GHOST DATA has been infiltrating our radar, with his first appearance on the festival scene at iLLFest in Austin, Texas last May to now coming up on his ninth album release in 2020. Xzaviyer Hoffpauir has been building his soundscape since 2015, with tracks like “Lily’s Love” reaching 100,000 plays within days after hitting gold on the subreddit, /listentothis, receiving support from Slushii on BBC Radio 1’s Diplo & Friends for “Sushi Love” and amassing millions of streams with “Celestial Bodies” and “Blatant Plagiarism”.
From there, Hoffpauir captured the hearts of many and fans have now come to have christened his music as “dreamsynth.” His most recent remix of Static’s, “Breathe,” is just another excellent showcase of his talents. He breaks the track’s message down to brass tacks with pulling focus into the lyrics and mustering angelic synth melodies to carry it through. But we could sit here all day talking about his music. We had the opportunity to ask GHOST DATA about the origins of his name, the Shepherdess storyline, his experience in the music scene while having Aspergers and Tourette’s, his upcoming album Cruel Choreography and more.
Check out our interview below!
RR: For those that don’t know, can you tell us what the moniker Ghost Data means to you and the project?
GD: I wanted to come up with a name that not only had barely any SEO attached to it, but I wanted it to convey what two of the most important things to me were at the time, and ironically still are. The GHOST in GHOST DATA came from my interest in the spirit and soul of the Self, a slight nod to my favorite game of the PS2 era, Fatal Frame, and the feeling I felt as a new and overlooked artist at the time. In a lot of ways, I felt a ghost in the community I was making music in. There was and still is so much social pressure to make what sells, what will get you popular, but as a GHOST I felt almost without a voice or a body. Rightfully so in that respect, as I had not discovered who or what my music truly was at the time.
That’s where the DATA part comes into play. The DATA in GHOST DATA represents my deep love and fascination for advancements in Technology and Computer Applications. I was very inspired by anime such as Serial Experiments Lain, Evangelion, Eureka 7, and Cowboy Bebop as mediums that use both technology and philosophy of the soul to tell a story. I also am a deeply invested nerd in terms of new technologies that come out every year, as I feel technology is the next step in our evolutionary process to overcome the next big extinction. I also feel that the DATA represents the Legacy I plan on building for my Self. For as a result of DATA being so easily secured and protected now, my music will transcend the ages even past my death. So, in a way, I become eternal. Rebirth through new ears and new people in a constant state of dissapearing, like a GHOST, only to be found and experienced again by a countless generation of music lovers and technology enthusiasts alike, thanks to DATA. I’m very happy with it, as it perfectly exemplifies what The Shepherdess means to me as well, her character in the story, and who she is to me.
RR: When you first started producing, you were under the alias Ikaros. What inspired the change?
GD: GHOST DATA came about from a rebrand attempt after my Ikaros project was starting to become aimless and unmeaningful to me. I originally got it from the character herself, Ikaros, from the anime Heaven’s Lost Property, which I was inspired by at the time. But like in the first question, I felt I needed more meaning attached to my works. I wanted to convey something much more lifelong, much more home felt. So, after a LONG time figuring out who I was, at the time, and what inspired me, I came up with GHOST DATA as my new moniker. I’m very pleased with the change, and don’t see myself changing it ever.
RR: You have had some viral success through Reddit with tracks like “Lily Love” from your 2016 breakout album Girl’s Love and your remix of Porter Robinson’s “Sad Machine.” Do you think that there is an opportunity to be had on this platform for artists to reach another base of listeners?
GD: I personally think any website has the potential to be a great medium for discovering new bodies of art. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some random amazing song on websites like Reddit, 4chan, and even on Facebook and Twitter. Soundcloud and Spotify are always the best places for me to find good music, but music is like a virus. A good one at that. It can spread to nearly ANY medium and work, like it was a part of that community the whole time waiting to be discovered.
RR: In 2019, we’ve seen you play at major Texas festivals and most recently you opened up for MitiS and Crystal Skies on the Shattered tour. What moments have really stood out for you? What festivals do you have on your bucket list?
GD: I think one of the moments that really stuck with me was at Lights All Night, when I performed one of the truest sets in my life. I was playing “Iridescent”, one of my all time favorite tracks, and I got on the microphone, which I never do, and told everyone that there is someone out there who does love you. And in that moment, I realized how many people truly loved me and my music. So, in realization that I wasn’t alone and the isolation I’d felt my whole life was a fallacy, I overflowed with joy and sadness. I cried with those people that night in the darkness, and will never forget how emotionally driven that show was and the people I was able to connect with through the most honest medium of work I can create. I think one of my bucket list shows is playing at Nocturnal Wonderland, as that was the first place I saw Purity Ring perform live at, and it was the anniversary and birth of my first step into starting to write music. I also would love to perform in Japan and EDC. EDC Japan is the dream.
RR: We’ve seen you at a couple festivals and we love that you play the Drake and Josh theme song, “I Found a Way.” What inspired you to include this?
