EMQ’s with GHASTLY MURDER
Hi Everyone! Welcome to another EMQ’s interview, this time with Mid Wales, UK based Heavy/Dark/Gothic Rock solo project, Ghastly Murder. Huge thanks to main man Gary Emmins, AKA MR E, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My Name is Gary Emmins, AKA Mr E, and GHASTLY MURDER is my solo project. GHASTLY MURDER came about during the lockdown when everything else I was doing musically was stuck in limbo. For quite some time I had wanted to make heavier and darker music, so I decided the time was right to put that project in motion, and went ahead writing songs for it and planning the musicians that I was going to work with in the recordings.
How did you come up with your band name?
The Name GHASTLY MURDER is a newspaper headline from the Victorian era, and it was used in the early slayings of what became the ‘Jack The Ripper’ murder. It (Ghastly Murder) as a phrase captured my imagination and I also think that it sort of describes the sound of the music, something ferocious and with more than a hint of something of the night about it.
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
I live out in the Hinterlands, that is deepest darkest Mid Wales area (although I come from London). I have had a couple of attempts of trying to form a band around this area, but without much joy. I suppose I am fussy with whom I work with, in as much as we need to be on the same page, and the search out here to date has been a bit fruitless! But rather than let that process slow me down, I took the bull by the horns, created GHASTLY MURDER, and put those plans into action rather than let the idea stagnate. I am not aware of any scene as such around these here parts, to be honest there are barely any venues to play around here – one has to branch out to survive!
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
I have just released a couple of tracks, one called ‘TWITCH’ & a song called ‘CHLOROFORM’ which are both part of a 6 track EP that I am releasing drip by drip, called “THE RISE AND DEMISE OF GORY EMMINENCE”- these songs get released 1st via bandcamp then onto all other platforms:
https://ghastlymurder.bandcamp.com/
I have also just released a zero-budget video for the song ‘TWITCH’ which is doing ok, and depicts the post-apocalyptic look and vibe that I was going for:
Who have been your greatest influences?
I suppose ever since I was a child I have been brought up and influenced by the likes of Alice Cooper (more so the band as opposed to the solo character). I come from an Irish family so music has always been a part of my life (as has drinking actually) so that’s in my blood. My interest in the macabre has always been with me as well, and I am always drawn towards the darker side of things.
What first got you into music?
I think out of any art form, music is and always has been the one thing that moves me emotionally. I have also been drawn to bands who have an image that suits the music, so that the aesthetic matches the sonic of the music, and the band/artist lives in a world. I try to do that with GHASTLY MURDER as it exists in a post-apocalyptic world.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician, who would it be?
I would love to work with Rammstein- I love the power of their music. Or maybe System of a Down for the eastern vibe.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Anywhere where there is a crowd to please! But I see our natural home being somewhere like WACKEN FESTIVAL, which is on my bucket list.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
I have some really lovely fans. They often send or give me occult type objects or jewellery – rings, bangles etc. But the oddest thing someone gave me was a duck that they found at the side of the road! I have no idea why they thought I would want it, but anyway I took it home, named it Quackula, took it to the vets, and then released it on local waters – I wonder what happened to that guy?…
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Buy more of my stuff!!!! Open your minds, expect the unexpected from me and enjoy the ride!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Kurt Cobain…. I would like to ask him what actually happened, and why.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I love performing, I love recording, and the creative aspect of it – writing etc. That behind-the-scenes stuff is the hardest bit though.
I don’t like bullshitters, or people who feel they are above bands or artists and exist to simply rip them off – I have met a few of those – also complacency bugs me.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
The eternal struggle to survive! But them’s the rules. I think things have opened up and become more inclusive since the age of the internet though. Again, I don’t like the sharks and I don’t like the vampires that surround the industry – also (see above) the Bullshitters!
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
One of them is “PSALM 69” – MINISTRY but I have many, many albums that I hold dear.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?
I buy music with all the above, apart from Cassettes, which are useless and poor sounding.
I love the richness of sound and the owning of the Artifact that you get with Vinyl. I like the ritual too of playing records– plus if you walk around with the object, it lets people know what you are into – a thing you don’t get with downloads.
CDs I still buy, but I know the future lies in downloads. They never get damaged, and they take up no space, and I can dig that!
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
A gig that springs to mind was a gig I played not long after the lockdown finished at Camden’s ‘Black Heart’ venue- The audience were really up for it and were jumping and diving around from the off. The months of the frustration of being in lockdown seemed to be exorcized that night by all involved – fantastic!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Something within the creative arts – film making, painting, or a writer… or maybe I would do something in Porn!!!
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Salvador Dali, David Lynch, Lilly Munster, Bram Stoker & Jim Morrison!
What’s next for the band?
I would like to develop GHASTLY MURDER into a full band so that it can exist as a live band. I already have the look of the band in mind, as I think it needs to be all or nothing to enter the GHASTLY MURDER world. I would like to expand on the EP and develop it into an album’s worth of songs (I have a loose concept idea in mind), work on the music with others, and aim for world domination of course!
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
https://ghastlymurder.bandcamp.com/
or here
https://www.facebook.com/MrEsGHASTLYREDRUM.UK
or even here
https://www.instagram.com/garyemmins/
Of course the music can also be found on all other digital platforms!
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Jaffa Cake is a flavour of gin (that’s how I know it anyway)! A cake gets stiff when it goes stale, a biscuit goes soft…. Small cake in a packet in the biscuit isle!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
We walk the path less trodden. I don’t want to sound like anyone else and I don’t want us to be defined as only one thing.
GHASTLY MURDER is a dark world – enter if you dare!
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