Dark Music: Electro - Underground - Film

I fell in love with Hip Hop & Dance/Electronic music around 20 years ago.
All I wanted to do was to get some kit to go and DJ and push my way into making music.
I wanted to take that to people, to spread the word and the feeling of the music that spoke to me.

I got very good at scratching and my mixing earned me respect from local Djs. I played a few clubs and parties in the Worcester area, and loved being in that atmosphere and amongst my own tribe.

I won a competition to have a 30-min DJ mix played on Kiss by Colin Favor (one of the biggest techno Dj’s for years in London).
He paid me the compliment on air of saying to people ” when you send in a mix try to think about what you are playing rather than just the latest big tracks”.

Everything I did was all about getting to make music, and I finally got enough kit together when I was around 24. I wanted to make music that gave me that feel of magic, and give that back to people both in the UK & abroad, live and on record.

1994: Got my first deal after purchasing my first major piece of kit. I had written only 5-6 tunes sent out tapes and got offered a deal with U-Trax in Holland.
I had big compliments paid to me like “it’s the new wave of Vangelis or Joy Division”
At the same time I got a deal with Eevolute Muzique, both recording as Bishop.
Was also called by Miss Djax about the same tracks, but was already signed by then.

Played live in Njimigen, Holland, where a guy had been firing an Uzi the week before. Got heckled by a drunk Scotsman and chatted up by a couple of hot Dutch girls!
I recorded an album there for U-trax, but it was never released.
A couple of those tracks have now been released on my own CD.

I got in the top 10 for the in house musician job at Sega.
I was up against industry pros, and despite not having enough studio experience, the music impressed them and got me that far.
I have been a big fan of computer games for many years, and think I could really bring something special to them.
It’s something I will be pushing hard to get involved in as I know I can enhance whatever the visual side has by giving it atmosphere and tension.
Film & TV is something I am itching to put my creative force behind , again because I think I can add to the producers vision

1995: I heard from a record store in Utrecht, that Andy Weatherall had heard my record in their shop, loved it so much he kept playing it again saying “listen to that!”.
He had said to them he would like to meet me.
So I got in touch and was signed to his Emissions Audio Output label.
2 releases, one shared.
He paid my unique style a big compliment of saying ” I know that it’s you after just a few bars” .
Unfortunately the label folded. Not being the kind of person who gives up, ever,
I kept on trying to find supporters in Europe and the USA.

1998: started sending more tapes to U.S.A, and especially Detroit .
Knocked out by the response.
Mad Mike Banks founder of Underground Resistance sent me a fax.
On it he told me it was “going down well at Submerge listenings” and that I should ” continue with my experiments”.
At the same time Lawrence Burden from Direct Beat/430 West heard the same tapes , and offered me a deal.
Their camp was split and politics crept in, and the deal wasn’t a good one.
I won’t sign a deal that isn’t a good one for the music, even for a million quid.
I tried to sort out a compromise, but it was either ” sign it or no deal”.
I even had Mad Mike leave a message for me saying ” If you can’t sort out a deal with Direct Beat, then no one in Detroit will touch you.”
Despite knowing this and his dangerous reputation, I still traveled to Detroit to meet him at Submerge.
After he realized that music for me is all about passion and magic, he started to give me some invaluable advice.
To his credit he tried to help to sort things out with Direct Beat & Lawrence Burden. Mike even paid me the compliment of saying “you’re the best of your style from your country”.
So a deal never happened, but Lawrence loved what I did, and said one day of the way I made music ” you make music that way, and that will make you a genius round here.” I hope one day to go back and work with both UR and 430 West, to pay them back for their support, as it stopped me from giving up on music.

2001: Released 12 inch on my own label Ghostwalk, won a few admirers from all over, Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Canada and Adam X from New York.
It was mastered and pressed in Detroit at Archers, where Jeff Mills, Basic Channel, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, UR, just to name a few, all pressed as well.
I learnt a great deal about music and mastering from Ron Murphy from Sound Enterprises, the man who invented the locked groove and backwards playing record, giving it to Kevin Saunderson and Jeff Mills.
He has mastered since the days of Motown, and I value his knowledge and opinion greatly.
For future vinyl releases I hope to get him to master for me again, from reel to reel tape to vinyl.

2005-07: Went to China for nearly 2 years, wasted my time there. But now back in the Uk starting work on more electro and dark music for film.

Q & A With The Ghost That Walks
AKA Paul Bishop

Q: What made you start making music?

A: I was starting to listen to early hip hop around 87-88 via the radio, I had no idea where to buy this stuff at the time. I thought that all the sounds and noises were being made by the artists and not nicked off records!
One record started it, 2 Live Crew - Mr Mix - Cut it up. Incredible.
To this day I want to make records that sound as wondrous as that, but with all the sounds made without sampling. Everything I do I want to put that same feeling of magic into it, from recording to playing live.
I don’t think there is enough of that anymore, it just all feels like music for disposal.

Q: What are your influences?

A: Apart from MC Shan, Marley Marl,2 Live Crew, Ultra Magnetic Mcs, it goes back further. Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaata, plus my Dad had Oxygene & Equinox by Jean Michel Jarre which I used to love to play.
Film music plays a big part, and I feel that music is naturally in my blood. People like Lalo Schifrin and John Barry are equal and unsurpassed legends in my book.
Just about everything they touch has an air of magic about it, and that’s the philosophy I have with any music I make. You have to feel it, and not just do it by the numbers, just let go and it will make itself.
Ennio Morricone (The thing soundtrack is a beautiful piece of magic) and not forgetting John Carpenter for the stuff on Escape From New York, Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween. Later on when I discovered dance music, I loved the gritty sound of acid, things like Phuture, Blake Baxter, Underground Resistance.
People like Locust blew me away with the amazing sounds he use to make, and it made me pick my ideas up. Basic Channel were unreal, and I will never forgot the night I walked into a club and heard Cirrus Inversion.
Mind blowing, so much heart in tracks like these taught me about putting yourself in your tracks makes all the difference. People that talk about electronic music being cold and lifeless just don’t get it. Too many artists do stuff for position and for fame, and you can hear the difference. It’s clever but lifeless, I’m always after that feeling of angel dust being sprinkled across a tune.
I think the decline of dance music is partly because of too many people clogging it all up with shit, so people can’t be bothered to search for the stuff with real soul. People out there aren’t stupid, and will go for stuff that has more character to it.

