GHOST's TOBIAS FORGE: 'I Had To Transform Into Someone Else In Order To Be Interesting Enough To Be Able To Be On Stage'

April 8, 2019

GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge spoke to Australia's Silver Tiger Media about the importance of his alter ego, explaining that he "had to transform into someone else in order to be interesting enough to be able to be on stage."

Forge, who creates demonic characters for every album, performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of last year's "Prequelle".

Asked about the inspiration for his alter ego and GHOST's theatrical stage show, Forge said: "I think it stems from the fact that when I was a kid, being a fan of Alice Cooper, being a fan of THE ROLLING STONES, being a fan of all these larger-than-life rock bands — Dee Snider and Nikki Sixx and Blackie Lawless — but also Roger Waters and David Gilmour, I always thought that in order to become a hero like that, you needed to be from someplace else. So I thought that as I grow up, I need to transform into someone else in order to fit into the idea of how I wanted my rock star. Because I couldn't imagine that there would be someone from my street, my house, living in my room, would be interesting enough to be a rock star. And I think that therefore you see a pattern of enhanced personas in each of these bands, in some way or form.

"It sort of dawned on me fairly recently, like, man, I've worn makeup almost every time I've been up on stage, in any band, and I've always had a pseudonym, or in some way or form, altered myself into… Yeah, essentially, it didn't change much from my idea when I was seven years old to how I am now, being 38," he continued. "I had to transform into someone else in order to be interesting enough to be able to be on stage. Because I can't really see myself as the kid from Linköping [in Sweden] to be that person."

Pressed about whose life he prefers, his own or that of his alter ego, Forge replied: "Now I've started to like my own. But for most of my life, I was very unhappy… 'discontent' was, I guess, the word. I've always been very in favor of becoming someone else and having different possibilities than I had. Now I know that all of the things that I had, and I was blessed with, was actually in my favor, but when I was a kid, I thought that was a disadvantage. It's just that I've come to a point in life where I have the therapeutical blessing that I get to talk about these things all the time. And also that my achievements that I've done as an individual, even though it's been dressed up as another individual, has been applauded. So my background is now valuable. But up until very recently, I thought my background was not very good. [Laughs] That's why I feel way more content with life. And, of course, because I'm doing well. Life is good."

"Prequelle" debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and features the chart-topping singles "Rats" and "Dance Macabre".

In December, GHOST nabbed two Grammy nominations, "Best Rock Album" for "Prequelle" and "Best Rock Song" for "Rats".

Three years ago, GHOST became the first Swedish rock band ever to win a Grammy — 2016's "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Cirice".

GHOST recently announced a six-week North American headline tour that will see the Swedish rock band's elaborate rock theater presentation metamorphose into a full-on arena production. Billed as the "Ultimate Tour Named Death" and produced by Live Nation, the tour is due to kick off Friday, September 13 in at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, California, following GHOST's special guest summer slot on METALLICA's 25-date "WorldWide" European stadium tour.

Find more on Ghost
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).