I Am Ghost
I Am Ghost |
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I Am Ghost is an American post-hardcore band from Long Beach, California, formed in late 2004. They are signed to Epitaph Records.
Background
I Am Ghost was formed after Steven Juliano's departure from The Silence, the name was conceived from an excerpt from a poem Steven read from his flight home. Timoteo Rosales III and Gabriel Iraheta joined the band, meeting Steve from his past shows with The Silence having been fans of his former band. They held extensive auditions for bass position, Brian Telestai joined soon after. Victor Angel Camarena was a founding member of the band unknown to some, he joined after responding to a classified ad on the social networking site Myspace and quickly filled the drummer position. The first songs conceived by the band were actually on the EP We Are Always Searching which was self-produced and distributed free of charge locally. Before recording Victor suggested to add synth or violin-like effects to add atmosphere to the songs. Brian mentioned to the band that his girlfriend Kerith Marcantionio who lived in Santa Barbara, California played violin. After several jam sessions using an acoustic violin, Kerith was the last member to be added to the line-up. Kerith commuted from Santa Barbara to Long Beach twice a month for band practice and was given a guitar amp to practice with. They soon recorded a five song-demo at Love Juice Studios in La Habra, California.
The DIY style promotion and fan appreciation acquired them a rabid local fan base. They managed to land a slot opening for Tsunami Bomb when they played in Los Angeles at The Troubador. They soon headlined a show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California to which they acquired managers from Tsunami Bomb's management team. They played a successful show at The Glasshouse in Pomona, CA which soldified their presence as a legitimate band. By this time Victor was beginning to question the band's credibility stating that perhaps things were happenning at such a rapid pace that it's begun to change some of the member's attitudes.
The next gig was at the Troubador in Hollywood which some label reps were going to be in attendance which made it a significant show in I Am Ghost's career. During soundcheck Kerith was being rather picky about Brian's sound levels, which angered the sound techs. During the performance the monitors mysteriously shut off which caused Victor to lose track of one of song's but he quickly recovered. This mishap created a boundary between Victor and Steven which later served as the basis for Victor's departure. On the eve of signing to Epitaph Records Kerith called Victor telling him that the "band" decided to let him go to avoid anymore mistakes during performance, to this day Victor refuses to communicate to any of the members except for Tim having felt a sense of betrayal by his former band. He now performs with his new band Incarpathia.
After sigining to Epitaph the band recorded their first full length album Lovers' Requiem. It was released on October 10, 2006. Lead vocalist Steven Juliano explains, "It’s essentially a rock opera, but for hardcore or goth kids."[1]
I Am Ghost has also had several media mentions in magazines, including a Metal Hammer Interview. They also have been interviewed for several websites, and had their EP reviewed in several UK music magazines. Not only have they had their EP reviewed in Metal Hammer, they've also been included in the publications' Dead Hot 50 Band's of 2006 List.
I Am Ghost has toured with Biffy Clyro, TheAUDITION and The Bronx on the Kerrang! Tour 2007, the Epitaph Tour 2007 with Escape the Fate, The Matches, and The Higher, the Take Action Tour in 2006, and played on Warped Tour 2006 and Warped Tour 2007. Kerith Telestai released an official statement on June 30, 2007 stating that she would be unable to continue touring and would be leaving the band due to health reasons. I Am Ghost is not currently looking for a replacement. A few days after Kerith left the band, her husband, Brian Telestai, announced that he too would be leaving the band after their tour with Aiden. He posted a controversial bulletin on MySpace regarding his departure from the band, and the band has recently found a replacement.
Despite the rumors, Juliano and the Telestai's still remain friends. They currently form the band Telestai.
Ryan Seaman (former drummer of I Am Ghost) played from August 2005-January 2008, he left the band for "personal" reasons and "creative" differences and decided to become a studio drummer in the process, all the members and Seaman remain friends. Ryan Seaman is now filling in for such artists as Jeffree Star, and Alexa Wilkinson, and has a side project called Electric Valentine. He continues to tour internationally and play locally as well, notably for current band The Brobecks.
Upcoming Album
I Am Ghost has posted a teaser for their second album on Youtube that contains a demo of a new song called "My Beautiful". This song has a female voice singing in the background, but the only female singer left in 2007, so it is unknown if a new member has joined the band. The song teaser is also featured on the MySpace page of Electronic/Industrial act Chamber of Echoes, but there is no explicit evidence of any collaboration between Chamber of Echoes singer Klaryssa Korol and I Am Ghost.
Upon the release of the song on MySpace, messages to MySpace friends of I Am Ghost from Steven Juliano asked that I Am Ghost fans add Chamber of Echoes using the site's Friend feature. Again, Juliano made no mention of collaboration between the two bands.
On January 25, 2008, at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA, Klaryssa appeared onstage and played keyboards with I Am Ghost on a few of their songs. Portions of this show were filmed for the upcoming music video, "Pretty People Never Lie, Vampires Never Really Die".
I Am Ghost has also recently begun playing a brand new, as yet unrecorded song in concert entitled "Smile of a Jesus Freak", that may be on the new album.
As of I Am Ghost's April 17, 2008 show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA, the band has begun to incorporate Boner Garden, Smile of a Jesus Freak, and Buried Way Too Shallow into their set list.
The rumored song list is as followed...
- 1. This is War
- 2. Bone Garden
- 3. Let's Burn the Bodies to the Ground
- 4. Smile of a Jesus Freak
- 5. The Ones We Leave Behind
- 6. Destiny
- 7. Every Which Way But Dead
- 8. Buried Way Too Shallow
- 9. Murder Universe
- 10. The Saddest Story Never Told
- 11. ?
- 12. ?
Band members
The band consists of 5 members:
- Steven Juliano - Lead Vocals
- Ron Ficarro - Bass/Vocals
- Timoteo Rosales III - Lead Guitar
- Justin McCarthy- Drums
- Jason Paul Fox - Contributor
Former members
- Brian Telestai - Bass, Keys, Vocals
- Kerith Telestai - Violin, Vocals
- Victor Angel Camarena - Drums (Tracks 2-9 on We Are Always Searching)
- Ryan Seaman- Drums (Tracks 2-12 on Lovers' Requiem)
- Gabe Iraheta-Guitar
Discography
Studio Albums
- 2006: Lovers' Requiem
- 2008: Untitled Second Full-Length Album
EPs
- 2005: We Are Always Searching
Singles
- 2005: "Civil War and Isolation Thirst"
- 2006: "Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps"
- 2007: "Killer Likes Candy"
- 2008: "Pretty People Never Lie, Vampires Never Really Die"