Tick Tock
The new album by Striking Ghosts ... 12 songs about people in my life, including myself.
Striking Ghosts - the L.A.test
Hello. I'm E. Davis. I record under the name of Striking Ghosts. My genre is alternative singer/songwriter. I write, perform and produce all of Striking Ghosts' music.
I play the guitar (acoustic, electric and bass), piano and keyboards, drums (African and kit), ukulele, banjo, mandolin, sitar, violin, sanshin, balalaika, autoharp, dulcimer, melodica and harmonica.
July of 2021 marked 20 years since my first live solo performance, at the UnUrban Cafe in Santa Monica. Since then, Striking Ghosts has released:
8 studio albums - Thank God for Your Mother, Realia, Choices, 12 Visions, Hope, Elixir, Live & Active Cultures, From a State of Flowers
1 compilation album - Octagon: Outtakes and B-Sides from the TGfYM Sessions
8 EPs - Fir ST E.P., iPhone E.P., E.P.edemic, E.P.edemic The Second Wave, E.P.edemic 3-Finger Salute, N.Y.E.P., UKe.p., Waikiki E.P.
1 covers album - Violator (Depeche Mode's 1990 album in its entirety)
8 non-album singles - "Harbinger," "Lo-Chia," "Samhain," "Hey Looter," "1983," "Vote HARD," "U R UR Vote," "Christmas Eve"
1 covers single - "Halloween" (theme to the John Carpenter film)
More music has been recorded and produced and is ready to be released in the near future. Before the end of 2021, I was able to release:
Singles on Spotify from all the releases above
E.P.edemic 4 Crying Out Loud - the follow-up to the E.P.edemic Trilogy, started in 2020
"No Time to Die" EP - my original song inspired by the Bond film, plus two outtakes from the Florida sessions
"Hey Joe" was released in 2022, a standalone single at first, but now part of an upcoming album
RIO BARE was released also; it's an album of covers of the 9 songs from the classic Duran Duran album from 1982 performed for the most part acoustically for its 40th anniversary
Uvalde E.P. features three songs written after hearing about the horrible school massacre in Texas.
HUTCH E.P. is coming in November of 2022; it's a 4-track collection of some of my favorite INXS songs, as Michael Hutchence's passing was 25 years ago this month and this year
GIFTS, which features "Hey Joe" as well as "I Forgive You, Michael" and ten other songs is set to be released this year.
HINDSIGHT ..., a double album is slated for 2023, with its companion, ...IS 2020, also set to drop next year.
UPDATE: I've decided to postpone GIFTS for now and, for the first release of 2023, promote HINDSIGHT ..., the first half of a quadruple album I recorded after a devastating breakup that occurred in 2016. The breakup caught me totally off guard, and I had a few ways of dealing with it and moving on ... one was running and training for marathons, and the other was pouring all my feelings into songs. Once I did, they kept flowing until I had enough for a double album ... and then I continued writing some more. These first 20 songs detail a lot of what happened at the time ... how I felt like dying, how I felt the right one got away, and how I got help from family and friends. As you can imagine, it's a very personal album, yet I feel it's also relatable as anyone who's been broken up with has to pick up the pieces and figure out a new life and, eventually and gradually, move on. I hope you find the albums as cathartic as I do.
As of this July 2023, I'm figuring out how to promote HINDSIGHT ..., and the best way to do that is to put up acoustic renditions of a few songs as well as of other tunes from previous albums and EPs on YouTube. I'm very thrilled to release the next half of this quadruple-album project this year as well as other projects I have brewing. After a trip to Quito, Ecuador late last year as well as a stay in Paris this past spring, I have albums that are being completed and/or mixed from those two inspiring adventures that I can't wait to share with the world.
I've been doing a lot of reflecting, given that it's 40 years this summer that music really blossomed for me back in my hometown of Reno, Nevada. I bought the Thompsons Twins' Side Kicks cassette and also The Police's Synchronicity, and I didn't become just a casual fan of music; it consumed my life from that moment on. Along with being in the Speech and Debate Club at Reno High, these passions kept me out of trouble, so to speak, and gave me direction and purpose. Though I don't get inspired much by the music scene that's currently present, or the fact that streaming has taken over tangible purchasing, I still find inspiration everywhere and consider myself a product of the eighties and early nineties, when music was vivacious, vibrant and vital, and that's what I aim to make, no matter how many people may listen ...
September of 2023: working on new music after having finished recording projects inspired by my trips to Quito, Ecuador as well as Paris, France. I'm very anxious to release ... IS 2020, the companion double album to HINDSIGHT ... and eager to put it out there and play a few selections from its 20 tracks live. Videos of my playing live are regularly uploaded to my YouTube channel, as it's very hard to play around town nowadays because (a) there are no nearby venues and (b) my work schedule is a bit too hectic for me to travel and/or stay out late to play anywhere, so filming at Zebrahaus and putting them on YT is the best option at this time.
