“Sometimes, there aren’t a lot of people” at the show, explains Thomas Turner, the caped crusader behind the menacing electro-pop and rock of Ghostland Observatory, “but those people go off and tell their friends and it just keeps growing, you know?” As Austin, Texas-based Ghostland Observatory closed the Red Bull Music Academy on Sunday night, the word had spread to Movement 2010. Over 3,000-plus rabid festivalgoers refreshed themselves in the waves of guitar and synths working together to redefine just what “electronic music” means at the start of a new decade. Fueled by the classic rock theatrics of a laser lightshow and a barrage of smoke, lead singer Aaron Behrens brought his fierce, unfiltered energy to the Red Bull Music Academy stage (especially apparent on the duo’s raw cover of Prince’s “Darling Nikki”), turning the DJ decks into his own private catwalk. Meanwhile, Turner was lost in the fog manipulating an array of knobs and synths. “We’re never the average rock band,” laughs Thomas when asked how it felt to be performing at an electronic music festival built around mostly understated electronic deejays. “We always stick out like sore thumbs everywhere we go. After a while, people either get it or they don’t. Obviously, the people who do get it end up having a really good time.”
After being dosed with a bit of background information on the young band, such energetic showings and oddball bookings should come as no surprise. In their short, six-year career, Ghostland Observatory has remained an isolated, independent entity. With no label, no public relations team and no form of management whatsoever, Turner and Behrens have taken the most hectic path to success by choice. “It always [comes] back to if we felt comfortable giving away something in return for something else,” explains Turner. “We’ve just chosen to do what feels right. Up to this point, we’ve enjoyed doing things the way we want to do them. If we want to go on tour, we go on tour. If we don’t think a certain show is a good idea, we don’t have to play. There is no one telling us where and when we have to be somewhere … or how we should act. … [In] the beginning, it was definitely challenging because your experiencing things for the first time, but we’ve always kept a positive attitude and kept it simple — get on the flight, do the soundcheck, play the show and make it to the next day.”
Throughout Ghostland Observatory’s hour-long set, the audience chanted and cheered between each song as if to root for the underdog duo. After exploring extended takes on tracks from their 2006 debut, Paparazzi Lightning, and eventually wrapping up their set, Thomas and Turner exited the stage exhilarated and sweating — two long-time friends free to shake hands and meet with the crowd with no handlers to swoop them away. “We’ve built everything on word of mouth,” says Turner, “so we always try to bring the band to our live shows.” On Sunday night at the Red Bull Music Academy stage, Ghostland Observatory definitely brought the bang.
Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper with photos by Dustin Downing
