On the Radar Artist of the Month – GHOST DATA

By
Kayla Draper
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GHOST DATA – Summary

Introduction

Welcome back to the newest edition of our On The Radar Artist of the Month! For the new readers, this series focuses on producers with high quality sound and track development that we feel are under-recognized and should be garnering more attention than they currently are. This month’s edition features an artist who clearly has a love for anime and Japan, as he incorporates aspects of otaku culture into his works, creating a unique and successful artist persona.

For the sixth edition of OTR, we will review the works and personality behind the newest alias for the artist once known as Ikaros. His songs detail the story of “The Shepherdess”, an adorable anime-like character that adorns the cover art of his works. With an insane 132 tracks currently posted on his Soundcloud, GHOST DATA has the ability to churn out high quality works quickly, keeping the Shepherdess’ story alive. The releases average somewhere between 5-15k plays (aside from a few outlying songs and albums) which we believe is a shockingly low number considering the popularity of the genre is involved in and his rather large cult following.

Original Productions & “Technically” Remixes

GHOST DATA’s “Blatant Plagiarism” is ironically his most played track on Soundcloud, sitting at a hefty 297k plays. Why is this ironic? The song, with its aptly named title, expresses how the genre “future funk” is usually blatant plagiarism of existing songs. Though being a song made out of spite, it is truly groovy. Starting off with an 80’s-esque bass line and delicate piano synth, GHOST DATA shows that the genre can be made of song rip-offs but still provide a true homage to the original tracks used. The whole track maintains its funky feel through the last second, ensuring that the audience keeps their toes tapping along to the beat.

Released in 2012, “Celestial Bodies” feat. Jovani Occomy is a blissful and spacey ride from start to finish. Beginning with a light and airy synth line, the track picks up a relaxing beat as Jovani’s delicate vocals enter. As is usual with many songs of this style, there is no large “drop” as often expected in dance music. Instead, GHOST DATA keeps the energy flowing through periodic moments of reduction and building, allowing the listener to still feel progression through the tune. After another iteration of vocals and synths, GHOST DATA ends the song peacefully with a gentle decrescendo.

His most recent track “Crystal Cathedral” (feat Jam2go) is absolutely heavenly, which makes it’s rather low 4.6k plays even more surprising. It begins with a gentle and spacious sound, and the vocals join in by gracefully floating on the synth line. The “drop”, so to speak, is melodic, symphonic, and downright smooth. During the break, GHOST DATA revisits his orchestra samples with gorgeous strings over an elegant synth. After another build, the next drop is a nice restatement of the first, refreshed by adding in a clean kick. While this track’s ending is rather abrupt, it does not feel out of place, and it brings a solid conclusion to the song’s story.

Interview

In a perfect twist of fate, we met GHOST DATA at his booth during San Japan, the anime convention that takes place each Labor Day weekend in San Antonio, TX. Surrounded by his unique and fantastical digital artwork, it was easy to see how his personality translates into each art piece he creates. He was kind enough to agree to an interview, as shown below.

In your song “Blatant Plagiarism” you call out the genre Future Funk for being, quite literally, blatant plagiarism. What was the background story for this track? What are your thoughts about a song you made in spite making its way to the top of your most played songs?

With Blatant Plagiarism, I knew the fallacy of things like Future Funk. I knew how people like Daft Punk profited on the hard work of other people, and the credit they stole from the original musicians who created and performed them. In my older days, I was very outspoken. I tended to pick fights with others in attempts at addressing problems in my, at the time, shared community. What I quickly learned was a message board post here and a Twitter post there was not enough. I created Blatant Plagiarism as a stab at Future Funk, as a way to show both new and old “producers” (I’m saying this extremely loosely), that profiteering off of other peoples artistry is a major detriment to ones artistic integrity. I wanted to also showcase HOW to transform a “sample” into something unique, while at the SAME TIME making it VERY CLEAR that minimal effort was put into a majority of those songs. With added drums, piano work, and synthesizer, I managed to find a near perfect balance of troll and artistry. Thus, Blatant Plagiarism was born. Unfortunately, the joke went too far. Future Funk was already huge, and at that time, those that got it laughed, while the many others who didn’t get the joke just thought it was another future funk song added to the table. With the number of plays and shares climbing daily, it was an inevitability of both chance and passion that achieved it a cult status as well as a commercially successful track. I cringe to this day knowing that a joke song is my legacy, and am continuously trying to outperform those numbers, most of the time failing. Meme songs will always get huge traction, but it WILL eventually fall, that’s the day I will be happy.

You mention on your website being influenced by a number of video game music composers and a few electronic music acts, but is there any one artist of any genre that you believe inspires you the most?

Definitely deadmau5. His passion, as well as sometimes brash attitude, taught me the beauty of dynamics as well as a good type of attitude to have when it comes to making music: Make it for you, and never anyone else.

After recently performing at the Saturday rave at San Japan in San Antonio, TX, how did it feel to play for such a unique audience? Did you notice anything different compared to typical dance music shows?

Absolutely. The anime crowd is a much different beast than an EDM crowd in the fact that their palettes are much different and much more malleable for my Live Set. Where an EDM “neck breaker” is only looking for riddim or a banger track, an anime fan is much like a virgin to new music ideas. Their palettes are much more open and available to shower ideas with. To create such a unique live performance for such a unique crowd was both exciting and scary. It’s a Russian roulette of chancing whether I pull the trigger on a successful, powerful set, or a blank. And that excites me.

As you continue to grow in popularity, do you have a dream location, be it a venue or festival, that you would love to perform at?

I would like to headline Ultra Japan, just in that Japan and it’s many cultural groups and followings have shaped my sounds and aesthetic. The Japanese have a very unique and passionate musical following, and many different sounds come from there that inspire me. As well as anime and movies from Japan, the visual aesthetic of GHOST DATA and The Shepherdess is very much inspired by that unique blend of animation and music meeting together. To perform for a Japanese audience would be a dream come true and such a unique experience, it’s hard not to want to play in Japan!

Overall, what are your thoughts about what you’ve accomplished in 2018, and what can we expect from you in 2019?

Crystal Cathedral was exactly what I wanted to make. The songs, the synths, the technique, the music video, the aesthetic of my story and The Shepherdess, it all correlated to something beautiful. My vision has and will always be creating melodic, atmospheric, and cinematic pieces that whisper the story of The Shepherdess. There is no fad, following, or bandwagon that will ever drift me away from The Shepherdess. Her story is my story, and her life exists only in our reality the more I create for her and myself. Without my dreams, without my goals, and without the things that inspire it, she will wither. I feel passionately about keeping her heart beating, and her words audible. 2019 will continue the story of The Shepherdess, hopefully in a much more cinematic and visual way. I’m hoping to have more music videos and graphic representations of her as well as new music that compliments her story. As for after that, only time will tell~

Conclusion

In sum, GHOST DATA’s music is in line with many of the music trends taking off today. It is almost baffling that his work has not picked up more attention from those who are into the current future bass / subground / synth (whatever you want to call it) wave that has been creeping into festivals across the world. His works are clean and high quality, he has a unique persona and story that he shows through his songs, and he has a cult following that should have him more on the radar of bigger artists in the genre. GHOST DATA has the ability to become a household name in this niche, and we are incredibly excited to see where he, and The Shepherdess, go in 2019 and beyond.

Kayla Draper
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Music: Hard Dance | Drum and Bass | Future Bass

Hobbies: Cosplay | Travel | Music Festivals | Sewing | Dancing | Contact Staff

Likes: Fried Chicken | Samurai | Video Games | Sleep

Dislikes: Beans | Bugs | Traffic | Complacency

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