Seattle – Following the release of their self-titled debut, Cool Ghouls have spent the year touring up and down the West Coast and making some pretty weighty connections. In 2013 alone Burger Records has welcomed them with open arms and they’ve worked with fellow San Franciscans Fresh and Onlys. On a recent stop in Seattle, we got a chance to chat with Cool Ghouls members Ryan Wong (lead guitar), Pat Thomas (bass), Pat McDonald (guitar) and Alex Fleshman (drums) about their music and their city’s scene scene.
Brigit Anderson: Can you give a quick history of Cool Ghouls?
Cool Ghouls: We went to high school together so the idea has been alive for probably …. it’s been a while. We’ve only recently been able to act on it in 2011 because we’ve all just been living in the same city for two years.
BA: That’s San Francisco, right?
CG: Yes
BA: How has the city itself influenced your music?
CG: In a way it’s a power source. A lot of our heart and soul and inspiration for the band come from where we’re from. It’s hard to say because that’s where we’ve always been doing it. I don’t know what it would sound like if we were doing it somewhere else.
BA: It’s easy for critics to hear a band and say who’s influenced them, but it’s obviously more telling coming from the band itself. Who would you say are some of your influences?
CG: As far as San Francisco goes — San Francisco right now — Thee Oh Sees and Fresh & Onlys. We recorded with Sonny Smith from Sonny & the Sunsets and Tim Cohen from Fresh & Onlys. Just working with them and listening to their music – they’ve been our elders, our band gods. Actually now that I’m thinking about it, and being in San Francisco, I’ve been digging into Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead – that classic 60s San Francisco stuff. That whole sound informed us, or we kind of pull from it. We share a lot of common ground in terms of rock and roll standards.
BA: A lot of bands now are being labeled “psych rock” that might not actually fit into that genre in the classic sense. Having played at psych fests and identifying with bands like Thee Oh Sees, how do you see yourselves fitting into that scene?
CG: We have psychedelic moments, but I think of us as just a rock and roll band. When I think of psychedelic, I think of “In A Gadda Da Vida.” I think garage and psych and rock are just really loose terms now. There are a lot of bands out there that I wouldn’t think of as any of those things that are being called those things. Bands will even call themselves psych when really they’re not, but maybe they’re hoping they’re making psychedelic rock because psychedelic isn’t only a genre, it’s a quality. Maybe going for that, going for something that’s far out, is becoming more popular – even a lot electronic music. I think we end up getting psychedelic sometimes but it’s never intentional.
BA: You just had a tape come out with Burger Records, which is a pretty bourgeoning label. What’s your experience been like with the label so far?
CG: Those guys are so cool and such supportive dudes. We actually got hooked up with them through this band Natural Child out of Nashville – they’ve awesome – and they told Burger, “you should check out Cool Ghouls” and then Burger asked if we wanted to release anything. They released the tape version of our first album. Everyone’s paying attention to Burger right now and those guys work hard. They’re at the shop just in the back with stacks of shipments, packages, all day – they never stop. People will play it up too – like we’ll be playing somewhere and the sign will say “Cool Ghouls – BURGER!” It’s reference point; they see Burger band, they know what to expect.
