Interview: Marble Ghosts - Ottawa Band's Alt Metal Allyship And Awareness

Canadian band Marble Ghosts have been in heavy rotation over here, a sophisticated blend of catchy yet aggressive hard rock, nu metal and alternative influences. Recently signed with Self-Made Records, LLC. with distro from Earache, the band have been turning heads with their new The Greatest Divide Release. 

Fever 333, early Linkin Park fans or anyone with a brain will enjoy their championing of astute social commentary paired with big emotion. That said, the Ottawa crew certainly have their own identity and staying power. Check them out and support with your full chest some real rock relevance!

1. Hello! Terrific release from you! Absolutely can't stop spinning the title track with the state of the world today. Reminds me of a more socially conscious and melodic strain of hard rock, with hints of stuff like Cold, Orgy, Deadlights. Really enjoying the scope of this release. Was it a goal to make a shorter release that nonetheless felt like a real emotional journey? It has many anthemic moments.

We really try to make sure we have no filler tracks on our albums, and since we’re a newer band that’s really eager to get more music out, it’s been more practical to release singles and EPs. However, we are planning on doing a full-length album for our next one. – Adam

I’m flattered that the EP took you on a trip! And that you keep listening to ‘Distance Between’. I think it might feel like a journey because every song is very different. No one sounds alike and each one tells a different story. -Dylan

2. "Eat The Rich" is more timely than ever. There have been records like Warrant's Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinkin' Rich that poke fun while sort of envying the uber elite, or of course many punk bands that want to guillotine our oligarch overlords. What motivated you to write your song? I also think it is cool you stuck up for the homeless in the title track.

The motivation for ‘Eat the Rich’ is simple- suffering and seeing way too much of it. People I know having to stay in places where they were abused because they can’t afford to move or people having to live in their cars, it all paints a picture of massive inequality and a failure on the part of politicians at all levels and corporations. In Canada, it was a grocery store CEO taking a 3 million dollar raise while millions across the country struggled to pay for food and shelter. Or a law in Montreal meant to increase affordable housing and not one real estate developer following it, choosing instead to pay a fine. The issue is the absolute power billionaires wield and how they shape our world through lobbying or, in the case of the United States, paying for a presidency.

‘Eat the Rich’ is about pointing out massive wage inequality and raising awareness to a growing problem and trying to stop getting people to defend billionaires who have more than enough means to pay a living wage. It is about the people staying in broken homes to avoid being homeless while increasingly out of touch billionaires who could affect real, meaningful change use their power to crush unions and depress wages, enriching themselves off a broken system. - Dylan

3. How did you all meet and get united in making an uncompromising and focused musical vision like this?

We actually all met through different platforms online. The digital age makes it a bit easier to get a band going. – Adam

Musically, I’m not sure it should work! We are mixing Adam’s metalcore, my grunge and alt-rock influences with Jer’s death metal and at the time Paul’s classic metal. All those elements mixing could sound terrible if you think about it, but somehow, it all works! I think it helps that we have a great writing chemistry, and everyone adds to the music in a way that makes it better. -Dylan

In terms of it being uncompromising, I’m really the driving force behind the band’s message. Some of the guys are more apolitical, but we all agree that the message isn’t political because human rights aren’t political. If someone chooses to see us that way, that’s entirely up to them. -Dylan

4. What was your recording and preparation process like? How was the studio experience this time?

We have a pretty unconventional recording process. I actually studied music production in college a while back, so we set up makeshift studios for vocals, guitar and bass. We tracked Dylan’s vocals in his basement, and I tracked the guitars in my dining room… For both of our EPs we went to Hillside Audio to track the drums and had Soundcreation Studios do the mix/master. – Adam

Now everyone knows the secret! -Dylan

5. "Trafficked (The Devil Inside)" is a standout to me. It is not an easy subject. I know on Motorhead's Bastards album there is a song "Don't Let Daddy Kiss Me" that jarringly interrupts the very rocking energy of that record with a sad ballad about abuse. Or Hatebreed's merciless "A Call For Blood" calling for the demise of a serial abuser. Your song still kind of slots in with the other material, but what led you to touch on such an epidemic when a lot of bands would take the easy way out and just make some party rock song?

I don’t think I’m capable of writing a party rock song! Joking aside, there’s nothing wrong with using music as escapism, but the entire EP deals with dark and sometimes disturbing material that is unfortunately a reflection of our society and as an advocacy band, Marble Ghosts is always going to deal with heavier themes.

‘Trafficked’ was written by our former bassist (but still our friend!) Paul Champagne. In writing the lyrics, Paul wanted to shed light on a misunderstood subject that most people simply can’t believe happens until it impacts them or someone close to them. What most people don’t realize is that most of the women and girls that are trafficked know their abuser, and they were not kidnapped from the street and pushed into a white van. No, most of them are vulnerable members of society (indigenous/2SLGBTQIA+/individuals facing housing uncertainty) that are groomed to believe their abuser is their saviour and then they are forced into the commercial sex industry under threats of violence to their friends and family- Dylan

Please check out our video for ‘Trafficked’ to learn more and find out how you can help:

6. It is currently June, one of my favorite times of year in Southern California where I live now. The sort of muted and overcast sky contrasts in trippy slow motion ways mentally with the palm trees and your slower song "Gloom" fits the vibe perfectly. There is a strange contrast here between wealth and urgency to survive of others or the push between conformity and seeking a recreational or resistance or rebellious lifestyle. I was wondering what was going through your heads when you were writing that one?

It's funny that you mention wealth and urgency to survive because ‘Gloom’ was inspired by Paris Hilton’s experience attending and escaping from various troubled teen camps that abused children, some of which still exist today. I was so struck by the contrast between the character that Paris played on television for 20 years, and this woman of great substance and intelligence that advocates for the closure of camps that perpetrated trauma. I also wanted to raise awareness that such camps still exist, and yes, they will still kidnap your children (in front of you) to bring them to these rehabilitation centres that torture children and, in some cases, even deny them a formal education. Unfortunately, many of them ended up addicts or even committed suicide, hence the life ‘You took your life. Took your life for good behaviour.’

I have great respect for Paris and for the work she does in closing these places down. She has helped to make them illegal in several states. I hope she hears the song one day and learns that her struggle has inspired art and will hopefully raise even more awareness about these terrible places that focused on tough love but instead inflicted trauma on a generation of children who are now dealing with the fallout as adults. - Dylan

7. I can really see your band fitting well as a big movie soundtrack moment to heighten the energy. The songs are so catchy but have this haunting something special extra about them that made it stand out to me and want to know more. How can we get you in the John Wick franchise?

Hey, if you want to set us up with a sync agent, we’d be really, really happy. But thank you! It’s something we are looking into definitely. -Dylan

8. How did it feel when you tracked "Osmium" and realized that opening riff and verse section was as heavy as some classic Korn and Mudvayne? I mean, you must've been grinning when you heard that initial riff playback so gnarly!

Adam initially thought that it was too heavy for the band! But we all loved it. ‘Osmium’ was the first song written for the new EP, and it came together relatively quickly. I love Adam’s dive bomb to start the solo, and then the ending hits SO hard. It almost always starts a mosh pit at shows. -Dylan