“We are more than a music band, we are an artistic and philosophical project”

Interwiew by ElyAngelOfDeath

Dusk Reloaded, the third work of Ghost Warfare, it came to light last month. The Spanish public could enjoy this magnificent CD since 16^th May. Today, they can enjoy the pleasant presence of the group in Dioses del Metal.

First, congratulations for this work and thank you to spending a few minutes with us. Tell me, ¿Which is the essence of Ghost Warfare?

Gani: It is a pleasure to give out this interview, thank you for your time and your interest. As the newest member of the band, I’m very, very glad that I met these guys, they became like family to me. We’re all different, but the understanding of the truth, which we all carry with us, is the same. We want to make art, not just for the sake of making art, but to express ourselves, say, shout, narrate what we believe is wrong nowadays.

Chipi: Also we enjoy very much drinking beer together.

Geo: We are more than a music band, we are an artistic and philosophical project. We are driven first by our need to express certain thoughts and emotions that we have and second by the idea to create something true and spiritual in a world of fakes and commercialism.

Dimitar: In our band nobody has the ill ambition of becoming a celebrity and what we do is not what people (are told they) want to hear, but what they need to hear and understand.

¿Could it be said that this work transmits the sum and substance that defines the band?

Geo: We can, because the most important thing for us is to warn people of what we call “The Hidden War” (from which comes also the name of the band). We think there is a real worldwide war raging here, a war that rips people of their souls and their free will, that wants to turn everyone in an empty shell just good for consumerism and obedience. “Dusk Reloaded” is entirely constructed to explain that, and we hope that we’ll make people think about who they really are and what is really important…

Dimitar: All of our distinctive traits – unorthodox compositions with unexpected development and ‘alternate endings’ (he-he, pun intended :D), rich and precise drumming and the great variety of vocals used, are present in this work.

¿Which new features can be found in this CD with respect to your previous works?

Geo: It’s maybe the most diversified of our albums with so many different genres merged together, while still maintaining the feeling of a whole, with of course the most distinctive feature being the debut big participation of Ganiela who completed our music in a perfect way.

Chipi: Maybe it’s obvious, but anyway… there are a bit more complex and fast themes in the songs, making the album sound much more heavier and brutal in its own way.

Gani: The majority of the compositions lean more towards alternative and progressive sounding as a direct comparison to the previous album.

I see that it has been included the song Anything Illusion, which is part of one of your previous works, ¿Why did you took the decision of including it in Dusk Reloaded?

Geo: In fact, it’s a total remake and it’s not the same song (different music and text), but we keep the same name, because it’s the completion of the same idea. It also shows that the band evolves, but in a coherent philosophy that becomes stronger and deeper in time.

¿Who designed the album front page?

Chipi: Me!

Geo: It was drawn by hand by Chipi Saraminev – our drummer, who is also an incredible graphics artist.

Fall is the song that most caught my attention; ¿What does Ghost Warfare want to state with this song?

Chipi: All Shall FALL!!!!! 😀 hahahaha

Geo: The fall of our civilization. And like is said in the song itself: ‘… and slowly turning into machines…’. Mitko (which is short for Dimitar 😉 ) wrote the text two years ago and what we can sadly see today is people losing themselves way too fast…

Gani: Thinking of ‘the picture’ right now – man actually considers that he falls, when someone pushes him, literally or figuratively speaking. I believe that the scariest fall is a spiritual one, which we often cause ourselves. When you don’t know yourself and push yourself to the ground, just because someone says so, you become fallen, because you stopped searching for yourself and buried all notion of the person trapped inside.

Dimitar: They’ve pretty much summed it all, but I can also throw a few words in here – simply put, it’s a description of the degrading behavior of man that has led to an inevitable downfall.

¿How do you think the public has reacted with this new work?¿And what about the Spanish public?

Geo: Our fans, not numerous for now but we have some, liked it very much. But they know us very well and know through what we’ve been to achieve that. We hope that more people will give it a try and listen to it carefully. It’s important for us to show that ‘Ghost Warfare’ is not just “a band for some entertainment” and we don’t care about making a lot of money or have worldwide recognition…

To truly understand and enjoy our work the listener will have to also read the texts and keep together the emotion of the music with the message. It’s more demanding than most of the releases nowadays, but it’s also more rewarding when you find the links between the songs and begin piecing the bigger picture…

Chipi: About the Spanish public – actually we cannot say yet. About the Bulgarian public – it was accepted very well. People enjoyed the music, and on the live shows that we have so far played to promote the release… well… I think those people out there were prepared for this, in a good way I mean hahaha.

Dimitar: Yeah, nobody threw eggs and vegetables at us, or chased us with stones and fire and members of The Holly Inquisition after the shows, exactly the opposite – people came to congratulate us and quite a lot at that, which, given the unfuckable status of the band (I’m fat ‘n stupid, the drummer and the girl are together and the guitarist is a father of two! 😀 ), suggests that we must’ve done alright at those shows and people must’ve liked it!

Reaching the end of the interview… ¿How is Ghost Warfare tour presented?

Geo: It’s a very difficult part for every music band today coming from the underground. In Bulgaria there are not many places for live performance and they mostly prefer cover bands or mainstream performers, which we are obviously not. J It’s very important for us to start some live tours outside Bulgaria. The magic is always greater when you perform live.

We tried first with some booking companies but they care only about money, not for the bands. So we’ve decided to not follow that way, even it’s the easiest, but to search for opportunities by ourselves. We are also in a search for a manager who will be a part of the band, help us to organize tours and will share our adventure. And will get paid when the band succeeds in turning some profit, not before… 

Sadly “Pay to play” is what happens most of the time today and it’s true for every country…

Dimitar: Yup, what he said. The access to the stage is kept behind a financial barrier.

¿Have you thought about expanding Ghost Warfare horizons and play live in Spain?

Geo: Yes of course, we’re searching actually for possibilities to come and make some gigs in Spain. It will be great.

Chipi: Yeah. We totally want to do this!

Gani: We really hope so!

Dimitar: I think that this, not without the help of the great guys at our label Art Gates Records, has a good chance of happening. As I’ve mentioned – things are not without their complications, but I really hope that we can make something happen.

We reached the end, again, thank you for sharing your time with Dioses del Metal, it has been a truly pleasure, thank you.

Geo: You’re welcome!

Dimitar: You obviously took your time to get familiar with the band and the album in order to prepare these questions, which sadly is not the case for a lot of other media any longer… We respect your time and effort and the good work done here and for that – we thank you!

Chipi: Thank you!

Gani: Thank you!