We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone that helped make 2015 a great year for the music of Switch Ghost. None of this is possible without the friends and family members that support our music habit in countless ways. Whether its the simple act of tolerating our practices at your house, or allowing us to steal the majority of your husband’s/boyfriend’s free time, we must first thank our lovely wives and girlfriends (and of course, our neighbors) for allowing this madness to continue. Also, to all the friends and family that have come out to see us play live, we literally couldn’t do it without you –after all, the venues don’t like an empty establishment. Thank you to everyone that has made our shows in 2015 a good time, we’ve got a killer year in store for everyone coming right up. So here’s the story so far and a recap of the year that gave birth to the sonic whirlwind that is Switch Ghost.
The Story
It all began in the summer of 2014 as The Hatter’s Blend was reaching its peak. Drummer Brandt Garrison began trading work-hours as an electrician for studio time at a local recording studio. Just as the band was getting ready to record their debut album and playing some of their largest shows to date, they discovered that they were losing one of the founding members.
Eager to record in a professional studio, Brandt and the remaining Hatters, Michael Wright and Jasper Niemeyer, began rearranging the line-up. Michael moved from bass back to his original instrument, the guitar. This allowed him to unleash much more of his songwriting, and suddenly between the three of them there was a flurry of creative activity as they built an ever increasing repertoire of original rock and roll.
By the beginning of 2015 they were joined by bassist Joseph Damron and the transformation to Switch Ghost was complete. Joe immediately fit the group’s eccentric blend of styles like a well-placed rug in the dude’s apartment –he really tied the room together.
The band assembled a solid set list and began playing out live in spring of 2015. After smoothing out the rough edges with a few performances, once with Verses the Inevitable and once with Highland Ramblers. After making some new friends and gaining some confidence, they were finally ready to utilize those glorious studio hours that Brandt had labored so diligently to acquire. In June they entered The Crucible and began work on what everyone expected to be a simple demo. With Andy McEwan heading up the production, Switch Ghost entered the room and banged out 8 songs over 2 days, live, in as few takes as possible. As a general rule, if a song didn’t work in 3 takes, we quickly moved on to another song. This allowed our humble demo to lay the basis for a proper debut EP that clocks in around 40-ish minutes. Needless to say, we couldn’t be more excited. At the time of this writing, the album is in the final stages of production and is in the very capable hands of Mr. McEwan for the last bit of mixing and mastering. The album is expected to be released in the early part of 2016.
Last Show of the Year
Switch Ghost performed one final show of the year on December 29 at the Lions Lair in Denver. There was a solid turnout and a good time was had by all. The other bands on the bill, Hot Sisters and Seems Good, brought down some high energy two-piece rock. Sound man Henry had the mix sounding great, and Switch Ghost played a tight and vigorous one hour set on new years eve-eve-eve. We had a blast and even got some good photos with the help of Ian Wolf and Haley Sinn-Penfold.
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2015 was good to us, and if you are reading this, you are one of the primary reasons. 2016 is shaping up to be an excellent year, as well, with our debut recording on the horizon and many shows to come. Stay tuned, January is our birth month (as a band and as individuals), we plan on getting busy.
More great things to come, thank you all! Happy New Year!
–management
