Tobias Forge revealed that he struggles at time with Ghost vocal performances, as he hasn’t had proper singing training. He said he changes his phrasing when he is struggling to breath in a new The Metal Voice interview. Forge recently revealed when he plans to be done with Ghost.
Have you ever taken any vocal training?
“Not really.”
You have a good phrasing. You would think the way you breathe, the way it comes out, it’s a great structure.
“That’s probably because of a ‘survival instinct’ because a lot of time on stage I’ve found myself short of breath and having to rephrase and having to redo things and having to think about what you do vocally. Because it’s one thing singing and recording and then there’s another one – performing, especially when you’re jumping around or have a bigger stage to fill up.”
It must be tough with the mask on. Does it get difficult to sing or to move around?
“I don’t know, I think that a lot of bands that I know that play – especially if you played daytime – and they’re playing in shorts and tank tops, I think that they are experiencing more of like a physical pain of heat than I’ve ever done on stage, I think.”
Tobias Forge recently revealed the Ghost album he can’t listen to. In The Metal Voice interview, he also discussed toning down the ‘demon side’ of the band.
Ghost was more on the ‘demon side’ at the start and a little less now. Was that a conscious, organic thing that happened?
“I’d say it was very organic. I think that a lot of the more clandestine veils that sort of shrouded the early times in a sort of a little bit of mist was the fact that we were playing very small places, and that just added to the atmosphere.
Whereas a part of growing, doing bigger shows, and having a little bit more time and, I guess, a little bit more funds to put into the show means added illumination. And also, you know, in the early days we did, like, 30-40 minutes of playing and there wasn’t a whole lot of talk because we were playing most of the time, but we’re performing songs whereas now we’re playing two hours, two and a half hours sometimes.”
Ultimate-Guitar transcribed Forge’s comments.
