by Matt Dixon, July '08

1. Please introduce The Ghost Is Dancing and give a brief history of the band:
Jamie: The Ghost is Dancing is an indie-pop band from Toronto. A bunch of us moved to Toronto for university and fell in love with the music going on there and started a band despite the existence of any instruments or musical training. The first song we wrote we wrote literally with kneeslaps and deep chanting. The idea of actually being able to produce music was a magical and distant thing for us, and the inspiration for the band was actually just to see if we could do it.

2. What does The Ghost Is Dancing mean to you?
Jamie: To me, very personally, The Ghost is Dancing means keeping a certain part of me, not quite the child in me, but the force behind the willingness to dream and dance and have fun, keeping that alive in me.

3. What are some of the things you try to communicate through your music?
Jamie: Sometimes I'll talk to someone and we'll talk about something that happened "a lifetime ago". And we'll both think back to how the world seemed to us then, what drove us to do what we did, and that feeling becomes almost physical, like I can hold it in my hands. Songs are like that to me. Each song comes from some weird collision of moment and music . . . they string together and later you can look at it and see what you were thinking about. The last record was about leaving home, the great trek to the unknown. Left me with the feeling that I'll never know what I'm walking into until after I'm done with it. Like old men feel like children trying to figure out how to be old men.

4. You recently concluded a tour with some dates with Fredericton, NB's Koak. How did your relationship with them develop into ultimately teaming up to do a couple of shows together?
Jamie: One of the best things about touring is getting to know another bands set so intimately. We actually had never heard KoAk before. Ryan Patey hooked us up with them and said they were good. We thought they were fantastic and we wanted to bring them home with us.

5. Is it difficult to take time off and seemingly put life on hold to go on tour? How are you able to handle it monetarily, emotionally, etc?
Jamie: Touring is insane. You jeopardize your job, your ability to pay your bills, you have to hope your girlfriend / wife trusts you completely, and you have to become a trucker. After three tours we've averaged 8 hours driving a day, with some 28 hour drives in there through fog, moose and other various "night dangers". You have to content yourself with Tim Hortons and Subway for three weeks. When we arrive in a town we've never been in and have two hours to find food, we wander aimlessly and desperately for something decent and cheap.

That said we usually have the time of our lives! We're all friends, and have been for a long time. So travelling together, under any circumstances, is so much fun. It's a unique opportunity to be able to go to cities and immediately communicate with the people there (by playing a show). We almost always make great friends and get to experience, for one night, the way they live and what makes them tick. We swam in a foot deep pool infront of Edmonton's City Hall at three in the morning, we played an inpromptu set in Banff at an open mic and made falafels and had four houses to stay in . . . We literally have the time of our lives. It's worth it.

6. Any sort of injuries or sickness throughout the tour?
Jamie: I hit myself in the head with my guitar in Vancouver and got a nice Harry Potter lightning scar between my eyes. I had a fever throughout the whole Maritimes tour, but Sudafed and beer cured that!

Kevin: I think we've been really fortunate to have no serious injuries or sicknesses throughout or tours yet. It's really rough though when one of the band members has a cold and just looks/sounds/feels horrible, and you know that being trapped in a car together with them for 8 hours a day isn't a question of "if" you'll get sick, it's just a question of "when" you'll sick.

7. What was the best city / best venue to play?
Jamie: We'll all have different ones . . . or will we? For me the crazy slapshod venues win: that bar in Banff, Backalley Records in Charlottetown was amazing.

Kevin: The Backalley Records show in Charlottetown was definetly the best show by far this tour. There was apparently a mask theme that we didn't really know about beforehand, so we spent much of the evening searching for cardboard, string, and markers. And then the rest of the time attempting to draw faces and make some sort of decent mask. Yes, it was incredibly hot and sweaty in that little room, but everyone there was having a fun time, all the people there were really friendly and it really ended up making the whole trip wothwhile for us.

8. What was the weirdest occurrence of the tour?
Jamie: Hard to say. Probably the sweaty-naked hand-clap-fest in Charlottetown.

Kevin: Jellyfish. Tons and tons of Jellyfish. I've never seen one before in my life and they were like bees over there. What a crazy little creature.

9. Sum up life on the road in four words:
Jamie: Cruise control, Timmy's, generosity, surprises.

Kevin: He said four Jamie, not five. So, "Cruise Control, Small Beds."

10. What do you think sets The Ghost is Dancing apart from other bands?
Jamie: When I used to go see bands play, I remember how many of them seemed not happy to be there, and I used to think, "if I ever got on that stage I would have the time of my life". We're honest about who we are and what were in it for and we have fun.

11. You're known for your intense and engaging live show, is it difficult for you to go out night after night and give so much of yourselves?
Jamie: Lesley and me were on the corner of Queen and Spadina a half-hour before our set at the Horseshoe and we looked at each other and knew we were both devastated emotionally for different reasons. Not only did we feel awful but the set was at 2:20 am, during the time-change, so technically our set-time didn't exist temporally! Oh, and it was during a snowstorm. We felt empty and exhausted. We didn't talk about how we dreaded playing the set, we talked about how the set was going to save us from ourselves and lift us up. And it did.

12. When do you think the best time/situation to listen to a Ghost Is Dancing record is?
Jamie: When you're making pizza with your friends.

Kevin: I've always wanted to think that the best place/time to listen to the Ghost is Dancing is when you're in the bedroom. If you know what I mean.

13. Last five records you bought and current top five:
Kevin: I get alot of new music, I'm pretty addicted to it.

The last 5 records I got were:
1. Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
2. Woodhands - Heart Attack
3. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - s/t
4. PAS/CAL - I was raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke & Laura
5. Sigur Ros - me<eth> su<eth> í eyrum vi<eth> spilum endalaust

My Current Top 5 for this year are:
1. Sigur Ros - me<eth> su<eth> í eyrum vi<eth> spilum endalaust
2. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - s/t
3. Spiritualized - Songs in A & E
4. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
5. The Notwist - The Devil, You + Me

14. What is your favourite dance party song?
Jamie: Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Kevin: The Macarena

15. What's up next for The Ghost is Dancing?
Jamie: A US tour in the fall, then we finally get to record our next record for a Spring release. Can't wait!

16. How can ppl contact with you?
Best way is our email, theghostisdancing@gmail.com. That's where we're writing this interview from!

17. Any final words?
Jamie: Potatoes.

Kevin: I think Jamie definetly says it best there.