Ghost Town (band)

Ghost Town is an American electronic rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band formed on September 4, 2012 and in 2013 were signed to Fueled by Ramen.^[2][3]

The band is made up of vocalist Kevin McCullough, guitarist Alix Koochaki, and drummer Manny Dominick. Alister Dippner creates artwork for the band's releases and is closely associated with them.^[3][4] The band has released three albums, Party in the Graveyard, The After Party, and Evolution, as well as two acoustic EPs, Bare Bones and Tiny Pieces.^[5] The After Party charted at No. 135 on the Billboard 200 and reached No. 1 on Billboard's "Top Heatseekers" chart.^[6]

Career

Formation and Party in the Graveyard (2012-2013)

Kevin McCullough, Alix Koochaki, and Alister Dippner all attended high school together in Palm Springs, California. Alix and Kevin grew up together and started writing music in 2012. They added producer Evan Pearce and drummer Manny Dominick after a few months. After high school, Alister moved to San Luis Obispo to follow his passion for painting. Still being friends, Kevin sent him rough cuts of Ghost Town's first songs. Alister listened to them and replied, "This is like my art as music. I want nothing more than to be a part of whatever you guys make."^[7]

On September 4, 2012, Alister Dippner uploaded a sped-up video of himself painting the artwork to "Game Freak" with the song playing in the background, and it went viral. They set up a PureVolume page shortly after and rose to the top of the site's charts.^[7]

After the release of "Game Freak", the band decided to write, produce, and release a new song every week, dubbing them "Ghost Town Tuesdays". They released 12 songs over the course of 9 weeks.^[4]

Using many of the songs released over the course of four months, along with five new songs, the band self-released their first album, Party in the Graveyard. The band uploaded a version of the album onto YouTube on December 21, 2012.^[3] The full album was available on iTunes on January 15, 2013.^[8]

Record deal, Party in the Graveyard re-release and The After Party (2013-2014)

On May 7, 2013, the band announced that they were being signed to Fueled By Ramen and joining a tour with Marianas Trench and Air Dubai.^[9]

Following the success of the tour, Fueled By Ramen announced the re-release of their debut album. The re-release featured new artwork, remastered recordings, and the addition of four tracks. This was released on Fueled By Ramen on November 19, 2013.^[10]

Their second album, The After Party, was announced by the band on May 6, 2014.^[11] It was released on June 10, 2014 on Fueled By Ramen. It featured 10 new songs and a new version of "You're So Creepy".^[12] Following the announcement, a music video for "You're So Creepy" was released.^[13]

The After Party debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers charts^[14] and was featured in Rock Sound's 50 Best Albums of the Year for 2014.^[15]

Departure of Evan and Evolution (2015-present)

In July 2015, Evan Pearce announced his departure from Ghost Town due to undisclosed health reasons. In the press release, the band announced they would continue as a trio.^[16]

The band's third album, Evolution (stylized as EVØLUTION) was announced on their Facebook page on September 10, 2015. The next day, they released a music video for the first single off the album, "Spark". "Spark" was later released as a single on October 16, 2015. The album was recorded at Pulse Studios in Spring of 2015 with Josh Abraham, Nico Stadi, Oligee, and Ryan Williams over a span of 6 weeks.^[17]

The album, according to Kevin Ghost, has a different message than the band's previous works.

In the past we’ve written a lot of songs about very specific relationships or very specific situations that people go through. This is a broader spectrum. The message has to do with people opening their eyes and not being so tunnel-visioned. Don’t do the first thing someone tells you to do just because it seems like the easiest thing to do. It’s not about what you wear, or how many people follow you, or how you look. It’s about creating a community of like-minded people and accepting everyone.

— Kevin Ghost^[17]

The second single off of the album, "Mean Kids", focuses on the subject of bullying.^[18] On October 22, 2015, "Loner" was available for preview in an article on Billboard. The band called this song "the loner anthem for our generation."^[19] A music video for "Loner" was released alongside the album on November 6, 2015.^[20]

2016

The band opened for Simple Plan on their European tour and played on the entire Warped Tour. They released a couple of new songs digitally. In August 2016 Ghost Town performed for the first time at Reading and Leeds Festival on The Pit stage. To celebrate Halloween they released a new song called Tiny Pieces.

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Albums

Studio

• Party in the Graveyard (2013)
• The After Party (2014)
• Evolution (2015)^[21]

EPs

• Bare Bones (2013)
• You're So Creepy (2013)
• Tiny Pieces (2016)

Singles

• "Game Freak" (2012)^[22]
• "Zombie Girl" (2012)^[23]
• "Ghost in the Machine" (featuring Chris Shelley) (2012)^[24]
• "Monster" (2012)^[25]
• "Trick or Treat Part 2" (2014)^[26]
• "Spark" (2015)
• "Mean Kids" (2015)^[18]
• "Loner" (2015)
• "Out Alive" (2015)
• "These Illusions Are My Latest Addiction" (2016)
• "American Outcast" (2016)
• "Paranormal Love" (2016)
• "Fan Girl" (2016)

Music videos

• "You're So Creepy" (2014)^[27]
• "Spark" (2015)^[28]
• "Loner" (2015)^[20]
• "Mean Kids" (2016)

References

External links

• Ghost Town at Allmusic
• Ghost Town's Facebook page