GD: LMAO! I never thought I’d be ask that. It was a meme I wanted to play on the audience. I don’t necessarily like Riddim too much, so whenever I see people wind up a riddim buildup, I see people getting super hyped up! I wanted to troll them in a way that would also make them laugh. Drake and Josh theme is UNIVERSALLY known, and no matter who is listening, I guarantee it’ll make them want to sing along too. It’s just a fun little part of my performance experience I add from time to time. Some other secret weapons I use aside from the Drake & Josh theme are the Mii Channel Music that mixes into an electro track, “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, and the Pokemon Theme Song.
RR: This last year you opened up about your experience with having Aspergers and Tourette’s Syndrome. How has music and producing affected your life?
GD: In a lot of ways, making music literally has saved my life. With Aspergers and Tourettes, it’s very hard to articulate in person than it is through a keyboard. There are so many social cues that I miss not because I’m cold or uncaring, but because I legitimately don’t see them or cannot grasp them until it is told to me directly. Finding ways to cope with the isolation I feel at times comes through my music, especially with the story of The Shepherdess. Making music has opened up avenues to make new friends, discover new ways to experss myself, and talk about the things I know no one else is going to understand through making tunes. I’m very lucky to have found a medium of art that helps me in ways nothing else has.
RR: You recently had the opportunity to put your “Dreamsynth” aesthetic onto Static’s “Breathe”. We felt that there was a special breakdown around the lyrics and put them into the spotlight. How did you approach this remix?
GD: When I first listened to Static’s track, I was immediately inspired by the chords and melody of the vocal. It was very ethereal and dreamy, and I felt a deep desire to reinvent that feeling while also maintaing what it meant to Static. Approaching remixes is ALWAYS super hard for me, as I feel a remix is a very personal message to that artist of what their song meant to you, and how you interpreted it as an individual. But it all kind of came super naturally to me with this remix, as I know what he is feeling very well. I wanted to respect his message while trying to elevate those feelings even higher.
RR: Your last album The Shepherdess: REBIRTH was a remaster project, can you tell us a little more about the origin of this character and what her journey means?
GD: Oh man, it’s a huge, huge overarching story… But the main gist of it is an artificial intelligence bred for war awakens in a ruined world. Her main purpose is to destroy and eradicate all life, but with nothing left on the planet to destroy, she loses purpose and becomes self aware after MANY years of wandering the world a vagabond. After falling into despair, she is met by a being of light who grants her a body and purpose; To rekindle the lost flames of humanity and connect the world again. In many ways, her journey is my journey in reconnecting with people. Her feeling of isolation is a very much real feeling I endure daily. I think all art is autobiographical in some way, and watching her grow from a wanderlust spirit into a great warrior of light has all been a culmination of the personal and spiritual growth I’ve had to make to become a real person. Remastering and fixing that album was, in many ways, me reminding myself of where I came from, and the emotional attachment I had towards those tracks that were in DIRE need of remastering. In a lot of ways, I wanted to make sure that this remaster was exactly what I wanted it to sound like when it was created, just better in terms of mastering and mixing. It deserved the work it got put in, as it represents the transition from having no identity to having one. In my opinion, it still stands as a very important album to me, and I hope more people can find it!
RR: We noticed that you have a lot of artwork for your music. Do you draw all of these yourself or do you have an artist that you work with? Are there any artists you particularly get inspiration from when designing? We know the Japanese horror mangaka, Junji Ito, is one of them.
GD: The two main ones I use are from an artist from Malaysia called Ieka95 and an american artist who goes by 7ice. Both of their art styles really resonate with me, and I’m very lucky to have been able to work with them. My most recent album art is a collaboration between artists 7ice and Dan_from_San on Twitter. I wanted to create a feeling of cosmic apotheosis with it. It’s the battle between The Shepherdess and the Void Walker, revealed to be more than she knows, and is the turning point of the story where The Shepherdess fails to win. Most of my inspiration comes from anime, but I usually trust the feeling and art style to the artists I work with, as they know better than me I feel. Though, I think the character art and inspirations from League of Legends helped shape them a tiny bit.
RR: You have your tenth album on the horizon, what can your fans expect to hear and what you are most excited about?
GD: Oh man, Cruel Choreography is going to be the next evolution in my sound. I’ve worked tirelessly on this release, and have even had to pull it from its original release date to ensure it was getting the work it deserved. It’s a mixture of the same cinematic, ethereal sound my fans have grown accustomed to, just on a much more grand scale. It’s the battle between The Shepherdess and the Void Walker. I think I’m most excited about “Cruel Choreography”, “Archangel’s Reprise”, “Queen’s Game”, and “Aeon Drive”, all lore based songs that really get deep into their duel.
RR: What events do you have coming up this year that fans can look forward to?
GD: I’ll be performing at Akon 2020 with Kaijucore Entertainment, playing some other shows I can’t reveal too early, and am trying my best to travel to other states where my music is listened to. I hope to tour soon and make a big enough impression to begin work on Video Game OST’s and even some scoring for a movie or animated series. I’m very excited for what’s to come this year, and I hope to see everyone at my upcoming shows to hear the new GHOST DATA sound!
GHOST DATA has dropped his first track from his forthcoming album, Cruel Choreography, as a little Valentine’s Day treat. You can watch it watch here. Keep up with the rest of his releases through his socials below.
Connect with GHOST DATA:
https://www.facebook.com/GHOSTDATAOFFICIAL
https://twitter.com/GHOSTDATA
https://soundcloud.com/ghost_data
https://ghostdata.com
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