Ghost In The Static: I Remix, Therefore I Am - Part One

Cyvergence has done several remixes the past few years, some of them very popular and some not. This, and upcoming posts, is really about looking back at what I've done with these tracks, and why it turned out the way it did.

Today I will focus on the Ghost In The Static remixes.

Why Ghost In The Static?

The G.I.T.S. band members.

First off, I hardly knew this band before I started exploring remixes. One day, on the omnipotent soundcloud, another great band called Cease2Xist, uploaded an interesting remix. I listened to the track several times and thought to myself, while drooling into a paper cup: "Hmmm, who are these Ghost In The Static guys?"

What drew my attention, was the intriguing industrial/electro/metal blend with an interesting vocalist. The sound wasn't as polished and molded then as it is now, however I noticed the potential (more on this later).

I pointed my browser to the band's soundcloud page, sent them a private message, and immediately got an energetic response from Steve Fearon. "Now that is service", I thought.

Message In A Bottle

The first G.I.T.S. remix, Nihilism II, was an interesting experience. It was really the first time I wanted to use VSTi's for main leads and bass. I come from an old school 4-channel MOD era, therefore it was sampling all the way. During my experiments with Buzz Tracker, I had an extensive understanding of dynamic sound generators, so the concept of using Virtual Instruments wasn't completely alien when I moved to Renoise. Nonetheless, it was my first full-on VSTi track.

Anyway, the track was very well received in the UK and US, and the band liked the work. I was very happy with the results, yet, as a self-proclaimed artist, I felt it didn't quite have that raw Cyvergence flavour.

The Second Shot remix came into existence after excessive beer and the need to hear distorted kicks, but that's a whole different story that will only be shared with my cat.

Not Enough

A year or two passed, and Steve spammed my box with a request to do a remix for new tracks. I immediately jumped on it, but lost traction due to real life. When I eventually did download the remix stems for "Not Enough"... oh boy was it awesome. The guitaring, vocals, and keyboarding really improved ten fold. The vocals by itself reminded me a bit of System Of a Down, while the riffs were just raw in a good way.

Sitting on my chair, giggling like a japanese school girl on meth, my brain spoke in a revealing angelic voice: "Use the raw samples... do not overproduce this one, bitch". I nodded, misty eyed.

Feel the noise.

I started working on it, having an intimate yet combative vibe in mind, almost a mix between the original track and NIN's "Closer" with more of a punk feel. I dropped in a VSTi here and there (pulled out most of it in the end), and extracted the harshest guitar riffs.

I paid special attention to the vocals: Treated it with gating, interesting distortions, and quite a bit EQ'ing. I wanted to bring out the "grrr" in the voice without losing its spark. Fortunately the stems were done in such a way where the backing and main vocals were separated. This always helps a lot when remixing.

The end result was very good, and I was pleased.

Never Ending Story

"But wait, you can make this more epic!"

Who said that?

"It's the Dark Side. Feel the squishy power!"

That nagging OCD voice fell out of the closet. I fear it. I embrace it. Remember the really dreadfully long extended epilogue in Lord Of The Rings? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Scumbag Steve, the evil villian.

I started remixing the remix. It became so epic that it lost the plot. After spending a few days on it, 90% of the track wasn't even revisited. The intro was bigger than Paris Hilton's ignorance, and the rest was just hanging loose. Yes, it was another this-part-sounds-awesome-but-the-rest-is-unfinished rebound.

Luckily, the angelic brain voice returned with a jaw cracking right-handed punch: "Do not overproduce!".

My girlfriend also had a part in this. She gets that "*sigh* here we go again" look. I love her for it when I don't hate her for it ;)

"Yeah yeah OK...", I sulked.

Returning Back To The Light Side

I cut my losses, returned to the "original" remix with a new perspective, and tidied it up. Fortunately I save every song's milestone as a  different file.

Then it dawned on me: I was reminded how the original remix had that grit I love, and how well it played out with my initial vision. It was really not worth spending precious time making it "more".

An hour or two later, the "Not Enough" remix was perfect enough, mixed, mastered, and sent to the band.

The results were surprisingly positive, and had amazing feedback from friends, strangers and the band. It appeared on the band's official "Infection Volume 1" release, reviewed, and also in several podcasts.

You can listen to the results here:


The rest is history. I look back now and I think how long it would have been before the new remix was out, and I still get the urge to revisit it.

The Non-Extended Epilogue

So I guess the moral of this story is:

Go back to your roots, and set a remix free when it's reaches maturity.

Then again, I naturally tend to question authority, even if it's myself.

And also, Steve Fearon and the rest of the Ghost In The Static band are very cool guys.