All photos courtesy of ghost prom
UCLA Radio’s Rising Artist Spotlight aims to highlight upcoming artists who have demonstrated unique creativity and talent through their music. Through interviews and features, we delve into their journey, influences, and aspirations, giving listeners a glimpse into the future of music.
With the rise of indie twang and the sounds of pedal steel lap guitars, it’s easy to get lost in the sea of artists who pluck away and sing with that dreamy voice. The NY-based duo ghost prom, however, is breaking down what it means to be folk in today’s world. With haunting vocals and slow strumming, ghost prom paints a eerie, foggy scene as they sing about nostalgia and infuse mundane memories with emotional depth. In January, I had the pleasure to catch up with the pair, who had been touring. We got to sit down and talk about many things: what ghost prom represents, the nerves of being on stage, and their spooky adventures.
This interview was conducted in-station in January for Radio’s ISP series & has been edited for clarity and brevity purposes
Interviewed by Chloe Gonzales
Chloe Gonzales: Hi everyone, I’m DJ Caprisun, also known as Chloe Gonzales. And today I’m here with ghost prom! So excited to interview y’all. If you guys want to introduce yourselves and give anything about your band, go crazy.
Cameron Crosby: ghost prom started as we were living in Vancouver and were both starting to play music there. It’s a boring town and it was raining a lot, so we started writing songs together. But when COVID started, I was playing in a band in New York and Eden had her band, but neither was really doing anything. So I think we started to get more serious about [ghost prom]. Our friend gave us a recording setup so we started recording in our house and then the rest is history. I mean, we put out some music and then started playing shows and then made another record and here we are!
Chloe: Well, you guys have some lore behind ghost prom itself. I was scavenging y’all’s website, which is super cute by the way, and I saw the two ghosts from the milk carton kids [in reference to their website bio] and how they weren’t found and stuff like that. I wonder if you guys have the lore behind that?
Cameron: I mean, to be honest, it’s just those two sentences, I had to make a bio on Bandcamp. I like to write as well, so I kind of just made that up. But the name comes from a friend back in Vancouver and we were working together in Calgary. And he was a DJ in Vancouver and his name was ghost prom. I was like, “that’s the sickest name.” I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I wrote a play called ghost prom and I would draw ghost prom everywhere. I was trying to think of what to call our band and then I messaged my friend and was like, “Hey, do you DJ anymore?” and he was like, “No.” And I asked permission, “Hey do you mind if I use this name?” and he was like, “Absolutely, I would be honored.” Shout out to Jesse Handdock. He gave me the Instagram, *sarcastically* because that’s all that matters.
Eden Crosby: How did the milk carton thing come up?
Cameron: I don’t know. I think I was just daydreaming and just came up with that idea off the top of my head.
Eden: We’re really just two married people living in a house trying to get by and trying to play shows.
Cameron: We were really bored. I also think that we’re obsessed with horror movies. Like, I could talk all day [about horror]. And I think I just wanted something kind of spooky and that’s what came to mind. It’s not really like a story, it’s like, that’s what I picture it sounding like to somebody who had never heard us before. I wanted them to have that picture [ghost prom] in their mind when they listen to the music.
Chloe: I see. I feel like your music itself though, it’s not necessarily horror, you guys are folk-and maybe a little bit of indie? You guys could be in that indie twang scene that’s coming up now. Your haunting vocals, your vocals especially [to Eden] [could be horror].
I feel like a lot of bands right now, they’re very genre bending. And I feel like that’s something that’s great during this day and age–because we were talking about this before the interview–all the music we listened to from our siblings who inspired us and so many influences that a lot of these bands do end up becoming genre bending. So, I didn’t know if you guys felt like you fit into a genre and I would love to hear about some of your inspiration!
Eden: I think it’s been strange to kind of find a genre because the sound and the band has taken on so many iterations already, even in the last couple of years I feel like we started playing music together like three, four years ago, and then more seriously maybe three years ago, and it’s very different when it’s just the two of us. And I like both the sound of when it’s just small and intimate and a little bit on the folkier side. But then I also really love the sound of when we play live and it’s a full band recording on the record. But as you take and put in different variables in the sound, you’re going to get almost different genres. And I think it’s kind of fun that we have given ourselves permission to play with that. Especially in live settings, it’s nice to just have it whatever way you want, as you sort of feel like it or as people are available, you know?
Cameron: Available people’s a big one, that was very well said. Yeah, I think I have such a vast taste in music and I think that I don’t really have an idea in my head of what I want it to sound like. And I feel like we’re always heading hopeful in the direction of that, because I feel I’m not satisfied with really anything. I mean I’m proud of it but I feel like I’m always searching for some sort of sound that I haven’t quite found yet. I feel like I get closer and closer the longer that we’re a band. I just started writing more songs and started playing in Drop D and I feel like everything that I’ve been writing is in Drop D and it’s spookier, and like that baritone guitar is spookier. There’s pedals that also help with that too. So I’m getting closer and closer, because I didn’t really know anything about gear or anything and I’m not a great musician.
