What’s in a name? In music a band’s name can be influenced by an artist who’s had a significant impact on them, an excerpt from a poem or book, or it can come from an event of happenstance. Formerly known as Sexy Girls, Amherst surf punks Spirit Ghost changed their name out of necessity — but their groovy sound has stayed the same. The track “Don’t You Ever” off of the band’s self-titled EP that’ll be out on July 7 is being premiered on Vanyaland today, and it’s an excellent representation of the band’s evolution while going along with the summer season as a beach bummin’ jam.
“Our name change was spawned because we needed a change, we were hitting too many road blocks as a band just starting out,” says guitarist and vocalist Alexander Whitelaw. “People didn’t want to work with us, which was the hardest part, when you’re this new you need all the help and support you can get. I also felt like I had matured in my writing style past the point of Sexy Girls, I didn’t want to be in a weird bubble that I feel like that name created. I want people to focus on the music that I write, I didn’t and still don’t want the most notable thing about us to be our name. Spirit Ghost is something I can get behind and something I came up with because I feel like it has more substance, especially if you start to play with the idea of ghost and spirit as two different things, I wanted something that was going to provide longevity as a moniker and Spirit Ghost provides that for me.”
Of the upcoming EP, Whitelaw gives a glimpse into the process.
“The EP was written and the demos were recorded by me, but when we went to record the final versions we went to Converse Rubber Tracks in Boston,” he says. “I had my drummer Stephen Kerr come with me so we could live track a bulk of the instruments at once. Michael Cozzo also plays bass on the recordings. All of the recordings were done at Rubber Tracks with the exception of ‘Spirit Ghost’ which was recorded at my house in Seekonk with all music parts are written by me. The EP was easy to make and a lot of fun, going to the studio in Boston I couldn’t believe that they were letting us into it. It seemed almost too nice, and I was expecting there to be a catch at any moment, but everybody was super nice and down to capture the songs the way I wanted them which was awesome.”
Spirit Ghost don’t have any shows happening in the immediate future but be on the look out for an EP release celebration going on sometime at the beginning of next month. Until then, check out the track and enjoy.