February 11, 2024: Superbowl Sunday! HINDSIGHT ... IS 2020 was released last year, along with MONSTERS, a Halloween-themed collection and the single "Done with Kanye." This year I've released a tribute to Peter Gabriel in the single "PBG" - my music distributor wouldn't allow me to call the single by its original title, the very apropos "Peter Gabriel." I've also release the "biracial" track "I AM BLACK" and its biracial B-side, "Are They Black?" Both songs tackle the question of where people such as I, with one Black parent and one White parent, really belong. We're grouped with African Americans commonly and are made to fit that quota/demographic ... but is that really correct? Not the way I grew up ...
May 12, 2024: Mother's Day ... Thank God for Your Mother, indeed ... the name of the debut album I released around 15 years ago ... basically my way of saying to someone, "I'm so glad you were born and you're here ..." I'm in the middle of recording more tracks from my trip to Rapa Nui, and the main album, which will be called Rapa Nui, is completed. I'm also working on another electric-guitar project since I've been really inspired recently, and I've always been fascinated on how Ministry evolved from a synthpop band to an industrial band and progressively got heavier and more metal over the years. I don't think I'd forsake electronics and pop or acoustic and take that route exclusively, but it's fun to think about, since there are no other artists I can think of who've made that dramatic a turn in genres. I'm still looking for a place locally to do some solo acoustic sets, but it is difficult, I can admit, since not only are those kinds of venues scarce, but my time is very limited due to my work schedule/practice schedule/recording schedule. I'll keep you posted!
September 19, 2024:
The release of the newest Striking Ghosts album is imminent. Tick Tock is 12 songs full of reflection ... thoughts regarding specific relationships and friendships as well as introspection regarding being of a biracial background and growing up in the '80's. Live acoustic videos of each song will be able to be heard and seen on Tik Tok (hence the name of the album, which also refers to the passing of time and how encroaching mortality can change one's perspective). I'm very excited about this release and the 12 songs that are featured on it.
November 23, 2024
A new Striking Ghosts album is on the way!
Tick Tock is a 12-track collection of deeply confessional, heartfelt and personal songs. Produced once again at Zebrahaus and entirely written, composed, performed and produced by E. Davis, the album dives into relatable subject matter that is also very specific.
Most tracks focus on a person that had a direct impact on my life, such as a college friend who's now an A-list celebrity; the co-worker who became a mentor and father figure; the stepfather who abused me while growing up; and the friend I kept trying to connect with yet failed.
Other songs are more reflective of my mental state of being a musician, while yet others address being a multiracial person, with which I've often struggled.
There are a couple of love songs included as well, dedicated to my lovely and life-saving partner/wife.
The tracklisting:"J. Black" - a semiautobiographical tale of a person whom I know."Party of One" - the struggles of being a solo artist can be rough oftentimes ..."I Won't Chase U" - friendships are a dance, but what do you do when the other won't?"I Think of You" - about a dear friend of mine who passed away."Crying Inside" - a very personal tune about how I feel everyday."Forgive" - another personal song about growing up with my stepfather.
"If I Was White…” - a reflective tune about being biracial, wondering if I was all just one "thing.""Caught in the Middle" - another tune about being mixed."Back Then" - talking to the younger generation and how it's easier to adapt than it was in the 80's."Raceless" - looking for an identity as a Black-and-White person, but with no culture that can be pinpointed."The Last Thing I See" - a dark yet uplifting ode lyrically to my dearest partner."Do You Know …?” - another love song dedicated to my wife and praising her abilities.
Tick Tock is a 12-track collection of deeply confessional, heartfelt and personal songs. Produced once again at Zebrahaus and entirely written, composed, performed and produced by E. Davis, the album dives into relatable subject matter that is also very specific.
Most tracks focus on a person that had a direct impact on my life, such as a college friend who's now an A-list celebrity; the co-worker who became a mentor and father figure; the stepfather who abused me while growing up; and the friend I kept trying to connect with yet failed.
Other songs are more reflective of my mental state of being a musician, while yet others address being a multiracial person, with which I've often struggled.
There are a couple of love songs included as well, dedicated to my lovely and life-saving partner/wife.
The tracklisting:"J. Black" - a semiautobiographical tale of a person whom I know."Party of One" - the struggles of being a solo artist can be rough oftentimes ..."I Won't Chase U" - friendships are a dance, but what do you do when the other won't?"I Think of You" - about a dear friend of mine who passed away."Crying Inside" - a very personal tune about how I feel everyday."Forgive" - another personal song about growing up with my stepfather.
"If I Was White…” - a reflective tune about being biracial, wondering if I was all just one "thing.""Caught in the Middle" - another tune about being mixed."Back Then" - talking to the younger generation and how it's easier to adapt than it was in the 80's."Raceless" - looking for an identity as a Black-and-White person, but with no culture that can be pinpointed."The Last Thing I See" - a dark yet uplifting ode lyrically to my dearest partner."Do You Know …?” - another love song dedicated to my wife and praising her abilities.