Interview: Dancing With Ghosts

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

-Steph: Rock Concerts, hands down, were the exact reason I got into music. I was lucky enough to attend dive bars and smaller venue shows where I got to meet the artists and it gave me the confidence that I could do it too. It really set the course for what I wanted to do with my life. My backup plan if I weren’t able to make music, would be making comic books. Again, not a financially well-off plan, but hey, starving artist and all that, right?

What do you like to do when you're not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

-Steph: I like to draw, lift weights, play with my rescue animals, garden, and attend rock shows. All of those things are great for mental stability…and so is writing music- Or I should say that when all else fails, music “hears” me. If I can’t sort out my problems or mental state with other mediums, I write about it and they become our songs.

How long has your band been around?

-Josh: Though this started off as a solo project by me, shortly after the release of the first album “Koyaanisqatsi”, Stephanie joined and she has become such ad integral part, that we’d say the inception of Dancing with Ghosts happened around that time, so October of 2017.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

-Josh: Dancing with Ghosts is based out of Jacksonville Florida. I can honestly say the location has never really influenced the music. There aren’t really any bands in the city that sound like us, so there wasn’t much to be influenced by, locally at least.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

-Josh: The origin of the band’s name came from a story my friend told me of a man who was dying of cancer. As the disease progressed he found that most of his friends had abandoned him. Astonishingly the cancer went into remission. The friend was asked “are you going to reach out to any of your friends who stopped talking to you?” and the man responded “No, that would be like dancing with ghosts.”

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

-Josh: We had a spinal tap moment of playing in a church while dressed as demons with an upside down cross being projected above us was definitely up there on the list of worsts. Our best shows are actually some of our most recent shows. We’ve worked very hard to build a local following over the years and as a result, our last shows have really been packed out. It’s very validating when people know your songs, and are singing your own lyrics back at you.

-Steph: We’ve been fortunate more recently with great shows, but i’m here to tell you about one of the worst ones. We were playing this smokey hole-in-the-wall venue and the sound guy/owner who clearly doesn’t know sound was ABSOLUTELY on SOMETHING. The sound was some of the worst I’ve ever heard. My instrument cable for my keys was stretched across the venue, literally not touching the ground at all. The sound guy somehow was too involved, yet gone half the time. He would run into the cable, unplugging my keys and try to talk to me AS WE ARE PLAYING, instead of fixing the problem. We have timed backing tracks, so once the show starts, there’s no going back. During all this, I missed the intro to one of our songs and completely botched it until the chorus came in. Then had the audacity to walk around the venue asking how the sound was to everyone. It was unadulterated chaos.

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

-Josh: 1904 Music Hall and Florida Theater, both in Jacksonville, Fl. are both amazing venues.

-Steph: My favorite venue to play so far is definitely 1904 Music Hall in Jax, But I’d LOVE to play Masquerade and Tabernacle(Both in Atalanta) or The Whiskey-a-go-go in LA.

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?

-Josh: Depeche Mode.

-Steph: Because our sound is eclectic, I’m going to list artists who matter a lot to me personally. Yungblud, hands down would be the biggest honor and top pick for me, along with My Chemical Romance, Falling in Reverse, and Palaye Royale. You never said the bill had to make sense.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

-Josh: You should only do it if you really love it. There is no other reward that you get from it aside from your own satisfaction. There’s no money in it and marketing is very challenging.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

-Josh: Don’t waste time with people who aren’t as driven as you are.

-Steph: Surround yourself with people who aren’t obsessed with getting married and having kids. That’s not your life and they won’t be there when you’re pushing for your dreams.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

-Josh: “New Way to Live”. I wrote it in a very dark time and it was a very honest song for me. It was my mission statement, that I wanted to make it through this dark period.

-Steph: This answer changes for me regularly depending on our latest release, but I’m going to go back to “Circles” for a few reasons. Even in our catalog, this song is one of a kind. I also wrote it at a time I was REALLY going through a lot(the song is about the way my anxiety manifests). I had been out of music for a few years. Not only was this song extremely challenging to write-musically, the verses are more trip hop, whereas the chorus has a swing funk beat, a huge challenge to blend the two, BUT also, I had to do this to prove to myself that I was a song writer and I could come back stronger than than the projects I had done in the past. This was the first “Me” song we had done in this band so I wanted to get it right.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

-Josh: Obsidian Blood, I Like You, Dirty Oxygen, and The White Room are definitely requested a lot. I Like You is pretty fun to play.

-Steph: Live, I really enjoy performing Obsidian Blood and I Like You the most. I tend to enjoy performing the songs I helped create because of the authenticity that can be found in baring your soul in that way.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

-Steph: It’s very experimental on all fronts. But coming up with the appropriate verse and chorus/the hook is what we focus on the most. And typically, our songs come from topics/themes that we are dealing with or feel strongly about.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

-Steph: Mental Health is a BIG topic in this band. Josh and I both have differing flavors of “unwellness” ranging from Anxiety, to OCD and Panic attacks. I personally feel that some of your best creative works often come from your darkest of times, so that is a recurring theme.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

-Steph: Get in a band with someone who can maintain respectfulness and openness to ideas, even if you disagree. This will help you IMMENSELY in the long run.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?

-Steph: We’re working on new music and should be releasing a few singles in the upcoming months. These don’t have official titles at this time. Hoping to do some touring within the year as well.