and crashing it.
That term ‘Ghosts In The System’ is quite an apt description for the type of music of this particular project. The sound of it is not completely unlike the sound of a computer dying, except more musical. What Ghosts In The System is trying to do is capture that moment. Emulate that process of computer failure and incorporate it into a more conventional style of music. Ambient sounds blended with real and synthetic instruments, utilising glitch along the way, creating something experimental yet still accessible. Certainly not clean and polished by any means. And this case, that is no bad thing.
“It’s like Nine Inch Nails but raw. It sounds like the dirty music that Trent Reznor badly wants to make, but can’t coz it’s just too polished.” - Matt Lovett, University of Wales, Newport
Long before the days that involved experimentation with glitch and noise, this body of work was more rock orientated, with guitars being the main focus. These days, the guitars have taken a step back, and drums are now pushed to the point where, at times, will make your eardrums feel as if they are about to burst. Sound and atmosphere are more important than notes and guitar riffs. The rhythm section is taking the lead, leaving grooves and shudders in its wake, when it’s not calmly moving things forward in a very ambient manner. This is one sonic experience that will leave you relaxed, but grinning from ear to bleeding ear.