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The Ghost In You: Local Spotlight

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Blow the Scene is introducing a new column to our site; Local Spotlight. Here you will find local bands and artists from around the globe that have either contacted us or we have hand picked to feature. The idea behind Local Spotlight is simple; a focus on true independent, underground musicians, and artists that you probably wouldn’t hear of otherwise if you’re not living in their neighborhood.

Last week we were introduced to Philadelphia-based, independent artist, and songwriter, Billy Polard and his solo project, The Ghost In You.

BTS: Tell us, Who is Billy Polard and what is The Ghost in You?

Polard: Billy Polard is me. The Ghost In You is my solo acoustic project that I have been doing for the last 3 years or so, just in my spare time.

BTS: Take us through your recording process. What equipment are you using and how long do you take to track a song?

Polard: I use a 4 track cassette recorder. I never figured out how to record with a computer yet. Not sure I care to really. I usually start off by recording the guitar track all the way through. Then I’ll play that back a few times and listen to it and write lyrics on the spot to that guitar riff. A lot of the time the lyrics I end up using are just the random lines that flow out of me when I am trying to figure out how the vocals will sound. After I figure that out, I’ll record a vocal track. If that sounds good I then record a second vocal track, singing the exact same thing as the first. It gives the vocals a kind of “spooky” feel. Occasionally I’ll hum on the 4th track in the background, or play keyboards. But most of the time it’s just two vocal tracks and my guitar. To record a full song, depending on whether a car alarm goes off outside, or an ambulance drives by my bedroom, it can take anywhere between 2 and 6 hours. You can actually hear a car alarm going off at the end of “double word score”, but I just kept it in because I was tired.

BTS: These are some interesting videos. Tell us about them. How did you create them and what inspired the artwork?

Polard: My first video for “seahorses” came about when a friend from highschool, Matt Spicer, contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in doing a video. He went to film school and I believe he wanted a directing reel to show studios or something like that. I said absolutely. I storyboarded a short idea and sent it to him. We did a bunch of back and forth online, since he was in LA and I was back in Philly. At the time I was working at Kmart as a stock boy overnight. I took a bunch of large SALE signs and painted monsters and bugs and frogs and stuff on them. We met up in a cemetery in Glenside, PA, in the woods not too far from my dad’s place and set up all the characters around me over this big frozen pond. We shot the video in 2 days, but since everyone involved was working on it for free, it took a year for the animator to start. Ha. It took nearly that long before I even saw a second of footage. I was pleased with the outcome though.

My second video came about out of pure boredom. That was for my song “losing light”. The Nintendo DSi has an animation program built into it. I was fooling around with it one day and wanted to make an animation longer than 5 seconds. I storyboarded an idea and worked on it every day for like 2 weeks straight. Working during my breaks at work and annoying my girlfriend while working on it in bed. I just used two creatures that were in my “seahorses” video for the characters in that one. I think it came out pretty good, all things considered. It was the first animation I really did. It was shown on this animation junkie site cartoonbrew.com and got a lot of praise on there. So thats cool.

BTS: Who are some of your visual and musical influences?

Polard: Probably my biggest influence musically would have to be Sunny Day Real Estate. They were the first band I really, really cared about and they have basically remained my favorite band since the 6th grade. Another influence obviously would be Jeremy Enigk. His solo records are great. If I can’t have a new Sunny Day album, I’m glad at least he’s putting out new music. Then there’s Davey von Bohlen of Promise Ring fame. I can’t get enough of anything that guy does. I am nuts about his “newest” band, Maritime. I love Mike Kinsella a lot, especially his solo stuff. Huge fan of anything Blake Schwarzenbach, too. There’s also The Smoking Popes, Talking Heads, Modern Lovers, and The Ramones, etc. My visual influences? Robert Crumb, Max Fleischer, John K., Dr. Seuss, Jim Henson, Paul Reubens, Jim Varney, I could go on.

BTS: Where can fans of your music expect to see you performing in the near future?

Polard: Honestly, I rarely play shows anymore. I didn’t really play much to begin with. I think I’m pretty uncomfortable on stage. It’s not really a fear of not playing well, it’s just an uncomfortable feeling I have a lot of the time. So if you hear of me playing a show, it’s probably a rare thing. Maybe it’s being by myself or something. I’m not sure. I used to play with a band, but come to think of it, I didn’t really like playing shows then either, haha.

BTS: What are you current artistic endeavors?

Polard: I’m mostly focusing on the release of my debut album. I released it myself and made it available to download online at CD Baby.

Update: The Ghost In You is now also available at iTunes.

Check out more on Billy Polard and The Ghost in You at his Official Myspace.

Interview by Joshua T. Cohen
Images and Videos Courtesy of Billy Polard.

The post The Ghost In You: Local Spotlight appeared first on Blow The Scene.


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