Ghost City

Here is a nice article that was recently written about our band in the local paper.

Anybody who went to a Snapcase or Finch show in 2002 may remember Endor. They rose up from Temecula to take the stage with the biggest names in hardcore, go on three U.S. tours and then, just as quickly as they appeared, vanished.

For seven years, they’ve been silent. Now, two Endor members have formed a new band and are back in full force.

The new band, Ghost City, is vocalist Chase Buccellato, 23, drummer Hung Nguyen, 28, guitarist Danny Ortega, 29, and bassist John Romines, 28.

In the last two months, they released their first demo and lined up a flurry of local shows, including the Liskfest in Irvine with As I Lay Dying and hardcore godfathers Cro-mags.

Nguyen, Ortega and Romines started the band in a similar form eight years ago under the name Embrace. The band never went further than playing a few local shows before Ortega left.

The rest of the members replaced Ortega, changed the band’s name to Endor and spent the next year touring.

When they returned, however, the musicians went their separate ways, got full-time jobs and life went on.

They still got together occasionally to play some songs for old time’s sake, Ortega reminisced. They did it for fun, they did it to unwind and, after a while, they got pretty good. So they decided to form Ghost City.

The music is a complex combination of indie rock and hardcore.

Buccellato – who joined the band earlier this year after Nguyen called him about his post on Craigslist seeking a band – has an intense style.

His singing is loud, he slips in and out of key, creating a melody and then breaking it with harsh, raspy screams.

This makes sense, considering his background. His favorite bands range from the clean, clear Led Zeppelin to the hostile, aggressive Every Time I Die.

Ortega’s guitar style is equally unique. He rakes his pick up and down the strings repeatedly, consistently, varying only infrequently, which creates a steady, driving sound.

The chords he plays are complex, sometimes obscuring the melody, departing from harmonious majors and minors to dissonant diminished tones for just a little longer than feels comfortable.

His style sounds a bit like avant-garde jazz, but the sound is coincidental, Ortega said. He’s never studied jazz.

“I just start playing random stuff and if I like it, I like it,” he said.

Experimental metal bands, such as Faith No More, influence his style, he confessed.

He pointed to Ghost City’s song “I Am the Murderer” as an example. The song has a similar feel to “Zombie Eaters” by Faith No More.

Romines and Nguyen work together to push the music. Nguyen’s drum beats are intense, even when something calmer would likely have done the job.

On their song “The Sound of Fluorescence,” Nguyen pounds out an awkward syncopated beat for the duration of the song. Meanwhile, Romines’ bass takes center stage, growling and rumbling a bass line that’s simple and angry sounding.