Having released their debut full-length, ‘Ten Thousand Words On’, through an extensive crowd-funding campaign, London based gypsy-punks Ghouls are on the verge of releasing their new EP, ‘Great Expectations’.
Their horn infused melodic punk has seen the band take to stages at the likes of Hit The Deck Festival, Takedown Festival and Boardmasters, as well as securing support slots for a wide ranges of artists from Professor Green to Slaves. The five-piece also enjoyed a sold out show at Camden’s The Monarch earlier this year, celebrating the release of their full-length.
Ghouls are now preparing to take to the stage at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch on Wednesday the 8th October for a special Punktastic Presents show, alongside Guerrilla Monsoon and Cement Matters. The free show sees the band bring their unmissable energetic live performance to the iconic venue.
We caught up with Ghouls shortly before they embarked on their current Great Expectations tour.
How would you describe the music of Ghouls to an ill-prepared listener?
We’re like a lot of things you’ve heard before but you probably can’t put us in a place. We like to think of it as punk rock and horns. It’s hard to know what to call it though, but I guess you’ll have to listen and decide for yourself.
You claim to have gypsy influences in your music. Is there a particular reason this has come about?
[Laughs] Well, we don’t really have gypsy influences, at least not any more. This band has gone through a lot of progression in terms of sound, we sort of started off sounding quite different to how we do now. The sound we produce now is much more true to us though. There’s still a little hint of the gypsy punk in there, the brass riffs help this and some of the chord progressions do too.
How has the release of ‘Ten Thousand Words On’ affected you as a band?
‘Ten Thousand Words On’ was a real milestone for us. We came together at the start of last year decided we wanted to do two things; one was tour and the other was write and record an album. Because of our DIY nature we decided that instead of waiting for a record label to come along or waiting until we were “big enough”, that we’d just get right to it.
We used pledge music to raise the money to do it and honestly, we still to this day are completely shocked at the response we had. We managed to raise a considerable amount of money and we really don’t know how. So I guess even before its release the album had a big affect on us as a band because it made us realise how many people care. The release was also fantastic and we had a big launch party at The Monarch in Camden which was completely full. I guess all in all it made us realise that we have some brilliant and genuine people surrounding us that really care about this band, I don’t want to use the words ‘fans’ cos they’re all a lot more than that to us.
What does your new EP, ‘Great Expectations’, bring to the table?
The new EP definitely see’s us evolve into the sound we’ve always wanted to produce. The only problem we all feel when we listen back to the album is some of the songwriting was influenced by previous members because that’s what we thought some people would want when we started writing it, and instead of perhaps being true to us we went along with it in places. We are very proud of the album but the new EP is the most honest we’ve ever been in terms of writing and the sound. I’m really excited as to what people will think of it.
Tell us about the title track.
‘Great Expectations’ is a song essentially about arguments, the ones where you say sorry but you only really say it to keep the peace and maybe not because you mean it. It’s probably one of my favourites off the EP. I’m looking forward to playing it live, hopefully people learn the words and we can have a sing along.
You’ve been busy touring and playing festivals over the summer with a wealth of acts from various genres. Does this eclectic nature describe your tastes as a band, or do you prefer a specific type of show?
I guess as a band our tastes range, we’re all into lots of different things across the board. When it comes to our shows we really don’t mind as long as people are into it. We’ve been experiencing a lot of stage dives at shows which we are definitely into. We even had a Wall of Death when we played over in Belgium which was cool.
Also I’m definitely a huge fan of people singing/shouting words back at us, that always makes me loose my mind a little bit. But honestly, as long as people are moving and having a good time that’s fine by us. (Although we do really like the stage dives, just saying).
What are you planning as you take to the road on your ‘Great Expectations’ tour, including a PT Presents date at the Old Blue Last?
Hopefully a lot of fun. We’re really excited, especially about coming back to places we’ve been before. 100% stoked on the Old Blue Last show that Punktastic are presenting. It’s our first London show for a little while too, so hopefully we’ll see some familiar faces since we’re local to the area. It would be really cool to have some sing alongs of the new songs too, so if you like it, try and learn the track we’re streaming and sing it back at us at the gigs.
Find out more about Ghouls via their Facebook page, and via the Old Blue Last official event page.