Q: How do you go about making tracks , and inject that feeling into the music?

A: It’s taken me over 10 years to get an understanding of how my head works, which helps me understand music as well.
It’s like a whirlwind or a volcano, I don’t have control over it, but I have learned how to shape and interpret it a little. I use my instincts and just feel if it works or not.
I don’t have ideas, I sit down and it’s a total blank. I just start to play, and let the sounds lead me where they want to go.
Playing live is exactly that, improvised on the fly, no pre prepared audio or sequences.
I felt that people were being cheated and not getting a genuine performance.
I wanted to offer something that you would rarely get to see or hear anywhere else. Each time it’s always different, and I can flex to the crowd or venue I’m playing.
It’s scary stuff , as well as a real test of how good you are, in public.
I’m there to prove it, and have no intention of letting people down who back me.
When I start to get zoned out the sounds start to flow. It makes me think I’m possessed and I don’t do anything at all. If I could describe my alter ego to you, he’d be like a boxing coach, screaming in your ear when you aren’t doing so well, but always helping you improve.
He’s 8 feet tall, has blue skin, pointed ears, fangs, and looks like a cross between the Beast from the X-men and Mr Barlow from Salem’s Lot.
All my best stuff just happens, the more I try to manipulate it , the less it works.
The more I let go, the more it allows me to move it the way I want.
I had a psychological profile done on me once that was very accurate. It turns out only 1% of the population have my character traits, and they tend to be innovative and visionary as well as creative.

Q: What keeps you going after most people would have given up?

A: I hate it when I hear people say that music is their job. That makes me very angry. It’s my in my blood, I walk around feeling different from almost everyone. It’s like cancer that can’t be cured,
I’ve tried to walk away from it and couldn’t. Life would be pointless without it and I wouldn’t give a shit about anything or anyone if I don’t succeed in it.
I’m as hungry as ever, and I will draw blood for it if I have to.
I’m ready to go toe to toe with all the pretend artists and to prove a point to people who thought I was dead and buried.
That’s where the Ghost that walks comes from. Everyone thinks I’m dead and gone, but I’m coming back to haunt all those making bullshit music.
Plus I love that line from the Phantom cartoon.
I feel like a seasoned fighter who has carried on working, when everyone thought he was finished.
I don’t fear any one or any situation, and I won’t let anyone down who is in my corner. If people back my music, they will be backing someone who won’t quit no matter what. When I went to Detroit I risked getting beaten up by going downtown to meet Mad Mike from Underground Resistance.
I’d already been told that if I couldn’t sort a deal with Direct Beat then no one else in Detroit would touch me. I still went. I earned his respect for being ” adventurous” enough to walk in there.
But after a chat he told me he thought I was the best of my style from my country.
The guy is a hero of mine, and it’s things like that, from someone who does not deal in bullshit, that keep me going. Whatever I do I want UR and Mike to approve of it, and for them to feel that I’m fighting the good fight as well.
I agree with their philosophy in music, and they taught me more in 1 day than I heard from Europe in 5 years.

Q: What are your future plans?

A: For the future , I have felt for a while there is something missing .
I’ve been looking for a singer for a while, but no luck yet. I think I could write some very good songs, but still retain integrity and that dark melancholy feeling.
I’d like to work with rappers as well, but whatever I do, I have to believe in them and vice versa.
Nothing will be done unless it feels right, no matter how big it is, I will turn it down otherwise.
I’m very keen to do film. tv and computer games. It comes very naturally to me, mainly tense and dark. I couldn’t do happy stuff!
But I hope one day to be able to learn how to write for an orchestra.
Then I can try to do what Schifrin and Barry did. Even slightly close would make me very happy.
Electronic scores do work well , but the killer scores are with a full orchestra.

first kit bought,
Roland SH101

kit / programs used,
Anything goes from a real 808 to a software one, it’s the man behind the machine, not the kit that makes things come to life. I’ve wasted thousands on kit to prove I’ve made that mistake.

fave gig attended,
Metropolis in Birmingham in the 90’s
Deep Space in London - Richie Hawtin, every track he played you could tell he loved it.
Dj David winning at Wembley Arena - brought the house down.

fave gig performed
Rhythm Uk 1 st Anniversary Party at Inbox, Guangzhou, China.
I made the whole set up, live , tapped out beats, hats, bassline, NO prepared stuff. I was bricking it and the place was packed. No one realizes how hard that is, so I won’t do it again!

http://www.theghostwalk.com/mp3two/theghostthatwalks_liveguangzhouchina.mp3

top 10 fav records list.
1. 2 Live Crew - Cut It Up
2. Mc Shan - World of Hip Hop
3. Just Ice - Cold Getting Dumb
4. Underground Resistance - Final Frontier
5. Ultra Magnetic Mcs’ - Ego Trippin
6. JVC Force - Strong Island
7. Nightmares on Wax - I’m for Real
8. Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince -Magnificent Jazzy Jeff
9. Basic Channel - Cyrus Inversion
10. Kraftwerk - Hall of Mirrors