by Stewart Mason
First, back in the early flush of punk, there was the alluringly spooky Siouxsie and the Banshees, followed quickly by the reunited second go-round of the Damned, when singer Dave Vanian's comic book interpretations of Dracula and other horror-themed subjects were the band's primary focus. Then, in the mid-'80s alongside the multi-genre flowering of goth culture, there was both the hard-edged and punky Los Angeles "death rock" scene established by .45 Grave and Christian Death and the goofy, glammy London Batcave scene exemplified by Alien Sex Fiend. After that, goth-punk largely went dormant for a number of years until the unabashedly gothy My Chemical Romance and the Dresden Dolls burst onto the scene. Suddenly the mixture of goth's camp, lurid romanticism and the equally self-involved concerns of the contemporary emo scene was a logical one, and into the breach stepped I Am Ghost. Formed in Long Beach, CA, in 2004, I Am Ghost take their sartorial cues from the velvet, lace, and lotsa eyeliner end of the goth continuum, and their musical ones from the more progressive end of the post-hardcore and emo scenes. Forming around the nucleus of singer Steven Juliano and violinist and singer Kerith Marcantonio, I Am Ghost quickly added guitarists Gabriel Iraheta and Timoteo Rosales, bassist and keyboardist Brian Thomas, and drummer Ryan Seaman to the lineup, creating a signature blend of punky aggression and ethereal dreaminess. In time, Marcantonio and Thomas would tie the knot, legally becoming the happy couple of Kerith and Brian Telestai. A homemade demo CD called We Are Always Searching was sold at shows and shopped to labels until the stalwart punk indie Epitaph signed I Am Ghost in 2005 and reissued a remastered edition of the album in a new sleeve. Somewhat incongruously, the band also played the Vans Warped Tour that summer. I Am Ghost's second album, Lovers' Requiem, unashamedly described by the band as a rock opera, was released by Epitaph in the fall of 2006.
First, back in the early flush of punk, there was the alluringly spooky Siouxsie and the Banshees, followed quickly by the reunited second go-round of the Damned, when singer Dave Vanian's comic book interpretations of Dracula and other horror-themed subjects were the band's primary focus. Then, in the mid-'80s alongside the multi-genre flowering of goth culture, there was both the hard-edged and punky Los Angeles "death rock" scene established by .45 Grave and Christian Death and the goofy, glammy London Batcave scene exemplified by Alien Sex Fiend. After that, goth-punk largely went dormant for a number of years until the unabashedly gothy My Chemical Romance and the Dresden Dolls burst onto the scene. Suddenly the mixture of goth's camp, lurid romanticism and the equally self-involved concerns of the contemporary emo scene was a logical one, and into the breach stepped I Am Ghost. Formed in Long Beach, CA, in 2004, I Am Ghost take their sartorial cues from the velvet, lace, and lotsa eyeliner end of the goth continuum, and their musical ones from the more progressive end of the post-hardcore and emo scenes. Forming around the nucleus of singer Steven Juliano and violinist and singer Kerith Marcantonio, I Am Ghost quickly added guitarists Gabriel Iraheta and Timoteo Rosales, bassist and keyboardist Brian Thomas, and drummer Ryan Seaman to the lineup, creating a signature blend of punky aggression and ethereal dreaminess. In time, Marcantonio and Thomas would tie the knot, legally becoming the happy couple of Kerith and Brian Telestai. A homemade demo CD called We Are Always Searching was sold at shows and shopped to labels until the stalwart punk indie Epitaph signed I Am Ghost in 2005 and reissued a remastered edition of the album in a new sleeve. Somewhat incongruously, the band also played the Vans Warped Tour that summer. I Am Ghost's second album, Lovers' Requiem, unashamedly described by the band as a rock opera, was released by Epitaph in the fall of 2006.
