Ghost leader Tobias Forge has explained why he only uses the band’s social media platforms sporadically.
The vocalist was speaking with Download Australia ahead of Ghost’s appearance at the festival in March next year.
And he says by not constantly bombarding fans with information through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it’s actually helped them become one of the most popular bands in the current rock and metal scene.
Forge says: “I grew up as a black and death metal fan in a time before the internet. Back then, you had very little to go on – especially with the darker sort of bands.
“I’d look back at bands like Venom, Mayhem and Blasphemy – bands where you’d only seen maybe one or two pictures of them, because there wasn’t any more than that.
“You’d see one or two interviews in print, and maybe a video, and you had to fill in all the blanks. All you knew about them were the little quotes in magazines, and lore. There were a lot of rumours.
“Obviously, all of that changed with the internet. Now, you can just click on anything and know everything about anything you want.
“I wanted Ghost to be different. I wanted Ghost to be more in line with the sort of bands that I liked before the internet, where you had to use your imagination and you had to wonder a little.”
We have an Instagram account, but it’s not a personal thing. I won’t tell you where I’m having dinner tonight
Ghost's Tobias Forge
Forge says that it’s natural for artists to have active social media accounts, but adds: “It’s in the mental lingo of people to do that nowadays, and it’s very hard to get someone to do it less, because that means they’ll get less people interacting with them.
“On the contrary, I see it as though part of our success has been because we gave people less!
“Part of why we liked all the bands that we liked was because they actually had a private life. If you’re constantly doing things to interact with the outside world, you’re going to end up very drained after a while.
“That was definitely something that goes with the whole concept of Ghost, in terms of how I wanted this to be presented to the world and how we were going to communicate with the world.
The vocalist adds: “Obviously we have an Instagram account, but it’s not a personal thing. I won’t tell you where I’m having dinner tonight!”
Last week, Forge hinted that the band could release a new EP in 2019, saying: “My intention is not to release just another EP of covers. There might be something else coming out next year, maybe, that might have been recorded already, that won't be covers.”
Ghost are currently on tour across North America in support of their latest studio album Prequelle and will return to Europe next year.
