Ghostnaps

Another young producer, 17-year-old Richard Lathrop, better known by his stage name Ghostnaps, appears at the WOW already a veteran of the scene. Lathrop’s DJ career began several years ago when he bought a DJ set up after desiring to emulate the DJs he saw on stage and wanted to figure out how they did their thing.

“It came with a copy of (software music sequencer and digital audio workstation) Ableton Live 8 and I would spend three to four hours a night trying to figure things out,” Lathrop said. “It took me about 6 months to figure out how to do everything.”

Lathrop’s first big show was the McDonald Theatre with DJs at 104.7 KDUK. He’s taken an organic approach to his music, keeping up appearances in the local scene both volunteering and appearing at the WOW Hall while finding the way with his sound.

“My music has kind of gone through long hiatuses and then I would come out with an EP and four or five singles in a row,” Lathrop said. “Now it’s here to stay, but I’m still exploring what my sound is.”

Before heading to college in the fall, Lathrop’s embarking on a final run of shows, beginning with Friday’s show and continuing with festival appearance through late July, including festival appearances. This last push will also support his initial album release sometime in the summer, featuring work from several active local artists.

“The project’s been in the back of my head two years now. I’ve maybe scrapped like 60 songs. I want every track on the album to be the next best thing that I’ve done,” Lathrop said.

Lathrop plans to attend Emerson College in Boston in the fall, enrolling in a business and creative enterprise curriculum that will work towards management and marketing in music. This will cap what’s already been an independent career for the DJ.

“I’m completely independent. I love how you can do that today in the industry. The fact that you don’t have to go through a label, you can do that right now you can just literally just go on your laptop and upload something and within six hours it’ll be up.” - The Register Guard