A WRC exclusive with Shawn Peter of The Ghost Town Rebellion

How did you guys meet?

SP: Mike and I have been friends for a long time, and I reached out to him, because Mike is a great songwriter. Mike and Steven joined the group at about the same time, about 3.5 years ago. Steven actually found us; Mike and I loved his drumming, and then Jacob reached out to us about a year later when we needed a bassist.

Where did you start?

SP: I was in a Sacramento group called A Single Second, and my group was ending after a 13yr run so I was asked by another prominent Sacramento group, One Dying Secret, to audition, because they needed a new front person. Then TGTR came together in 2013.

At what age did you become fascinated with music? And what does creating new music mean to you?

SP: I became fascinated with music as soon as I was able to turn on the stereo! And to create new music? It means everything to me. That is the most exciting part of being a musician, aside from performing new songs to an excited audience. My favorite part of song writing is always the beginning. Mike and I get together, weekly, sit down and play to each other what we’ve written for the week. We pick the two best ideas we’ve come up with, work on a vocal melody, and then bring the skeleton of the song(s) to Steven and Jacob, so they can add their magic to them as well. Once that’s done we take the song, (if he approves it,) to Michael Rosen (our producer,) and he breaks it apart, and we all put it back together again!

If you were to revive one musician, of influence, who would it be?

SP: Oh gosh, too many to actually say for me. What I mean is none, I wouldn’t revive anyone, because if you have their records to listen to, your influences are never gone, they’re right there coming out of your speakers, or headphones.

There are so many great bands out there, how do you plan on standing out from the rest?

SP: Everything actually, from our songwriting to our live shows! First our lyrical content is unique in that it is mostly about real American History. 2nd, our musical content; we combine so many genres from Rock to Blues, Folk to Country, Hip Hop to Metal, and, of course, Punk. The 3rd thing is our live shows. Our live shows are what truly make The Ghost Town Rebellion. We perform nightly 2-3hrs non stop. When you come to see The Ghost Town Rebellion, we take you on a full emotional journey; our songs are so diverse, and catchy, its like listening to an old school mix- tape, but live. Our goal by the end of the night, is to get everyone off of their feet, dancing around, have a good time, and to forget about their problems for a few hours!

Where did you find the name from?

Let’s talk about the new record.

How many songs?

SP: It was with the very first line up of TGTR. Rob, our bassist, came up with the name along with Corey, Joe and I. 

SP: We’re thinking 8-10 tracks. We have 4 completed, 4 we’re still finishing up, (vocals, keys, and other instruments), and possibly a few more. We have 2 more completed songs which are being released on two different compilation records, but I can’t really talk about that! 

What can you tell fans, listeners of the podcast, and people looking to find out more about your new record?

SP: The album is called ‘Eldorado’, and it has multiple songs surrounding the “idea” of what ‘Eldorado’ means, from all senses of the phrase, word, or place! If you’d like to get a sneak listen- and watch us live – we did the Song “Diamond Queen” on Portland Oregon’s “Bridge City Sessions” – its a great video recording we did, and gives the viewer a very good idea of The Ghost Town Rebellion live experience.

Who’s producing the new record? How did you connect the dots? And what can we expect from The Ghost Town Rebellion going forward as far as plans go?

SP: Micheal Rosen (Rancid, Journey, AFI, Tesla, Papa Roach, Santana), is Recording and
Producing the album at his studio in Berkeley California called East Bay Recorders. Otherwise we usually self produce at my studio, The Decompression Chamber, and have everything mixed and mastered by Joe Johnston (he did all the early Cake records.)
As far as connecting the dots, we still are connecting them with Michael. Michael’s an old school producer, which we love, and is really pushing us to deliver our best performance, and
material, and won’t settle for less. He’s a perfectionist in that area!

If you mean how did we meet Michael? 
Well I’m good friends with the band Papa Roach, The Lonely Kings, both whom Micheal has recorded and produced records for in the past. Papa Roach had purchased a recording studio here in Sacramento a while back, and I was already an established engineer, having worked at local studios, as well as interning for TapeOp Recording Magazine. Anyway they invited me over and wanted my opinion on the studio etc. Micheal was there and we started chatting, geeking out on gear, and always kept in touch after that. So finally a year ago we started working together, and the rest is history.

   As far as what the future holds? We’re working with The DNS Agency based in Los Angeles that has already got us connected with a few labels and we have songs coming out on two different projects to be announced soon.  Micheal Rosen is guiding us to be a professional recording group, and not just another indie group. As far as The Ghost Town Rebellion goes we want our fans to hear some really great music and enjoy an energetic show that will being them back time and time again.