Ghost Twin is a Canadian duo set up and driven by Karen- and Jaimz Asmundson. The debut full length “Plastic Heart” released on Artoffact Records instantly became one of my favorite releases from 2017. The sound is not that easy to define, but clearly mixes different elements together. In the end we might speak about electro-wave or goth-pop. This is what Karen and Jaimz have to say about Ghost Twin and “Plastic Heart”.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How would you introduce Ghost Twin to music lovers who never heard of you before?

Ghost Twin: Electronic music with supernatural themes featuring a good beat, a darker vibe, female/male vocal harmonies and a bit of shoegazy guitar pretty much sums up our sound.

Q: Tell us a bit more about your music background and how did you finally set up Ghost Twin?

Karen: I’ve studied classical music since I was a child – started with piano and then voice. I joined my first band as a synth player just after high school, it was called Celine’s Real Killer and played electronic pop music with semi operatic vocals in Portuguese.

Shortly after that I formed an art-rock band called Querkus, and we kept that project going for many years.  It broke up in 2011 while we were on tour. In the aftermath of Querkus I was tired of band life and needed to take a break. It was in Summer of 2012 when Jaimz presented me with the idea of Ghost Twin. I was intrigued, but worried that having a band together might destroy our marriage. But I took a chance on it, and it has really enriched our lives. It’s the most fun I have ever had making music!

Jaimz: I have little to no musical training, my background is mainly in filmmaking. I often hear random bits of music in my head, or dream about writing music or listening to a song that I ‘finished’ in a dream, so I’m often humming these bits of music/lyrics into my phone and likely look like a crazy person.

Before Ghost Twin, I became very interested in live expanded cinema performance. I did a performance of one of my films, along with the composer (Jeremy of Distorted Memory), at a festival in Iceland and I got the performance bug. I approached Karen about possibly doing some type of collaboration to incorporate some live film performance along with music, which is how Ghost Twin was born. All of our songs are quite visual in terms of lyrics and cinematic arrangements, so it lends well to adding live visuals into the mix.

Q: What does the debut album “Plastic Heart” mean to you and what have been the main facts you keep in mind from the writing and recording?

Ghost Twin: The overarching theme of this album is surviving together. There are many supernatural aspects to the lyrics, and many references to our personal life experiences filtered through an occult lens. On the surface, “Plastic Heart” was named for the planchette of a ouija board.  But plastic also means transmutable, to have the heart change over time through experiences.

Q: I noticed you worked together with Maya Postepski (Austra, Soldout ao) who played some percussion parts, added vocals and co-produced the album. What’s the impact and importance of an ‘external’ member?

Ghost Twin: When it came time to start thinking about recording our album, we knew that we wanted to work with Maya. She was very instrumental in the sound of the first Austra and Tr/st albums, which both really inspired us to start this project, so we wanted to have her involved. She added so much detail to the percussion tracks and also served as a ‘shit filter’ – telling us when our ideas were good or bad. This feedback brought forward a much better album than we could have ever made on our own. And she was also super fun to have around.

Q: I experienced “Plastic Heart” as an album bringing multiple influences together and which has been introduced as ‘where Baroque meets Industrial’. Tell us a bit more about this ‘meeting’, potential sources of inspiration and the composition properly speaking?

Karen: I don’t think we set out to try to blend genres – we just have a wide range of musical interests and have a hard time ‘writing for a certain style’. We met in a goth club way back when – and I hear the influences of many goth night anthems in our writing and production. I borrow a lot from Baroque music as it is my very favorite style to sing in. Industrial music has always been Jaimz’s favourite. A weird influence, particularly on the male/female harmony vocals) is a Canadian group from the late 60s called The Poppy Family. That being said, the album sounds cohesive to me. A meeting and blending of all this different music we love into something new.

Q: Live performances seem to be important for you so tell us a bit more about this essential aspect and do you’ve plans/opportunities to play in Europe?

Ghost Twin: We really love playing together and our stage rapport and energy carries into the audience. Everyone ends up having a good time. The live performance aspect is quite central to this project and the reason it started. Our performance includes live triggered visuals, which we have mined from many underground and horror films, that we play back in time with the music to create a visual language of symbols and images that further express the content or aesthetic of our music. For some tracks, we’ve sampled visuals that also have percussive sounds, so both the percussion track/live visuals are actually made up of movie samples.

