The Ghostnote. The in-betweens. The absolutely essential, yet uncelebrated means to the end. I have always felt more comfortable working in a behind the scenes role. I feel that I am a bit of a ghostnote myself.
I have been working on what is now Ghostnote for the last 20 years – I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s clear to me now. I’ve always felt drawn to helping improve the creative experience for my friends. In 2020 when everything shut down, my musician friends suffered the most. Digital platforms thrived, and some of my friends saw success. But we all missed that real-world connection.
I dabbled in interesting new technologies, like immersive audio and digital collectibles, but never felt really strongly about those mediums. That dabbling made it clear to me what was missing – something tangible you could hold in your hands while experiencing a moment. This is exactly what has made the vinyl medium a classic, and still relevant today.
I’ve loved being there. Those recording sessions when the music comes together – that sticky mojo. I’ve never been able to fully describe or manufacture that mojo, it just happens when people get together, and make things matter. Lyric sheets, broken drumsticks and music video props – I’ve discarded so many things we’ve taken for granted – something tangible, unique and personal, tied to that mojo moment.
The Ghostnote hat is me drinking my own kool-aid. It’s me looking back at all of the hard work my friends and I have put into this creative life. The messy means we experienced are surely something else, when you hold them in your hands, realizing what they collectively became.