Q&A with Ambient Alt-Rock Band GUARDIAN GHOST – Undefinable. Genre-bending. Evocative & Visual

“LA’s Guardian Ghost blazes across the night sky casting off a comet tail of influences ranging from Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Muse, Coldplay, Editors and the Chameleons; shimmering guitars, sparks of percussion, haunting orchestral notes and the achingly beautiful vocals of frontman Jesse Glick.“ – Popdose

Undefinable. Genre-bending. Evocative & Visual. It’s hard to pin down the sound of GUARDIAN GHOST, but it’s deep resonance can’t be ignored. Mixing modern alt-rock elements with ambient textures, strong melody, intelligent/poetic lyrics, and an emotional delivery, the LA band carves out a unique space in the current music landscape.

Started by singer/guitarist Jesse Glick in New York City (but born and raised in Woodstock, NY), he self-recorded and produced the first two albums Line Drawings and Shadowlands  before returning to LA to fill out the band with the current line-up: guitarist Robert Katrikh (Brooklyn, NY), keyboardist Cole Seigel (Tulsa, OK), drummer Tim Alek (Hunter, NY) and bassist Phil Wyer (Dublin, Ireland). The band has built a solid following and buzz in LA on the strength of their powerful and dynamic live shows.

The band has received numerous TV/film placements (One Tree Hill, Burn Notice, Scrubs, Pretty Little Liars, The L Word, White Collar) and will be touring heavily throughout the new year.

After a long NYC winter, Jesse Glick locked himself in his cold apartment and began writing a collection of new songs. Anonymous solitude and personal heartache amidst the bustling city provided the backdrop .. for inspiration to dwell. The snow fell. The radiators hissed. The hardwood floors creaked. And melodies took flight. Playing all the instruments and producing/recording/mixing himself, his singular vision evolved organically without outside influence or boundary.

Slowly, in-between long walks downtown, endless subway chatter, and an epic cross-country drive, an album emerged…telling stories of love, loss, rage and redemption.

All Access Music writer, Nicole DeRosa got to catch up with lead singer, Jesse Glick before GUARDIAN GHOST‘s show at LA’s  Globe Theatre on December 9th. Enjoy their chat below!

Hey there Jesse! How are you today? What’s on the agenda today besides our interview?

Well hello there ! Doing great thank you. Today let’s see: doing some graphic design/creating a flyer for the next show at the Globe Theatre, strategizing filming it with my cinematographer buddy, working on the lyrics of our next single, writing new material, doing some commercial music work, taking a walk … not enough hours in the day!

For those that are not familiar with you and GUARDIAN GHOST, how did you get your start? Who or what was the catalyst for you to want to live the life of a musical gypsy?

Well for me the calling of music started at a very young age with piano lessons, but got serious when I found my dad’s ’66 Martin D-35 acoustic in the closet and began writing my own songs around 13-14 yrs old. And when I mean serious, I’m talking Tascam 4-tracking oh yeah .. but with every demo and band I formed, I just started climbing the never-ending mountain…you get to what you think is the summit, and lo and behold, there’s more to go! …. now it’s too late to stop

What did you learn between your previous albums: Line Drawings and Shadowlands that you felt you wanted to infuse into the new album?

Those albums, esp Shadowlands, were rather catharctic in nature .. so the next batch I think will be a bit more upbeat and in your face. Still with the deep resonance we seem to always carry, but with more power. Interesting how art imitates life, or vice versa…so the next collection should be pretty wild.

Who have been your inspirations growing up that also inspire you today?

It’s strange I don’t really listen to much of what I used to, and those teenage idols are long gone now ..but looking back now I appreciate the songwriting and production of those classics .. Zeppelin, Floyd, Dylan, Marley.

Today what is inspiring depends on what mood I’m in really .. in electronic I love Flume / Odesza / Jon Hopkins .. in organic music I love Fink / Kurt Vile / War On Drugs / Ben Howard / Sam Smith, anything with soul .. that sort of stuff. And on the spiritual side … love Guy Sweens / Karunesh / Desert Dwellers and that type of meditation music. Good for the soul.

As far as songwriting goes, are you the main songwriter of the band? How do you capture inspiration as it comes to you?

Yes I am, but we are starting to write together now and it’s a fun process. I usually hear melodies or entire songs in my head and try to capture them in my voice recorder before they go poof! and disappear 2 minutes later. Or I sit down and start noodling on the guitar or piano and pull up a beat on the computer and hum gibberish. I am the king of gibberish… lol. The ideas come easily and fast, the trick is turning 500 half-ideas on my hard-drive into fleshed-out, completed songs.

Nowadays, everything is so instant…you push a button and it’s yours ala Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud etc. What was the first album (you can remember) that you spent your hard earned money on back in the day and bought for yourself?

I think the first CD I actually remember purchasing in those long cardboard boxes, remember those? … was either Fugazi – “13 Songs” or Beastie Boys – “Paul’s Boutique.” Both incredible in their own right. They were about $20 each and you better believe I got my money’s worth out of those! When you buy something I think it carries more weight so to speak.

I had those giant CD books that held hundreds, I guess we all did. Then they were stolen out of my car and I was devastated. Now? Oh right my phone is lost with all my music, ok I’ll get a new phone and my Spotify playlists are all in the cloud. Brilliant but what a different time we live in now. It’s amazing but disposable. Oh the conundrum!

What was the first song you fell in love with and why?

I think it was either “Hotel California” or “Born To Run”, when I was a wee little tyke. My dad had all these records and I would put them on in the living room in Woodstock NY, and crank them up. He was teaching me piano and being a great piano player himself, he would just start jamming along to the songs easily, which blew my mind as I hadn’t learned to play by ear yet, just classically , reading notes on a page.

“Suffice to say my classical days were numbered when that guitar solo for Hotel California kicked in.”

What’s on tap next for GUARDIAN GHOST? What are you most excited about for this year?

This next year we have a lot to look forward to . Some big shows are booked, and we are looking to tour pretty heavily throughout the year. Hope to get to Europe as well.

And a new single should be out by February, along with plans to record a new album later in the year. We’re looking to form the right business team also, so managers/agents/labels .. anybody home? Be in touch before it’s too late!

To keep up to date with GUARDIAN GHOST, visit them via their socials below: 

Website  /  Spotify  / Instagram  / Facebook  / Twitter  / You Tube 

Soundcloud