I like horror movies that have a degree of coziness to them.
Tobias Forge
There are people who just love to destroy other people. It saddens me to admit that, I think, at whatever state of human civilisation we arrive at, the will to destroy other people is something that is innate in some people.
There are many artists that I know exactly where they are born and what their names are and where they live, which are still very, sort of, hidden. Even Nick Cave, who has a film about himself nowadays, is still someone who I would claim to be utterly enigmatic.
My mom is very liberal. She has never been religious... spiritual but not religious.
I'm an okay drummer, I'm an okay bass player, I'm an okay keyboardist, and I'm a quite good guitar player.
Even in my hometown of Linkoping where I grew up... the church we had was very lavish - very boasty. So it ticked most of the boxes of big, imposing Christianity. And I love being there if I'm in town... because it's just this haunting place.
I've been in lots of situations in my life where I've managed to turn pain into growing pains.
I definitely believe that tormenting other people because of the Bible and for that to be - for lack of a better word, Gospel... I think that is not very nice.
We've gone from venues that hold 500 up to 3,000 on our own, so I guess we're not entirely unknown. But there is a difference between a few thousand people and 20,000.
I've had a very, very forgiving and a very, very supportive mother who never really gave me a hard time for going in and out of slackerdom.
I grew up in Sweden. It's a profoundly Americanized country. We have a strong tradition of Americana and always had non-dubbed American television, and embracing American culture a lot, so I always knew that I wanted to go to America.
If you come in like a typical modern drummer who is used to playing only with tricks and double kick and, like, big, big, big, fast rolls, but you can't play a swinging shuffle, then you can't play in Ghost whatsoever.
I sort of found King Diamond in second grade, but I didn't become a devoted Satanist until a few years later, but that was very much part of my adolescence as well.
I would like to say, and I think I am truthful, and I think I am honest when I say that I love doing Ghost. And if I didn't feel as passionate as I am and have been, about it, wanting to focus, basically, all my time on it, I don't wanna do it.
I think you need to see parts one, two, and three of 'The Omen.' And then just skip the ending of number three - it's so bad it makes me want to put my foot through the TV.
I have a fascination for well-produced '70s and '80s rock with a lot of harmonies. AOR bands like Journey, Jefferson Starship, Toto, Kansas, Boston.
Let's just say that I've spent a lot of time being not very successful.
You need to have spent your time from playing Top 40 pop rock in order to know how to play a song like 'Ritual,' a song like 'Absolution' or 'Idolatrine.' You need to know your classic drumming and your classic guitar.
By sheer luck, we did our first tour of America as a headlining act.
I love pinball.
Once you get people's attention, you have a greater responsibility to tell them something of value.
As a young teen, Satan and the idea of some sort of world that you could be in touch with that could empower you was very much the symbol for freedom.
My name is Tobias Forge and I'm the man behind the mask in Ghost.
Even when I was a kid, I always sort of identified myself with Keith Richards and Slash more than the singers of the bands.
Even the biggest bands - and I hate to break the magic - but even the band that sold out 90,000 tickets in your football stadium, they might come back two years later and do an arena. It still feels huge, but there's a difference - there's a big difference. And there's a big difference playing a 30,000-seat stadium and a 90,000.
I usually write a lot. I don't make an album and don't write for two years and then end up with a blank paper starting over.
I was 29 when we sort of broke through with Ghost.
I always layer my vocals a lot. I sing a minimum of three layers of the same line every time, and then it's always one or two or sometimes even more harmonies.
Not only did we read a lot at home, we also watched a lot of films. So I had already seen a lot of films that were about the crucifixion and the temptation of Christ, like Bible history and the Ten Commandments - stuff like that.
So many people have opinions based not on fact but spite.
I'm a big fan of '80s music, for lack of a better word.
I like the fact that my work in Ghost is famous, and people know it, and we have our crowd. But I am not as antsy about getting recognized on the street as I might have once been.
The music comes first. Final lyrics are usually written very close to recording the vocals.
A band which plays songs such as 'Death Knell' or 'Prime Mover' can't just stand on the stage with a shirt and jeans-jacket. It must be more awesome than that.
It is difficult to be that band that doesn't do things the way other bands do it. It's a blessing and a curse.
In grade one and two, I was definitely into heavy metal and Satanic rock music, bands that had attributes that were quote-unquote 'Satanic,' even things like the Rolling Stones with 'Their Satanic Majesties Request' and 'Sympathy for the Devil,' but also like Motley Crue and Kiss and Alice Cooper.
Even though 'Prequelle' is a record about death, essentially, it's a record about survival, and I think that that is something that's gone through all the records. Even back to 'Opus Eponymous,' there was a double meaning to things that doesn't necessarily have to do with evil sermons out of some old grimoire somewhere how to summon the devil.
The problem with religious doctrine, as with politics, because of its ability to give people authority, it has a tendency to attract people that want authority for all the wrong reasons, and that is what it has done across all time.
If you've followed us from when we started playing live in October 2010, you will notice that there has been numerous changes over the years.
Sometimes I just wish I played in a band like Foo Fighters.
Most bands that don't want to become big at all, they don't play. If you don't want to be known, if you don't want to make it, don't play. That's the easiest way not to do it.
I've always been very - for lack of a better phrase - hit-seeking, hit-driven.
You don't accidentally turn into a big band. Not even Nirvana accidentally turned into a big band. They toured - they wanted to become a big band. They didn't necessarily want to become that big of a band, but they still wanted to make a really good record and wanted to come out and tour.
For us, if you're a rock band, there's no way around it. You have to tour. You have to tour a whole lot.
I grew up in a very music-loving home with a lot of records, a lot of TV, a lot of radio, a lot of video - VHS cinema, basically.
I grew up watching a lot of film.
When you're not successful as a musician, you are oftentimes unemployed.
I come from a home that had a lot of music played in general.
I'm a big fan of a lot of prog music. As a record collector as well, I won't throw anybody or any band under the bus, but a lot of the records are fun to collect, are not necessarily very good. There are a lot of prog bands out there that it's a really cool record, but it's, like, not really there.
Even when I wrote death metal songs for a death metal record, I was always trying to do my best to make it as catchy as possible because that's how I like music.