Chloe: I mean, the performance tells me otherwise. [in reference to ISP]
Cameron: I appreciate that. I got the basics down. I feel like I can make good songs. But yeah, I’m just trying to get closer and closer to something spookier.
Chloe: No, no I love it. It’s like you guys are evolving, growing into yourself. That’s nice, you guys don’t feel like you’re held in a box, because again, I feel like a lot of bands are like this, they kind of do whatever they want. And I love that.
Eden: I think also, just to quickly add onto that, is Cam is a great musician but it’s not like he went to music school, you know? And there’s only so much language he has been able to say like, “I want it to sound like XY and Z” or “I want this instrument on it” or “I want these exact notes.” So you have other people kind of translating the language that Cam has started with and it’s been cool because as you’ve [to Cam] continued writing music, the sound has kind of evolved, your language has evolved to what you want to be able to hear and that way of communicating has progressed. And so it’s kind of cool to see how the intention of what he wants to hear comes through a little bit more clearly as he gets more comfortable and confident in what he’s able to communicate. I think it’s nice to just open that playing field too instead of just being like, “Oh, we have to sound exactly like this!” Like shit changes and that’s how it goes.
Chloe: I guess alongside being able to switch it up and stuff, and I think I know your answer, but do you guys prefer performing live? Or do you prefer the comfort of the studio when you guys are performing your music?
Cameron: I think definitely my favorite thing ever is just to be cozy at home with Eden and I and our dog. He’s the most at peace when we’re like playing music together, always just so chilled out, head down. I feel like he feels safe. *jokingly* I think we gotta rage it up a little, throw some rock in there.
Eden: Cameron recorded the record down the street from us actually with our neighbor Aaron Mones, who recorded and produced it for us. And then his brother Wyatt Mones mixed it. And it was nice because it was so close. So you just walked down the street and like go into the studio. It might as well be like being at home, but also you guys definitely together had a lot more to do with that process [to Cameron]. And then I would just come in and do vocals sometimes, but that was definitely more like a ‘you two’ thing. I think that playing live has given me a different approach to music and the fact that there’s so many possibilities between what has ended up on the recording and what you’re gonna play live has been a really fun challenge for me as somebody that is not like, I don’t know, hasn’t had a lot of experiences playing live in my adult life with my band. It’s been a fun way for me to just mess with different arrangements and sounds and the pressure is not on me very much because I’m just doing backup and keys. So it’s been a fun sort of exercise for me, playing live for sure.
Cameron: Also to add on to that, I come from doing theater, like my favorite thing to do is theater. And I think that being on stage is a special kind of thing. I’m obsessed with being on stage. I wish I could play every night if we could. And it’s also fun–I just like to be a shit rat and to be a menace on stage. Aaron, our guitar player, is kind of stoic and I’ll like click on the distortion pedal when he’s not looking just to get a reaction. And just the interaction with the crowd, it’s an impossible feeling to get unless you’re doing that. And what Eden was saying about it being in the background, I used to play bass in a band and I was so nervous about playing on stage. And my friend told me, “It doesn’t matter, no one is looking at you. You’re off to the side, just a piece of the puzzle. Everybody’s look at the singer.” So then when I became the singer I was like, “Shit, how do I do it?” And she [Eden] told me what she does and I do that as well. Our friend Sam, who’s in a band called The Bobby Lees, you should check them out. They’re a great band.
Chloe: You guys mentioned your producers as well, and I know they just got signed to the record label that you guys are signed to, Wally Opus. And I wanted to hear because I don’t think you guys know how crazy their story is when getting signed to their record label, I mean coincidental.
Cam: Yeah, it is a crazy story. Sam Cubanhas a project called “Swamp Eyes,” also a really great band, love Sam. He had reached out to us on Instagram and was like, “Hey, my band is Swamp Eyes. I love your song ‘Swamp Eyes!’” And Swamp Eyes is such a strange name, for a song it’s so specific. And you know, I’ve never heard anybody say swamp eyes before and I would kind of say that to Eden. And the first song we ever wrote together with swamp eyes. And Sam had reached out saying how much he loved the song. And then I checked his music out and was like, “Dude, you’re great.” And it was just this mutual kind of love.
And then we had started talking to Wally Opus, and we were talking to Wes, Sam, and Christian. It kind of just instantly felt like I’d known them forever. They’re so sweet. And I don’t know, we just got along right off the bat. We’ve loved working with them ever since. And I feel like I talked to Sam and Wes, almost on a daily basis, about music stuff, about everything, about life. More than just the business side. Yeah. And that’s a beautiful thing, because I don’t think that everything has to be separate, you know?
Chloe: No, I love that so much. Because–for our audience–Wally Opus is based in Southern Indiana and they’re [ghost prom] out in New York. So it’s kind of crazy because at that point, I don’t believe they [Wally Opus] were doing anything national.
