News

With a focus on good hangs and brotherhood, creating music has simply become a byproduct of everything Columbus, Ohio-based band Surrender The Ghost has built through friendship and love. Fresh off a stint supporting Saosin last week (and an upcoming November show with MAE), the band has just announced their signing to fast rising indie label PNWK Records, with plans to release new music in early 2025. In the meantime, check out the new live video of their recent single "We Don't Do Pity" below.

After walking away from music in 2017, Matthew Ellis had the fire reignited during the fall of 2020 after a few too many drinks and spinning some of his favorite records. The simple idea of writing an EP with old friends quickly grew into a project that he promised his wife it wouldn’t, A REAL BAND (insert Blues Brothers quote). From there the choice was simple, longtime friend and guitarist Tony Chaffin who’s really only good at two things: 1) Delivering a timely joke and 2) Shredding guitars. Armed with two guitars and a handful of demos it was now time to find a drummer. Who better to sit behind the kit than Mark Johnston? Besides the facts that he hadn’t played drums in 20 years, lived an hour and a half away and is a stay at home dad with “more asses in the house than seats to sit on”(his words), what could stop this trio now? Well, not having a bass player or singer…but those are easy fixes, right? After working together for years and many heated discussions about the greatness of John Stockton’s NBA career, Ellis and Brandon Eldridge (Bass) reached an agreement: NO NBA talk, and let’s take Surrender The Ghost as far as possible. Now was time to find a singer. Enter Ricky Gonzalez. Thanks to a chance encounter at a bar due to all of Ellis’s extrovert energy, some alcohol and a little convincing from Ricky’s girlfriend (they are forever indebted to you, Megan), Ricky made the decision to bring his incredible voice and lyrics to Surrender the Ghost, and has completed the vision Matthew and Tony had at the start. With a newly finished EP, Don’t Mind Me (recorded at Reel Love recording in Dayton, Ohio) the crew is ready to step on stage and let out the energy that has been building for four years.