Ghostemane on what comes next: "It’s only going to get more untamed and unrestrained…"

Having left a huge mark on 2020 with his brilliant eighth LP ANTI-ICON, Ghostemane has revealed that, going forwards, fans should expect things to "get more untamed and unrestrained" as he continues to grow as an artist.

The musician – real name Eric Whitney – seemingly doesn't yet have a fully laid-out plan in place for where he's going to take things, but speaking to Kerrang! he explains that it all depends on "what I'm inspired by".

"It can be unpredictable: music, art, whatever," he elaborates. "Maybe it’ll be something contemporary. Perhaps it’ll be something from the last 20, 30, 40 years that I’m just re-discovering. I certainly won’t be basing it on anything anyone says that they want; if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people don’t really know for sure. That’s what makes the symbiotic trust between me and my supporters so beautiful. The one thing I do know is that it’s only going to get more untamed and unrestrained. So strap in, and be prepared for whatever."

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Of course, as well as ANTI-ICON, Ghoste also unveiled a new black metal EP last year with his Baader-Meinhof side-project. When asked about what else will be coming on that front, he reveals, "I’m going to do my best to keep it under wraps and have it not feel too much like work or anything, so that it’s what I love and what I love to listen to and I’m just putting it out there for people. But it is something I’m going to put a lot of work into going forward. I’m actually in the process of getting a record label partnership in place just for that."

Ghoste continues that his many different musical personas are "not a calculated thing".

"I don’t see Ghostemane as a ​‘persona’ so much as an [ongoing] project, like Baader-Meinhof, SWEARR or GASM," he says. "Another thing I’ve been focused on in 2020 is that definition between Eric – me – and Ghostemane – the project. Everyone should strive to grow and experience new things every year. If you do, then you can safely say that you’re not the same person you were four years ago. No matter what happens with me in real life – buying a new home, figuring out my place in life, improving my mental state and feeling happy with things – it doesn’t mean that the Ghostemane project will be that. The new challenge and new excitement is learning how to conjure up all that feeling of the experiences I had and things I went through when things weren’t going so great. If you came from shit, even if things are great right now, you can’t abandon that forever. When I’m writing, I take that time to look back and remember how I felt when shit really sucked; why I started this thing in the first place."

Read this: How Ghostemane is changing the fabric of heavy music