When Nate Wilson started his own side project he chose a simple name: The Nate Wilson Group. But when the side project became a full-time project, Wilson needed a catchier name. NWG, which formed five years ago, is now known as The Ghosts of Jupiter. The band consists of Wilson (keyboards and lead vocals) guitarists Adam Terrell and Johnny Trama, bassist Tommy Lada (also known as Steve-Dave) and drummer Tommy Arey. Not Including Wilson, only two original members – Terell and Arey – remain since its formation.
Previously, Wilson was a founding member of Percy Hill from 1993-2002 before joining Assembly of Dust from 2002-2009. Wilson, who grew up in the rural town of Sutton NH, attended the University of New Hampshire and obtained a masters degree from New England Conservatory. Jambands.com interviewed Wilson to discuss the current state of Ghosts of Jupiter, how his playing style has changed, and his days with Percy Hill and AOD.
Ghosts of Jupiter have a new digital EP, Green is Gold Vol 1, set for release and will celebrate this with a release event at Brighton Music Hall on April 26th. Everyone who attends will receive a complimentary download of the record.
Why did you decide to change the band’s name? And how did you end up with Ghosts of Jupiter?
It was our intention to have a proper band name for a while. The band started as a side-project originally, but when it became a more serious endeavor, and when we thought we had a solid line-up and a solid direction, we decided it was high time. Turns out naming a band isn’t easy so it took us a while to decide on something. Ghosts of Jupiter is the name of one of my songs which was inspired loosely by some lines in the poem “Prometheus Unbound” by Percy Shelley. But mostly we just thought it suited our music.
How did you come to the realization that your side-project would become a serious endeavor?
Probably during the recording of our first album Unbound. It was under the name Nate Wilson Group; before Steve-Dave and Johnny were in the band. But during that recording process I think we really formed the concept of the band and I knew at that point that I wanted to pursue the band to the fullest.
You have had several lineup changes over the years, how has that affected the development of the band?
It’s really only helped. Every time we’ve been in need, the perfect person seems to have come out of the woodwork. First Steve-Dave and then Johnny. But honestly I really haven’t given it much thought since the five of us have been together for a while now.
Are you confident that the lineup you have now, will be the band moving forward?
Yes.
Can you talk about the newest members: guitarist Johnny Trama and bassist Tommy Lada.
They’re both terrific musicians who really understand the direction of the band. But most of the time in a band camaraderie is just as important as anything else Those two are great to have around and its really solidified things on a personal level.
What role have Adam and Tom, two original members, played over the years?
I’ve been working with Adam forever so its really easy to communicate on a musical level with someone you know so well. Tom is just a fantastic drummer. He really cares about the music from a songwriting standpoint, so we work together on the arrangements of the tunes. We keep getting better at it each time we’re in the studio.
Is it harder then you expected it to be, when you’re the man in charge?
Honestly, the hard part is all the non-musical stuff you have to deal with as a musician. I’ve gone from being super-reluctant to just regular reluctant and it’s only out of necessity. We’ve been fortunate in the last year or so to be able to partner with a really great management agency as well as a booking agency, so now some of that stuff is off my plate I’m able to focus more on what I know. The musical side of it comes easy, I’m just always trying to find something new to push the band’s music ahead.
What did you learn from your experiences in Percy Hill and AOD that you apply to Ghosts of Jupiter?
Man too much to put in one interview that’s for sure. I think mostly those earlier bands gave me an opportunity to work on my songwriting a lot, to kind of figure out what my style and process was. I was able to hone in on what I really thought was important in music. Also working with lots of different people helps you understand personal dynamics and how to work well in a group. I also had plenty of mistakes to learn from.
What do you miss about playing with AOD?
I’m not terribly nostalgic about music I’ve made in the past. I know that can rub people the wrong way if they’re fans of those bands I’ve played with over the years, and it’s not that I dislike that music at all but if I get inspired to go in a certain direction musically, I pretty much have to leave all the other stuff in the rear view mirror. Ghosts of Jupiter is a huge departure from the music I made in my earlier days, and I’m really proud of that departure. I think that’s what you’re supposed to do as a creative person. I do miss a lot of the relationships I made with people that I’ve played with in other bands. It becomes difficult to maintain touch with people when you’re no longer playing gigs together all the time.
Along these lines, can you describe the feeling you had when you reunited to play back in December of 2009 for a night of “Old School Percy Hill?”
It was a real trip. We did it at the Stone Church which is where I played some of my first gigs when I was 16 or so! Definitely a fun night seeing a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in many years
When I saw you perform under the name of Nate Wilson Group, you played several Percy Hill tunes: “313,” “Beneath The Covers” and “Sun Machine.” Are those still in the set rotation or are you moving away from that? And why?
We played some of those tunes in the early days to help flesh out the set list but it’s been quite some time since we’ve played any of that material.
Can you talk about your songwriting process.
I try to write all the time. Mostly, ideas come from just improvising something on the guitar or piano and trying to fit a vocal melody around it. If it sticks I’ll work on recording a demo on my computer and then I work on the lyrics last. A lot of ideas get canned before I ever write lyrics, and since that’s always the hardest part for me I wait to see if the song is going to make it through all those filters before I bother. Then, I’ll take the song to the band and we’ll work on the vibe and arrangement together.
How was your playing style on keys changed since Percy/AOD?
It’s a lot more reserved for the most part. I really let each song dictate what I do on the keyboards. Some songs we’re recording in the studio actually have no keyboards at all and others have tons of layers; mellotrons, moog, farfisa, hammond, piano all at once. Leaving space is just as important as filling it up so you have to know when to lay out.
The band’s music become the soundtrack for a multi-media presentation at Boston’s Hayden Planetarium. How did that come about?
It was kind of the brainchild of our manager Phil who went to the Planetarium and met with the people there. They really liked the band and thought the music would fit an animation program. The show they came up with is really impressive – kind of like the Floyd laser light show idea but with a modern facelift.
You’ve been playing mostly in the Boston-area or New Hampshire, are you looking to expand your touring?
Definitely. We’re trying to grow things slow and steady so we don’t over extend ourselves. Touring is a very tough thing to do and you can easily wind up losing money and burning yourself out if you’re not careful so we’re trying to keep the horse in front of the cart as much as possible. That being said, we’re starting to venture a little further out. We’ve got shows coming up all over New England and New York surrounding our EP release in April, and we’re working on some festival dates for the summer that will get us out and about a bunch more.
Has it been difficult for the band to find its niche in the jamband scene?
In some ways it has, in others it hasn’t. I think we’re very different from most bands in the scene. We’re a lot more song oriented for one, although we do improvise live and everyone in the band is a top-notch player in his own right. But in Ghosts of Jupiter, the songs really dictate the form; they’re not just platforms to improvise on. Also our sound is much heavier than I think what most jamband fans are used to hearing. Not that we’re a metal band by any stretch of the imagination; our influences come a lot from early 70’s hard rock like Free, Humble Pie, Captain Beyond, as well as some more progressive rock like Yes and Emerson Lake and Palmer. But the term jamband is nearly impossible to define for me at this point. I think there are people in any scene who would dig what we do.
What can fans expect from the EP in April?
Our concept is to release a full album in two installments. In April, we’re releasing Green is Gold Volume 1 and sometime in the fall, we’re planning on releasing the second side of the album Green is Gold Volume 2. There’s a whole bunch of new material we’ve been recording, almost all of it we’ve never performed live. So people who are familiar with our last record, or who have seen us live a fair amount, will have a whole lot of new material to check out.
