Living in Ghosts: Stay On Top...
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
Sometimes, you're listening to your favourite show, and you hear a song that catches your attention. Stay On Top is a universe in itself. Let's talk about it with Jonra!
1) Dear Jonra, I’m over the moon to have you here as “Stay on top” is an absolute favourite of mine. Discovering it thanks to Balearic Breakfast was a real treat! But first things first, can you tell us more about “Living in ghosts”? How did that project come about?
Eric and I started Living in Ghosts out of a need to create a moniker that could facilitate the slower, more musical dimension of our sound. We have been making music together for over two decades and have explored many different styles and vibes throughout the years.
The slower tempos were always something we enjoyed creating, but we are only now beginning to release this side of our music to a wider audience.
2) “Stay on top” has a very dark musical palette; it is quite a frightening track, actually! Still, the lyrics are quite positive... Intellectually speaking, it creates a very motivating piece of music, perfectly representing a kind of “rage of despair” . How did that song come to you?
Our first single, "Stay on Top," was a collaboration with longtime friend Simon "Woolfy" James. He brought his upbeat lyrics and musical sensibilities to the table, which really helped take the song to another level. Along with our live analogue jams, Simon's quirky lyrics, and Dan Hastie's masterful guitar riffs and production, "Stay on Top" was born.
3) There are several remixes of the song that recently came out. Can you share with us how these versions came to life?
After sitting on the shelf for quite some time during COVID, we finally decided to start promoting the track, and it quickly caught the ears of people I shared it with through social media. Andrew, aka Lovefingers, was one of the first to hear it. He gave us amazing feedback, some great advice, and suggested we share it with Sean Johnston, who he felt would really connect with the vibe.
Sean ended up playing the track at ALFOS prior to its official release. This eventually turned into a friendship and ongoing conversations about the tune, leading Sean to deliver two timeless mixes: the Hardway Bros ALFOS Dub and the Extended Mix.
Soon after, I shared the track with Doc Martin, who later contributed a remix that is now out as the "Doc Martin Subwarp Mix." Doc's remix carries that classic Doc Martin sound with a raga-dub twist that reminds me of the old Bay Area Wicked crew sounds we all grew up on, but with a modern-day edge.
Last but definitely not least, Emachinery delivered a disco acid remix that tied the entire package together perfectly for the cosmic acid recombination.
4) You also issued the track “Cars that go boom slow” which still has that dark touch, also keeping this hypnotic feel that you seem to love so much! What is the message behind this song?
The last track we released, "Cars That Go Slow," was an edit inspired by Le Tigre's "Cars That Go Boom," the classic Miami bass tune. That one was simply something fun we felt naturally fit under the Living in Ghosts moniker.
5) Will we have to wait three more years until your next release or do you have new tracks coming out soon? As you can feel it we’re not at all excited by what you do (laughs)!
We currently have a new EP taking shape featuring a collaboration with sax player John Juster, along with a new collaboration with Woolfy that we also remixed, plus several original tracks in the works.
Rather than flooding the project with massive amounts of music, we want to remain highly selective and release music when it truly feels right, not simply to feed the industry machine. We are not interested in being on a treadmill where we feel pressured to release constantly. We want each record to have the proper space and time to breathe as it finds its audience.
Thank you so much, dear Jonra, for this great interview!
Thanks for having me, Artur.
Stay on Top has been included in the Halloween Mix I posted a few years ago. You can find the post here.
If you wanf to listen to the mix quickly, I added it just below, close your eyes and enjoy the Spooky but very Balearic Vibes...
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