As for touring in Europe – no set plans at this time but it is something we would dearly love to do.  So if you are a promoter reading this: please get in touch with us!

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, indie-pop.

Background/Info: Charlotte Maison and David Baboulis better known as Soldout are back on track unleashing a new full length album. The Brussels based formation strikes back with their first ‘regular’ studio album since “More” (2013). In the meantime they released a noticeable soundtrack album (cf. “Puppylove”), which gained a ‘Magritte award’ for best soundtrack and last year released the free-digital “Live”-album.

Content: Soldout always has composed a very personal electronic sound, which during the early years of the band has been often linked with electro becoming a kind of Belgian answer to Miss Kittin and The Hacker. Throughout the years the sound evolved and became more personal and intimate, which reaches  its climax on “Forever”.

Most of the songs are sweet and filled with some melancholic passages. Charlotte’s timbre of voice became warmer, but still sounds sensual. “Forever” is pop-reverie although featuring a few more danceable cuts. These cuts feature some technoid reminiscences and it’s not a coincidence that they worked on one song together with Goose.

A few more guests have been invited to accomplish “Forever”. Maya Postepski (member of the Canadian formation Austra) is one of the artists you definitely will have to keep in mind. She’s now accompanying the band on stage on the drums.

+ + + : Soldout again evolves in their global approach revealing a mature and ultra professional studio work. The production of sound and vocals both have been so impressive. Sound-wise Soldout don’t really repeat themselves and are like in constant motion experimenting with new elements although holding on their unique electro treatments. They also like to work with guest artists and “Do It Again” featuring Goose is a real great piece of music. I also enjoyed “Fake” for its aggressive bass line. The more technoid-like “Oppression” is another attention grabber. The vintage sound approach of the band remains very present, but the ultimate song in the genre is “Because Of You”.

– – – : I have to admit I remain nostalgic of the early work of the band, which was rawer and less polished. Soldout moved towards a more mature and styled production revealing multiple sweet songs. It becomes more indie-like and definitely accessible for a wider audience. You don’t hear me complain, but I can imagine earlier fans will have a similar feeling.

Conclusion: If you go back to the first song of their first album (cf. which was the legendary cut “I Don’t Want To Have Sex With You”) and you compare with the songs from “Forever” you’ll notice the impressive evolution of this band. Technical-wise this new opus is definitely their most accomplished work to date!

Best songs: “Fake”, “Do It Again”, “Oppression”, “Because Of You”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.soldout.be / www.facebook.com/wearesoldout

Label: www.flatcatrecordings.com

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Soldout became a real hot electro-pop/electro-clash formation in Belgium, but the duo Charlotte Maison – David Baboulis is also reaching ground in other countries. After 4 full length albums and a soundtrack album they now release a free downloadable live album featuring 14 songs that were recorded during the summer of 2015 in Brussels.

Content: From the early success song “I Don’t Want To Have Sex With You”, to one of their latest hits “Wazabi”, to their cool cover version of “It’s A Sin” (featured at the soundtrack album “Pyppylove”), this work is an exciting opportunity to rediscover songs that were released over the last 10 years.

The sound formula of Soldout remains pretty simple and yet ultra efficient. There’s a perfect match between retro-electronics mainly inspired by synth-pop music and a refreshing technoid touch on top. From electroclash to indie-pop to simply cool electro-pop music this album also reveals Soldout as a great live band.

The songs have been empowered by extra live manipulations while I’m really impressed by Charlotte singing live. There where most singers lose some original power of stage, Charlotte Maison really rules, illustrating her vocal skills to her fans.

+ + + : I was a bit skeptical about this release, but it’s a real successful piece of work on, which you can hear a true live spirit running through the songs.

– – – : A few songs can’t totally convince me and I would have liked to hear a few more cuts instead (especially from their early period).

Conclusion: If you don’t’ know yet Soldout, just visit their site and Facebook page to get access to this free downloadable album. You’ll not be disappointed!

Best songs: “A Drop Of Water”, “Wazabi”, “I Don’t Want To Have Sex With You”, “The Box”, “It’s A Sin”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.soldout.be / www.facebook.com/wearesoldout

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com