Hi I’m Ghost is a classically trained musician, but you’d never guess from his intense wobbles and massive basslines. The producer has signed with Firepower Records for his debut Hi Friends EP, and we’ve got the premiere of what we think is the most massive track on the record.
What makes “Halfway” so sonically interesting is the polyrhythm, the interplay of two different melodies at once that harmonize and create something greater than the sum of the parts. You can hear it in the deep bassline and the warbly synths as they mingle and dance with each other, creating an otherworldly sound. You don’t often hear polyrhythms in dubstep, either, so it’s even more exciting in that aspect.
We reached out to Hi I’m Ghost to ask a little about his background, his EP, and where he sees himself in the future. Check out all of that below! Pre-order the Hi Friends EP here. 
So seriously, how did you go from classical music to headbanging dubstep? Create a timeline for me.
Well I started loving classical music when I was around 10 years old. At the time, I didn’t know much about DAWs, etc. so I used what my computer came with: GarageBand. I was using a MIDI keyboard to play it all. I never programmed anything in, but I absolutely loved it. I still have the disk of the first 5 classical songs I played in GarageBand. From there, a lot of my friends were listening to Datsik, Excision, etc. and then next thing I knew these guys were all at my father’s studio. I was amazed that one person could make these crazy noises using these crazy DAWs that I’ve never seen before, so I started googling YouTube tutorials and I was off.
Who were your biggest influences when deciding to start producing?
Oh, there are a lot. Porter Robinson, Skrillex, Datsik, Excision. But most of all, Sluggo. He was the first person to show me the NI plug-in Massive, when I was like 14 in my living room and how to make a simple growl bass. 7 years down the line, he’s managing me and fully believes in what I’m trying to do. It’s a trip.
What kind of gear do you use to produce? Anything from the software to the hardware.
For software, I use Ableton, Serum, Fab filter stuff. The usual. Hardware-wise, I’ve had the same MIDI controller for a few years now. I’m blanking on the name, though.
How did you come up with the name “Hi I’m Ghost.” As far as DJ names go, it’s pretty unique.
It was about a year and a few months ago that this project started. I recently got off of a tour with a previous duo I was in, and said “what do I want to do? who do I want to be?” In all honesty, I really didn’t want to be known. I wanted to be a fun, cute character like I watched in cartoons when I was younger. So I was sitting outside and my wife said “how about a ghost?” I looked at her and laughed. “What, so I’m gonna be like ‘hi I’m ghost’?” and that’s the end of it. I loved it.
Specifically on “Halfway,” what was the process behind producing that?
The lyrics in Halfway, “I’m hardly up and I’m hardly down”, resonated with me in a way. I’ve never been the type of person to be overly happy about anything, or overly sad, I’m just halfway. So I took that lyrical idea and formed a song that had a happy chord progression, into an almost metal-like drop that I felt made sense in the way my own person has always been hardly up and hardly down. I’m just halfway – haha.
What’s your next goal as a producer DJ? Biggest goal in the next 5 years?
My biggest goal is to do an animated cartoon type deal with ghost, to give him a voice, a personality, etc. Besides that I just want to get on the road and write more and more music everyday.
Thank you for having me. Keep it Spooky.
Keep in touch with Hi I’m Ghost via the links below.
