Following, the recent release of the single, ‘More Than I Care to Admit’ and ahead of their forthcoming album release, Necromancer, I caught up with Anyone’s Ghost (aka Wanda Rosyln).
Read More: Track Review: More Than I Care to Admit // Anyone’s Ghost
The Indiependent: How did you come up with the name Anyone’s Ghost?
Anyone’s Ghost: The name is taken from a song by The National of the same name. It was the first song I heard from the band that would later become my favourite and was deeply influential to me finding joy in music.
The Indiependent: How would you describe your musical style for those new to your music?
Anyone’s Ghost: Intense, poetic, gothic folk rock.
The Indiependent: Your style has been compared to Phoebe Bridgers, P J Harvey and Bon Iver. Who would you cite as your influences?
Anyone’s Ghost: I love all of the artists listed! And would add Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Taylor Swift and Sufjan Stevens. I am reaching from a really eclectic mix of styles and influences.
The Indiependent: Your music has both lyrical depth and an intense ethereal soundscape. What comes first, the music or the lyrics?
Anyone’s Ghost: Thank you! The lyrics come first. I am always writing down phrases that speak to me, taking notes of things I say in conversation or read in books that I may later wish to expand on in a song. Often, the lyrics themselves are acting like a diary entry about the events happening in my life at the time. It is very much an authentic and fast-moving process.
The Indiependent: What’s your typical songwriting process?
Anyone’s Ghost: I am always writing songs about things that are happening to me while I am still living them. It leads to a very quick song turnaround, and my bandmates will resent that I am playing new material at every gig before our current album is even released. I feel like I am always living through something. There’s a lot of material to get through, and the songs are often finished in a day. Usually, the lyrics remain the same from that initial writing, but I will go back and finetune the instrumentals further down the line. Max and Michael contribute a lot to that side of each song, whereas the lyrics are only me. They have all the skills I lack when it comes to writing interesting instrumentation to carry a record. I am much less capable of the technical instrument playing required for that.
The Indiependent: Which lyrics are you most proud of?
Anyone’s Ghost: There’s several I feel particularly pleased with on Necromancer. I love ‘Not Guilty’, which is a song about realising how much broader the world is than the things that are painful in your life. “Did you forget someone else lived in this house before you were even born? Did you forget everything that you are feeling has been felt by a person that you have never known? You couldn’t be alone even if you wanted to.”
The Indiependent: Who do you write your music for? Is it for yourself or do you write to make your listeners feel or understand something?
Anyone’s Ghost: My music has always been very much concerned with my own personal experiences and feelings. I have never cared much for how others perceive it—I just want to make something that (I feel) accurately captures what is happening around me. If my listeners understand these feelings too, then that is wonderful.
The Indiependent: You are soon going to release your debut album, Necromancer. Is there a theme connecting the tracks or a message you are trying to convey?
Anyone’s Ghost: Necromancer is an album about allowing yourself to feel anger and resentment. There’s a line in my first EP that says “I am allowed resentment only when it’s gentle”. I don’t feel that way anymore. Since I released that song, I have lived through a lot of things that have made me justifiably angry. The album is a space to allow me to be a bad person, allow myself to express vitriol and pain and discomfort whilst also having self-compassion during that time. It’s a closure of the last three years; all the different people I have been and known.
The Indiependent: If you were to pick a track on the album that best conveys your musical development to date, which would it be? And why?
Anyone’s Ghost: I am very proud of ‘Molotov’, which is releasing as a single on July 7th. At the time of writing it was a hard song for me to navigate, as it expresses jealousy towards someone I care about very deeply. It was really interesting to write a song where I knew I was not being a great friend or a gentle lover. I love the lyrical complexity of the subject matter and the way the piece came together sonically with Max and Michael’s production, as well as some additional piano work from Scatterchild. Ultimately the song sounds a lot bigger than just me.
The Indiependent: And, which track gives the best indication as to your future musical direction?
Anyone’s Ghost: The songwriting process for this record spanned a very long time. It contains the first song I ever wrote, ‘Out of Spite’ from 2019, as well as documenting events that happened to me only this year in ‘Not Guilty’, ‘Lux Lisbon’ and ‘Reprise’. I would say one of the most recent tracks, ‘Ancestor’, really helped me find a songwriting style I have fallen into now, writing songs that are extremely personal and tender. This has carried into the material I have written since the record and continue to play live.
The Indiependent: My personal favourite track, ‘Eurycide’ from your A Good Winter In June EP bears the title of the character from Greek Mythology that Orpheus tried to bring back to life. Is there a musician that you wish you could bring back to life and play with?
Anyone’s Ghost: I would love to have known Elliott Smith.
Interestingly, the Eurycide referred to in that song title is not Eurydice from the Greek myth. It is the username of a stranger who made a mixtape that dramatically changed my life projection—and contained The National’s ‘Anyone’s Ghost’; which is where I heard their music for the first time – when I was around eleven or twelve. The playlist-sharing website, from before the advent of streaming and copyright does not exist anymore, but I have long tried to find out who Eurycide was. The song on the EP is something of a thanks to them, for introducing me to so much. It is supposed to sound like the end of a cassette tape, reaching the end of a mixtape.
The Indiependent: Do you have any live dates planned in support of the album?
Anyone’s Ghost: We are headlining Band On The Wall (Manchester) on July 20th. It’s going to be a great show.
The Indiependent: What can we expect from seeing Anyone’s Ghost live?
Anyone’s Ghost: Costumes, unpredictable setlists, crying…
The Indiependent: What are your musical goals?
Anyone’s Ghost: I would really love to open for a musical hero of mine. If anyone knows a member of The National or Bon Iver… I think I’d feel complete then.
The Indiependent: Someone has gone out on a date and brings their date back and wants to impress them by putting on an Anyone’s Ghost song, which song should they choose?
Anyone’s Ghost: Please do not play Anyone’s Ghost on a date. Play any other music. It will not be good on a date. All of the songs are about death and pain.
The Indiependent: And what vibe or ambience should they set to do justice to listening to it?
Anyone’s Ghost: If you were listening to Anyone’s Ghost, I would recommend doing it in the rain somewhere, at night, or anytime you are feeling forlorn in the world. That is generally the time when I’m writing, so you can imagine you are not alone.
Words by Andrew Butcher
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