After taking a step back this past year, Niverville-based band Plain as Ghosts is ready to re-emerge onto the music scene.
The four-piece group, which includes Trevor Lux (lead vocals/guitar), Adam Halstrom (bass/vocals), Rodrigo Ramirez (drums), and Daniel Friesen (vocals/guitar), formed in 2014 as a collaborative effort between Lux and Halstrom.
“Rodrigo and I were previously in the punk outfit Callida, and after that folded I was looking for opportunities to collaborate and write,” explains Lux. “I always admired Adam’s work, so I reached out and we began to write together almost immediately. It was really enjoyable and after a little while we decided to move the project into a full band situation.”
Two years after forming, the band released their first album, Rendering, which earned them an opening spot for Tom Cochrane in 2017. Since then, the group has taken a step back from performing, but has continued to create music together.
“We all see music as a bit of an escape, something creative and fun that we can bury ourselves in,” says Lux. “Things are looking much better these days on a personal front, [and] I think the new music we are creating is reflective of that as well. I always write about something I know or have experienced personally. Without trying to sound too cliché, it’s a bit therapeutic in a way.”
In May, the group decided to get back into the studio, releasing Rendering Remixed. Collaborating with artists and producers, Plain as Ghosts was excited to see what they could create when they allowed others to have free rein of the remixes of their debut album. Ghosts spent time at Niverville’s Arcade Studios where producer Evan St. Cyr helped remix their song “Convolution,” and Shaun St. Cyr lent his voice to “Empty Halls and Plaster Walls.”
“It was great to collaborate with some people outside of our band and it’s an honour to have all these talented people involved,” says Lux. “I personally found it refreshing to hear the new takes on the songs. It’s too easy to not be able to look beyond that original composition as the songwriter, so hearing these new takes was awesome!”
The band also released new music videos of some the remixes on YouTube, which Halstrom and his company Pollution Lake Sound & Design created.
Most recently, Plain as Ghosts competed in the Road to Indie Week competition, where they made it to the finals.
“This was a fun yet humbling experience,” Lux says. “We were able to meet a lot of great musicians and bands along the way and make great connections with some booking agencies, so it was an awesome experience.”
Good things are on the horizon, including a show on November 23 at the Pyramid Cabaret in Winnipeg, where they will open for Pop Evil & Royal Tusk.
Since stepping out of the spotlight, the quartet has been working diligently at writing material over the past few years and are hoping to release a single with a B-side in the new year, as well as head back to the studio in early spring to recording their sophomore album.
“We have some things in the works for some festival shows for summer 2019, but I can’t reveal details about that just yet,” says Lux. “We are certainly excited about the prospects on the horizon!”
