How did Ghost Of The Russian Empire come about?

I had come up with some songs on my own and played a few open mic nights in 
Austin and always had an idea to flesh them out with a full band. Luckily, 
we’d all been friends and/or work associates, so it wasn’t too difficult to 
start getting together and practicing.


How did you guys get involved with Thirty Ghosts Records?

Through the magic of demo mailings. We recorded a few songs ourselves
before we went into the studio and sent them out to a few labels. 
Chris seemed to like what he heard and said they’d be willing to work
with us. They seem to take a personal interest in the bands they work
with, which is reassuring. And, the added bonus that they’re Austin
based. It’s nice to be able to meet face to face with somebody that’s 
going to help you with something as personal as music. 


Please describe some of the recording process you used 
to record "With Fiercest Demolition"?

We give a lot of credit to our producer, Erik Wofford. He’s 
worked with a lot great Austin bands like Explosions in the Sky, 
Voxtrot, The Octopus Project, Black Angels. He helped take the 
songs at their basic level and really expand them outward. We 
added keyboards, trumpets, trombones, and a number of light 
percussion elements. In my opinion, it’s what a good producer 
should be able to do. Add and enhance the music, without 
completely transfiguring it into a totally different being. 
And I think for our part, we were very trusting; in him and 
the quality of the music he’s already recorded. Nothing was 
off limits as far as experimenting with instruments or adding 
effects, etc. 

                              
"Plague and Punishment" was probably the highlight for me of the whole Ep. 
What was the inspiration behind it? 

I think the original idea was a song in two parts, the first being more 
restrained, the second expanding into a labyrinth of sounds and flows.
Erik really built on that idea with the different elements coming in 
and out, at times subtly, and other times about to crash over the whole
thing. The trombone and e-bow swells really add an atmosphere to it we
never thought possible. We recorded the bare bones of the song and just
started building it up from there. Lyrically, it’s about the irony of
religious warfare. How killing can somehow be shoehorned into teachings 
and doctrines of understanding and tolerance. One group feels they have
the right ideals and spiritual outlook and are willing to use violence
to impose it on others. Or at least show others their beliefs are in 
the wrong. It’s a pretty popular technique throughout history and still
very much in use today. 



What are your favorite song writers?

As I’m sure most can tell from our music, a few of us are big 
Radiohead fans. I like a lot of aspects of their music, from 
their variations in song structures, to just the overwhelming
multitude of sounds they come up with. I get a lot of 
inspiration from their music and especially their live shows.
The Beatles are great. I really like the fact that they 
developed such a large range of songs. It’s something I’d 
like to do as far as being able to go from a stripped down 
acoustic number to a really full sound and still keep people’s
attention. As far as lyrics are concerned, I think Elliott
Smith was quite adept. He had a heartbreaking way of writing,
where a little bit tragedy seemed to permeate every story. 
He could be superbly poetic and viscerally direct within 
a few words.