A Conversation With Sorry Ghost
Photo by Sammie Wuensche
Songbird Magazine was privileged once again to interview up-and-coming indie band Sorry Ghost before their first-ever headlining show. With humor and sincerity, members Daniel Anton, Sean Duong, Matthew Polito, and Tate Silver chatted with me about their musical influences, inspirations, and experience solidifying themselves as a SoCal band.
Daniel expressed the band’s excitement about playing the Moroccan Lounge, a “cool spot” in the Los Angeles indie scene. As the headliner, the band had more time to get ready and perform than they did as supporting acts. Even so, Matthew remarked that the show isn’t about them but about the people who show up in the audience to support them. In addition, he expressed his support for the evening’s opener, Lavalove, a fun, feminine pop punk outfit who noticed that they are “like the girl-version of [Sorry Ghost].” Daniel noted that the upcoming show made him think of Uncle Ben’s motto in Spider-Man: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Though firmly in the LA scene now, none of the Sorry Ghost members originally hail from the City of Angels or California at all. Both Daniel and Matthew grew up in Louisiana, Matthew noting that “LA is conducive to meeting new people, but back in Louisiana, we knew everyone in the music scene.” Sean joined the band after moving from Florida, expressing, “Los Angeles is better than Florida.” Drummer Tate came to LA from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and, during the show, as the crowd chanted his name and cheered for Oklahoma, Daniel laughed, “That’s the most anyone has ever cheered for Tulsa.” All four members are glad to be building up the band in Los Angeles, surrounded by other creative musicians, producers, and videographers.
As for the songwriting process, it is, of course, a group effort. Daniel says he and Sean usually start by just messing around with chords, brainstorming ideas, and allowing “the song to take on a life of its own.” Then everyone collaborates on learning the song, changing it up as they go. Tate joked that he himself doesn’t bring many ideas, the others chiming in that “there’s not a lot going on in his head but pictures.”
It’s this easy camaraderie that’s the core of the band. When asked about the friendly band personas they portray in their popular short-form videos, Matthew agreed that the videos are authentic, “pretty much us just turning a camera on to what we’re already doing.”
“We’re friends first,” Daniel said. “We like being together.” The group said there are definitely bands that aren’t close with each other, but they agreed that would be a lot harder, and frankly unpleasant, to work with daily. “We could be angrier,” Tate said with a laugh, and the others picked up the joke, contemplating what their songs would sound like if they didn’t all get along.
The band is definitely indie, and when asked about their genre, Tate said indie rock/alt rock. Daniel noted that they’re “in the vein of pop punk,” though a bit less so now. “Collegiate core” seemed a better and broader descriptor, since their sound has been heavily influenced by what he and Matthew grew up listening to on their college town’s radio, and they tend to make the kind of music people in college listen to. Which, as a college student fan of this band, is a fair assessment.
The band’s collective sense of humor continued to shine through as I shifted focus to more specific questions on their artistic choices, opinions, and inspirations. Their recent singles all have lowercase titles, and when I asked if there was any particular reason behind that choice, Daniel sarcastically remarked, “So that’s something called art.” Matthew explained that their title formatting has become more consistent since Sean joined the band, and that they also “love a parenthetical,” such as in “small time fish (big time pond)” and “polyester (yes sir).” Titles are often what the band settles on last. During the song creation process, they “basically just call it something profoundly stupid…and sometimes that just sticks.” The band also loves a good voice memo or borrowed audio, such as the magician’s quote Sean found for “box breathing.”
Creative inspiration is often found in strange places. Tate shared that he got the idea for the opening drum beat of “small time fish (big time pond)” from the sound of a bottle of body wash falling in the shower. “I sat there for like ten minutes playing with the beat,” he laughed. For Daniel, the mundane provides plenty of lyrical fodder. In “robin,” the line “And all I have is a paring knife, a box of clothes” came from noticing the few and odd things one ends up unpacking after moving. Sean and Matthew are both inspired by movies, Matthew especially through imagining their songs as part of a soundtrack.
Though Sorry Ghost has grown in popularity thanks to their social media savvy, Tate expressed some concern about the “influencer to musician pipeline” as the group shared their musical hot takes. “Social media is oversaturated,” he said. From a musician’s perspective, it can feel disingenuous if someone who has never seemed to express an interest in music suddenly decides to take it up, perhaps only in an attempt to garner some more attention. It’s definitely a delicate issue, and Sorry Ghost seems to be doing the opposite, transitioning from musicians to influencers, as I joked and we all laughed about an inevitable sponsorship with HelloFresh.
Finally, the band got to geek out a little about their favorite gear. Sean, who always brings in their love for shoegaze, holds their Jazzmaster guitar and Roland JC-120 amp dear. “I’m jealous of my own tone,” they laughed. Tate appreciates his Zildjian ride cymbal, and Matthew still plays the Mustang guitar he’s had since he was 17. Daniel noted that a good microphone is more important than you’d think, and can change the feel of the whole song, recommending the Shure SM7B.
Each member brought their full energy to the live performance. The band played songs old, new, and unreleased, keeping up humorous banter and bits throughout. While Sorry Ghost has a unique indie rock sound, I believe it is their genuineness and connection with the audience that will support their continuing success.
