PREMIERE | forceghost, 'unknowing the known'
Exploring the universal audio empire arenas with forceghost’s Marcus Barfield and Eric Kinlaw; press photo courtesy of the artists.
When the world we know only too darn well overwhelms all of our mental and sensory faculties we search for something/somewhere/anywhere else. Art offers us a new realm. A place where we can witness all the molecules, particles, atoms and what have you arranged into new orders and sequences that offer something that excites us. Something reinvigorates our interests in life. Something that makes us think. Something that provides respite from the routines that bind us to the itineraries that we grow to loathe that offer something equating subsistence and approximations of homeostasis. Something that showcases what new frontiers are possible by the powers of creativity. New places where for maybe more than just a fleeting moment our realities dissolve as a new dimension is formed before our very eyes, minds, ears, olfactory senses and all available receptors that relate to how we experience existence.
Enter the extents of the uncharted with forceghost as they unveil a first listen to their awe inspiring unknowing the known EP. The Augusta, Georgia duo of friends Eric Kinlaw and Marcus Barfield build elaborate electro charged ecosystems from a collaborative project that began back in 2019. Flash forward to the present day of 2024, the two reckon with the things that they left behind during the tumult of the pandemic. Longtime jobs that became untenable, Eric closed restaurants in downtown Augusta he had poured so much energy and effort into and the two became focused on synthesizing their multitude of talents into musical world manifestations.
The result of this friendship and half a decade worth of reconfiguring processes and artistic projects is the unbridled ambition of unknowing the known. The electro conceits are entertained with an energetic rush of glittering synths on "high score!" that pops and bops like a chorus of classic 80s arcade machines synchronized as a unified symphony of harmonious PCB boards. The arpeggio game machine beeps give rise to the pensive tensions that permeate “birdies”, a midnight moody sci-fi styled matinee that entertains all the nagging things left undone in the depths of a restless consciousness. Bouncing rhythm synths on "iffy" recall new wave nostalgia that are met by contemporary experimentation that dabbles in traces of modern day dystopia, mixed with a kind of whimsical surrender.
Electro expressionism echoes the ranges of emotions experienced over the course of recent years in the face of unprecedented challenges and world events on "melanchronik", giving way to the cosmic pagan dance party pop of "triangles" that burrows its way into the ear and sets the body in a series of ecstatic motions. Reciting the title of the EP at the end of the penultimate track, “oobly doobly” rides off into the sunset like a Dadaist lullaby for the post-AI age where the quest for a greater peace and better place of mental being rises upward toward the sun like the evaporating dew of the morning.
Eric & Marcus deliver an opportunity to undo the bodies of knowledge we have collected over time in a chance to rebuild ourselves and our societies in unknowing the known. Through the record’s economic catharsis, the duo reaches forth to find a new degree of oneness with the universe that perhaps the wisdom of our elders and schools of canonical thought have failed to provide for us in full. The record serves as a continued experiment to find an elusive higher state of actualization that has yet to be discovered, let alone previously before defined.
Beyond the known with Eric & Marcus of forceghost; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Eric Kinlaw of forceghost provided an exclusive and thoughtful manifesto on the materialization of the project as well as insights on their praxis and processes:
Lifelong friends, Marcus and I formed the duo, forceghost, when each of us had an artistic reawakening. I had been a restauranteur trying to balance all those responsibilities with the never ceasing need to create music. Once I closed the restaurants, I promised to myself to put all of those energies into what I loved most. Marcus during the pandemic lost his job of over 20 years and had to find new ways to survive. A long time devoted guitarist, he put away the guitar and began discovering synthesis during this same period of upheaval and change.
We had started this project in a slightly different form in 2019. I had written hundreds of songs recently and started to record them by myself. With Marcus’ help, we got about 14 of those songs recorded well and then began playing them out live as a trio with a drummer. Of course when Covid happened we stopped doing that for a while.
But in early 2022, Marcus had quite a few sketches of electronic compositions he had been making with the virtual modular synth software VCV rack. VCV rack is so rich and varied in its ability to harness all kinds of synthesis. Subtractive, additive, FM, sample based, and granular all find a place to jam in this open source software based on the powerful C++ coding language and user interface based on the popular eurorack modular synth format. Pretty soon these new ideas, sounds, and ways of making music had become a daily obsession of Marcus’. The next step was to share all of this with his musical collaborators.
When I first heard these new ideas from Marcus I was immediately captivated. I could instantly hear all of the other melodies and layers I wanted to add. Marcus brings so many different styles and ideas but we always figure out how to naturally put it together. The musical expression Marcus makes with a kaleidoscopic patchwork of sounds is constantly inspiring to me. Anything he throws at me gives me endless ideas of vocal melodies and guitar layers to add. This lead directly to our current sound as an electronic psych duo that reaches into jazz improvisation and the duality approach of minimalism and maximalism compositions. Some songs can be raw and energetic with a post-punk drive while others are more exploratory with waterfall sequences and flourishing layers.
In session with Marcus & Eric; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Marcus feels he is merely a student of music and embraces all music at once. Whether it’s high brow classical, ecstatic jazz, prog rock, punk, delicate folk, or pounding EDM, he feels creativity should know no bounds. He aspires to reach into the heart of the many [styles of] music that have inspired him and bring that beating heart into his own jams and compositions. I also have a deep interconnectedness with many music styles having played and studied music since I was nine years old.
We usually get together weekly to practice and jam new ideas. Marcus needs to challenge himself so he’s always bringing fresh ideas. When we jam on those at our weekly practices, it always leads to new and exciting song possibilities. When something really catches my ear, I will sketch out vocal ideas over a stereo mix-down. The main melody always comes to me immediately. I usually cannot get it out of my head. Then I will keep trying different counter melodies which coalesce into the overall idea. With guitar, I try to add something in between that compliments Marcus’ overall ideas and the earworm hook of the song. I think my guitar ideas are best when they interweave in this way while also adding unexpected textures.
Lyrically I approach these songs in different ways. It’s really based on my mood at the moment and when I first hear the song. Marcus usually titles his sketches so I tend to riff off of my interpretation of those words. I sometimes will change it but I like that I have a word seed to begin with. Having had a lot of loss the past few years most of my lyrics are based on that in all of the human ways. Loss of time; loss of security; loss of love. Also I’m very inspired by the expansiveness of things we don’t know in the universe as well as the need to make a difference on our planet. It can be a song about being lost in space while trying to colonize other planets or not being able to sleep at night when you’re thinking about climate change. The micro and the macro points of view motivate and terrify me at the same time.
Having a swinging time with Eric & Marcus of forceghost; press photo courtesy of the artists.
Marcus says the world sucks except for music and good friends. So onward and upward with music and friends. Put the hostility and fear that hangs like a daily fog over all our lives out of your mind and add a little something beautiful and honest to the world. He doesn’t want to make slick polished pop but a joyful electronic folk opera about the possibilities and playfulness of life. There is sadness in facing all that changes. But a resolute determination to be truly alive in these new moments lets that sadness out through song while pounding loudly on the drums of the new world ahead.
Ultimately we just want to be creative and make something we love. Through all our other past musical endeavors we came to this point. What we are creating has been the best work of our lives so far. We know we can do this honestly and endlessly. Join us in celebrating a new way of being and all the music that comes with it.
forceghost’s unknowing the known arrives March 1.
Cover art courtesy of Eric Kinlaw & Erin Tallent.