Eden: It was just cool. It was funny to hear them talk like, “And now we’re a label that has a band in New York!” Yeah, but we did go and finally get to meet them and go down to Evansville. That was really special and fun to be able to finally meet everyone that has been helping us out. Cool team and super sweet people.
Cam: Yeah, we stayed at their house. We stayed in their basement. Eden’s little brother Peter was with us, which was awesome. And, I mean, why would you want to do it any other way? And we got to meet their kids and spend time with their kids. And they showed us around Indiana, which is great. Sam took us to a courthouse that was kind of deserted and there’s an unsolved murder in there.
Chloe: Ooo, inspo for the next record. Record it in there! But speaking of the record, Void Sweet Void, you guys just released it. And I wanted to know how you guys kind of visualized that album because I visualized it very much foresty, so I feel like it was a lot of inspiration from your area. Is it kind of woodsy, outdoorsy, stuff like that? Kind of like a music visualizer, how do you visualize that album to you? What does it mean to you?
Cameron: Yeah, we definitely live in the woods. We live in a small town called Rifton, there’s nothing there at all. There’s a post office. And there’s sturgeon pond [sturgeon pool]. It was one of the largest areas for bootlegging back in the day, so there’s a kind of a vibe around there. But yeah, I don’t know–I don’t really think about it conceptually, too much. The songs just came in from inspiration, like I said before, we definitely watch a lot of horror movies. And I read a lot of spooky shit, detective novels.
Also, I like talking to strangers. I feel like I’ll watch them for a little bit and suss them out and then go talk to them. Or it’s strange also because I feel like random people will come up and talk to me. I just love having a conversation because I don’t know anything about them and I’m super interested in people. The stranger the person, the better. And it’s great where we are, there’s so many people there. There’s also a lot of characters from where I grew up. I grew up in a small town Ladner, British Columbia. Yeah, I think a lot of the people that are a huge influence for me are the people that I meet in my life or have been a part of my life.
Chloe: What about you, Eden?
Eden: I mean, it’s definitely like Cam has taken 100% of the lead on the sound of the record and the big picture for sure. I think visually as I hear him kind of talk about strangers, small towns, and like weird woodsy places, there are parallels between where I grew up, where he grew up, and where we live now. And sort of the differences between all the super different people that we’ve met in those similar places, but extremely different as far as like… I don’t know. I feel like you [Cameron] are super interested in people in different settings and I think it’s like a cool exploration of just that love, your interest in people and telling stories about different characters and how you’ve seen all that through your eyes.
Chloe: I do have one more question for you. I just wanted to know about the shows you guys have recently been on because you guys have been on a little tour–they came to my hometown, and did a cute little, artsy show–and then you guys kind of ended up here for some other projects. What has been your favorite part thus far?
Eden: I think playing shows with ghost prom has given me a different kind of confidence and what I want to explore in my other musical project and it just makes me really excited to get to experience live settings with two totally different projects and intentions behind them, you know? I think that’s sort of been my favorite part of it–I used to be so scared of fucking up live and, you know, you have the luxury in the studio of being able to go back when you mess up ad do it over again, unless you’re doing like an intentionally weird live take. But still, there’s so much access to just being able to cut stuff up, so it’s really nice to be able to exercise that bone that’s absolutely terrified of messing up in front of people. And knowing that I’m gonna survive, it’s gonna be okay, where I can learn how to be more malleable sonically, and know that if I mess up I can go here or I can stop playing, you know? Like, everything’s gonna be okay. I know that sounds simple but that’s been such a huge thing for me to learn in the process of playing with ghost prom, that it’s just been super helpful to bring into the rest of my life too.
Cameron: Yeah, I think that I was super afraid of messing up as well. It’s funny when you do mess up, because most of the time nobody in the audience even has a clue that you messed up. And just being able to let it go and that translates into life because nobody’s perfect. And I don’t want to be around anybody who’s perfect, I don’t want to see bands that are perfect, it’s just kind of boring to me.
Chloe: It’s not relatable.
Cameron: It’s not relatable. And the shows, I think Evansville was really cool. The audience there was super receptive and sweet. I think the coolest thing that’s coming to my mind, aesthetically and visually, is that we played at this place in Tulsa–Starlight–and it’s a super spooky dive bar, the floors were a Ouija board. It’s really dark, I like to play in the Dark. And all the lights were kind of a red hue. And onstage at the back of the stage there was a coffin. Oh my God, it was perfect.
Eden: There couldn’t have been a more perfect setup for Cam. I loved it too.
Cameron: If I could take a stage show around with me it would kind of be something like that. I don’t know, I have a bunch of weird ideas, maybe like setting up a tent, somebody’s watching old horror movies on a little TV and in a tent while we’re playing with the volume off, volume on doesn’t matter. I have different ideas of something like that. That’s something I want to have one day, being more theatrical. And strange.
Check out ghost prom’s discography below!
And check out our new playlist, “Rising Artist Spotlight”!
