Ghost is successful because they "gave people less," says frontman
Tobias Forge believes part of Ghost‘s success is related to the mystery around the band.
The frontman believes that not updating social media often and giving people less makes fans more interested in the band.
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During a recent interview with Download Festival, Forge talked about his character Cardinal Copia, what he hopes fans get from Ghost’s live shows and why he believes maintaining a low-profile on social media contributes to their success.
The musician explains his stage persona is “a lot like what I wish I could’ve been, or wish I was.”
“A lot of what I’m doing with Ghost is what I always wanted to do as a kid,” Forge explains. “I wanted to be in a theatrical, larger-than-life band with a horror image and some cool mac daddy leading the drill.”
Talking about the band’s live shows, the frontman says he wants fans to experience euphoria.
“I want them to be enlightened and pleased with what they’re seeing, and going away with a smile on their face,” he reveals. “I just want people to leave the show with a smile on their face!”
Forge also explained why the believes the mystery around the band contributed to their success.
“I grew up as a black and death metal fan in a time before the internet. Back then, you had very little to go on – especially with the darker sort of bands,” he shares.
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For some bands, fans could only get access to a few pictures and videos, maybe read a couple interviews. Then, they “had to fill in all the blanks.” The mystery around it, and the rumors that come along, interests him.
Of course, the internet changed all that, which is something the musician disapproves of.
“Now, you can just click on anything and know everything about anything you want,” Forge notes. “And I wanted Ghost to be different. I wanted Ghost to be more in line with the sort of bands that I liked before the internet, where you had to use your imagination and you had to wonder a little.”
“That was definitely something that goes with the whole concept of Ghost, in terms of how I wanted this to be presented to the world and how we were going to communicate with the world,” he continues. “I mean obviously, we have an Instagram account and we do post things from time to time, but y’know, it’s not a personal thing. I won’t tell you where I’m having dinner tonight.”
This secrecy around the group, and going against the current, might be one of the reasons they got so successful.
“It’s in the mental lingo of people to do that nowadays, and it’s very hard to get someone to do it less, because that means they’ll get less people interacting with them,” Forge offers. “On the contrary, I see it as though part of our success has been because we gave people less!”
