Graphics by: Bas Spierings

Upstate NY is a huge area dotted with metallic edged hardcore bands in almost every corner of the map. Syracuse's GhostxShip who have been around a little over 5 years now are one of the big hitters up that way playing that heavy style hardcore while fully representing the X. The "Cold Water Army" EP which came out in July is their latest effort on Innerstrength Records. We caught up with guitarist Sean Mott in this November 2014 interview. Check it out!

 

IE: For those who may not have heard of you guys can you give us a brief run down on the GhostxShip story up to this point including what you have released?

 

Sean: GhostxShip formed in 2009. I didn't join until 2011 pretty much right after “Cold Truth” was released. After I joined we did a few tours off of “Cold Truth”. In 2012 we decided to part ways with Curtis (vocals). Then we joined forces with Keith Allen (Architect, Found Dead Hanging) and recorded “Carry The Flame” which was released in 2013. We played a bunch of fests and weekends in support of this EP. Both of these releases were put out on Seventh Dagger Records. After “Carry The Flame”, we decided to part ways with Seventh Dagger and we teamed up with Innerstrength Records. In 2014 we recorded “Cold Water Army” at The Brick Hithouse in Cape Cod, MA and released it this past summer. Supporting that we did a series of release shows in Upstate NY as well as a 10 day tour we just finished. We're planning a lot for 2015. We will see how it all unfolds.

 

 

IE: You said that you guys just wrapped up a 10 date run of shows that saw you cross through 10 states and travel over 2500 miles. What cities did you hit and what were some of the band's that you played with?

 

Sean: We played Buffalo-NY, Pittsburgh-PA, Columbus-OH, Detroit-MI, Chicago-IL, Indianapolis-IN, Boone-NC, Roanoke-VA & Doylestown-PA. We played with some incredible bands on this run, here's a few: Bungler, Eternal Sleep, Axis, Gut Feeling, Steel Nation, Divebomb, Grim State, Misfortunate Sons, Arkham, Ghost Key, Vice, Knocked Loose, New Heart, Meth Dealer, Dwell, 2x4, Left Behind, Dealey Plaza & Sovereign.

 

IE: Does everyone in the band have regular/full time jobs and is going out on the road for 10 days pretty much the most you guys can string together at once or do you see longer runs in the future?

 

Sean: Yeah, pretty much all of us work full time jobs. We actually had to take two fill-ins on this run just to make it happen. As far as longer runs in the future, we're definitely working on that. We want to be a full time band. We are 100% hitting the west coast this summer.

 

 

GHOSTxSHIP @ HEARTFEST 8 MAY, 2014 QUEBEC, CANADA. PHOTO BY: KATE FRESE

 

IE: You had some feelers out earlier this year for a potential European tour this fall. What is the reason/reasons you didn't make that trip?

 

Sean: We feel like we need to play places people have been asking us to play for years here in the US before we make the trip over to places like Europe.

 

 

CLICK "WAYNES WORLD" PHOTO BELOW TO WATCH "THE HERE AND NOW" VIDEO BY GHOSTxSHIP

IE: Just a few weeks ago you guys put out a video for the song “The Here And Now” which is a spoof on the old “Wayne’s World” movies. How did this idea come about?

 

Sean: Well, we always say our live show is like a party. So, I made a Wayne's World rip off shirt. With Ghostxship on the Wayne's World logo on Wayne's hat. One day Keith called me and told me we should recreate the opening scene to Wayne's World. We all thought it was hilarious, so we did it.

 

IE: It's safe to say after seeing the video that you guys don't have any problems with making a video that pokes fun at yourselves. Why was the video just contained to the car though, it seems like you could have expanded the idea to more aspects of the Wayne’s World movie, maybe having you guys playing live would have been a good idea?

 

Sean: We did exactly what we intended to do. We wanted to recreate the opening scene pretty much shot for shot. That's what we did. We're about to drop a series of live videos soon, so I don't think us playing live or any other scenes were needed.

 

IE: You had the debut on the website Lambgoat  and the initial reaction by more than a few people in the comments section after the video link was really mean spirited calling you guys all sorts of stuff from gay to being overweight to being transgender to being not very good at being a band among a ton of other responses mostly from some guy named “anonymous”. The microphone is now open for your response…

 

Sean: Haha, it's Lambgoat. You can't take anything said on there to heart. We knew it was going to get torn apart. Everyone gets torn apart on Lambgoat. It's funny because that's the only place there were negative comments. Everywhere else people thought it was hilarious. 

 

Check out the original Lambgoat feature for the video debut with comments below:

 

http://lambgoat.com/features/203/GhostxShip-The-Here-And-Now-video-premiere

 

 

IE: Another topic that I have to bring up surrounds your old singer Curtis who left the band in 2012. Things obviously ended on a bad note and Curtis had his say in some online posts around the time he left trying to turn your members on each other in one post that I read. There was obviously some bad vibes brewing there. What was going on within the band at that time and why was the decision made to replace him? Was this a unanimous decision?

 

Sean: 100%. We removed him from the band because his actions did not reflect what we stand for as a band. Recent allegations can back why we made this decision.

 

IE: Have you had any contact with Curtis since the time he left and if you ran into him on the street today what would you tell him?

 

Sean: There's honestly nothing I have to say to him. Curtis hasn't been in the band for over two years now, it's the past. That's where it will stay. We're a band focused on positivity and moving forward.

 

 

IE: Back to some more positive stuff... your latest EP is “Cold Water Army” and it has some pretty eye catching art work. Who drew this cover and did you guys tell him/her a concept of what you wanted or did you just leave everything to them?

 

Sean: Our good friend Matt Cincotta drew the art work. He also sang on “The Here And Now”. We gave him the basic concept, but he blew us away with what he came up with. Dude is absolutely incredible.

 

IE: What's the meaning behind the "Cold Water Army" title?

 

Sean: “Cold Water Army” comes from the Temperance Movement in the 1800’s. People joined the Cold Water Army by pledging to stop drinking alcohol and were advocates for the prohibition movement.

 

 

 

IE: When people think Syracuse hardcore Earth Crisis is usually the first name to pop into their heads. How old were you when you started going to shows and was having EC in your backyard a factor in you becoming straight edge?

 

Sean: I actually grew up an hour north of Syracuse so I didn't see Earth Crisis when I was growing up, but most of the band grew up seeing Earth Crisis and that's how they fell in love with hardcore and straight edge. I started going to shows when I was 16. Earth Crisis was not the reason for me becoming straight edge, but they will forever be a staple in Syracuse hardcore and straight edge alike. They're a huge influence on this band.

 

IE: Can you give us a quick current day Syracuse scene report? What is the best venue to play at? Record store? Bands to look out for?  Would you say there is still a big straight edge presence in Syracuse?

 

Sean: Syracuse hardcore is alive and well. This past year we have played the best shows any of us have ever played in our lives, and they were in Syracuse.

 

Best venue to play at: St. Clare Theater. Record store: Soundgarden. Bands to look out for: Thoughts In Reverse, Dead Ends, Trespassers, On Foot, Sleep Circadia and Ahnest! As far as a straight edge presence in Syracuse, yes there is! There's a solid group of people in the Upstate area that are still down with the X.

 

IE: What's 2015 look like for GhostxShip and when can we expect a follow up to “Cold Water Army”?

 

Sean: We're working on a few things, I guess we will have to see how they pan out.  A couple things are set in stone for 2015 though: we will be touring the West Coast in 2015 and we will be releasing a full length to follow up “Cold Water Army”.

 

http://ghostxship.bandcamp.com/album/cold-water-army