Ghost leader Tobias Forge talked about the original vision he had for the band when they launched back in 2008, saying during a press conference at LA’s Grammy Museum:
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“Originally, the idea was to have, technically a band, but playing a show that would be closer to a musical or theater.
“Ever since I was a kid, I always liked going to musicals like ‘Cats’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’. There was something very enthralling… you know that the show starts at a certain time, and then the story’s over at a certain time, and you don’t have to think too much about what happened before and after.
“It’s a snapshot, and there’s a beginning and an ending, and then it’s over. The only thing that you’re able to have insight into is if you buy a program. You can look – ‘Oh, who scored this?’ You can see who’s the understudy. There’s pictures – you can see everyone, and you can see who played the violin and designed the costumes. That was what I was trying to get to. That was what I was trying to create.
“[Ghost] started with a few songs, and then the lyrics sort of spoke to me at that point, like, ‘This is not going to be a band that looks like this [gestures to himself].’ I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to create this thing where it was a complete make-belief.
“At that time. I was naively thinking that if we can just get a record deal, we can go out and we can headline, and we can do like, five shows a year. They’re going to be great, and they’re going to be big and sold-out. Obviously, that didn’t work.
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“When the project transitioned from an idea to something that had a record out, all of a sudden we were asked to play a lot. We managed to skip a few steps in the beginning and start at F, but then came G, H and all that.
“We started touring, and quickly, this whole anonymity thing, it worked to a point, but there’s a clear distinction between being masked and being anonymous… I think it’s up to me – it’s my job – to put the majority of the focus on the show.”