Ghost’s Tobias Forge hints at a shift into film: “I’m beginning to recognise where there might be a spot for me”
Ghost’s Tobias Forge has hinted that he may get more involved in film making.
The metal frontman was speaking to NME in a new interview ahead of the band’s highly anticipated sixth studio album ‘Skeletá’, which is due to be released on April 25.
Forge has inhabited a series of different characters during his time fronting the Swedish occult band, and over the years the band’s imagery has been heavily influenced by film.
When asked if he considered getting more involved in the film industry, Forge said: “Absolutely. I have always been almost equally interested in film as I’ve been in music. But because I’m not a very scholastic person, quite quickly in school [I felt like I] hit the ceiling in terms of how far I could evolve with that.
“Nowadays, you can have a successful life without being greatly educated, but at the time, I felt that there was a certain degree of scholasticism that needed to go into making film. I know now that’s not necessarily true, there are directors and scriptwriters who never went to film school.”
He continued: “Earlier in my life, I saw a venture down that route as something that was going to take away from my music and something that would require me to start studying. Now, though, I have dipped my feet a little into the film world, and I’m beginning to recognise where there might be a spot for me. A place where my USP can be valuable. I believe that I can go down that route.”
Elsewhere in the same interview, Forge said Ghost are “living proof” that the concept that “rock is dead” is not true. “I’m not saying that you can become a new AC/DC, but we are living proof that you still can do it,” he said. “There are more recent bands around, like Sleep Token, who are succeeding, so obviously, you can become a bigger band.”
The band’s forthcoming album was recently previewed with its anthemic lead single ‘Satanized’, and it is the first to feature Forge’s new persona Papa Perpetua.
Ghost are also one of the many bands that are playing a slot at Black Sabbath’s upcoming final show at Villa Park in Birmingham. “ Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne have been a tremendous influence on me,” Forge said. “Ozzy as a frontman and Ozzy as a solo artist is something I put a divide between, because I grew up in the ‘80s where he was much more of a rockstar than Black Sabbath were.
“I gravitated towards that, but I also grew up listening to the old Black Sabbath records. Nowadays, I love most Black Sabbath releases. Even the ‘80s and ‘90s albums, I love them for what they are, and the Dio era also has a very special place in my heart, too.”
Ghost are heading on their own tour around the UK, Europe and the US next month, starting in Manchester’s AO Arena on April 15. Find the full list of dates here and any remaining tickets in the UK here and US here.
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Damian Jones
NME
