Why Ghost's Touring Band Don't Play On The Albums

As anyone with even a passing interest in Ghost will tell you, each album has a different frontman. Okay, sure, he doesn’t actually change, but the character Tobias Forge plays is different for each record. For the first three we had Papa Emeritus I, II and III, but for latest LP Prequelle Cardinal Copia was leading the charge.

But did you also know that Ghost’s Nameless Ghouls are also different? Not just between albums, but between the studio and the stage.

Speaking on the Talking Metal podcast, mastermind Tobias explained why he separates his live touring band from the studio ghouls.

“There was never any demands or expectancies for the people touring to play on the records for several reasons,” said Tobias. “One is that I’ve always had a favourite drummer that I always wanted to play on the records who’s never been in the band. He’s never been in the touring band. He and I work very well together. He’s perfect for the studio requirements – he does that really well – and I have a favourite keyboard player, who is extremely good at translating the things that I want him to play.”

Tobias went on to explain that during the writing process, he always plays each instrument, so if he starts involving other people, which he has on occasion, then “you end up in a situation where you have to tell them to exactly replicate what I just did, just symbolically.”

READ THIS: Theatricality in rock is having a resurgence

He continued: “Basically, all of the people that are in my band are doing other things – they have solo careers; they have other bands – so I want to give them time off, or time away from Ghost to do their things, because I know, come 2021, when the new record comes out and there’s this 18 months of touring coming up, they will come back having gotten their rocks off."

Tobias also says that he doesn't want to "fuel a lot of potential negativity into touring" by having a band that are already "tired of each other" and "at odds about this, that or the other" due to a demanding recording environment.

"I am very determined to make records – I don’t need necessarily other people to make those records, except for the ones that I choose myself – and I am a very determined tour artist, and I want the tours to be very good as well.”

Tobias recently announced that Ghost will be taking a break from touring in 2020 to focus on writing the fifth full-length album, which will also feature Papa Emeritus IV fronting the band.

READ THIS: The 10 moments that made Ghost superstars