Image: Courtesy East Ghost
A few years ago my band opened up for what was the earliest incarnation of East Ghost. I’ve had the pleasure of opening for the band a handful of times and even got to work with them on their debut EP, St. Elizabeths.
East Ghost is Ryan Brogan (guitar, lead vocals), Jesse Eaves (drums), Taylor Forry (keys, guitars, BGVs), and Robert Winship IV (bass). The band released their debut EP in January and have slowly been making waves in the DC rock scene.
Thanks to Robert and Taylor for taking time to talk with me.
Patton On Music: Talk about the history of the band. How'd you guys meet/form?
Robert Winship: We're a fairly new band but we all go back a while. We all met at church, actually, playing there together for about 3 years. Prior to East Ghost, Ryan, Jesse and I (Robert) had done some work with a friend of ours, Jeremy Johnson. Ryan was also fleshing out his own material in a live setting. It was fall 2010 that we started playing around as a full band with some of Ryan's songs, and then we starting working on new material. By late 2010 we had established this vision for what we wanted to do, what we wanted to say, and East Ghost just sort of took over.
Patton On Music: Where does the name East Ghost come from?
Robert Winship: Once we figured that this was going to be a serious project for us to invest in, we talked about it for a while and, like any self-respecting introverts, went out to the woods and drank ourselves through the initial processes of song-writing and choosing a name. It's a picture of the way we've worked together. We're pretty democratic and have similar tastes, so decisions that reflect East Ghost tend to reflect each of the members as well. The words 'East Ghost' are a portmanteau, linking a place with the feeling that you wander around this city as a specter...a shell of a person.. Our city is so transient: people stay for a while and then leave. The story goes that when you live in DC for any amount of time, you reform your circle of friends and acquaintances often and sometimes, disconnect entirely. We were brought together under that feeling--not having anything other than this project to hold our relationship together.
Patton On Music: What are your influences?