[ www.markgeary.com ] ghosts

liner notes

1. beautiful
drums - justin guip; bass - karl odlum; electric & acoustic guitars - dave odlum; guitars & vocals - marky; programming - karl odlum
produced by justin guip with dave & karl odlum; mixed by dave odlum

2. ghosts
drums - dave odlum; bass, electric & programming - karl odlum; backin' vocals - josh ritter; knees, chords & jeans - marky
produced & mixed by dave odlum

3. you're the only girl
drums - dave odlum; bass & electric guitars - karl odlum; backin' vocals - glen hansard
produced & mixed by dave odlum

4. morphine
electric guitars - dave odlum; programming - karl odlum; additional recording - dave odlum
mixed by karl odlum

5. fanfare
drums - justin guip; guitar & backin' vocals - kevin mc mahon; guitars & bass - karl odlum; guitar - dave odlum; shakers, quakers & breakers & one vaccuum cleaner & percussion - dave, karl & marky
produced by justin guip; mixed by dave odlum

6. mid-nite sun
guitar & vocals - marky; backin' vocals - glen hansard
produced & mixed by dave odlum

7. whisper (set your guns to stun)
guitar & vocals - marky; bass, keys, programming - karl odlum
produced & mixed by karl odlum

8. a prayer for st. rita
drums - dave odlum; bass, electric guitars, vocal & moog - karl odlum; additional vocals - ann scott; all other guitars - marky
produced by dave & karl odlum; mixed by "HOT" karl odlum

9. i fell
drums - dave odlum; bass & electric guitars - karl odlum; additional vocals - ann scott
produced by dave odlum; mixed by karl odlum

10. up & up
drums - justin guip; moog & electric guitars - kevin mc mahon; guitars & vocals - marky; backin' vocals - justin guip, kevin mc mahon, gill 'angel' holland

11. hold tight
drums - dave odlum; bass guitar - karl odlum; backin' vocals - glen hansard & ann scott; moog & strings - karl odlum
produced by dave & karl odlum; mixed by dave odlum

i'm tired
recorded directly under manhatten bridge overpass, NYC.
programme - mark roule; all guitars & strings - mark geary; drums - sim kane; bass - john abbey; rhodes - colleen mccallum
produced by mark roule; mixed by justin guip

Label (ireland): Independent Records
Catalogue (ireland): INDCD 43
Release Date (ireland): 27 August 2004

Label (america): Signature Sounds
Release Date (america): 25 february 2005

Track Listing: 1. Beautiful / 2. Ghosts / 3.You're The Only Girl / 4. Morphine / 5. Fanfare / 6. Mid-nite Sun / 7. Whisper (Set Your Guns To Stun) / 8. A Prayer For St.Rita / 9. I Fell / 10. Up & Up / 11. Hold Tight

"I'm haunted you know? I think we all are at some point and to some degree: by our past, by people and memories, by loss, grief, youth, fear, lust, love...and can we learn from it or are we doomed to repeat the cycle? Ghosts is all about that but there is also hope in the songs. You can't live without hope."

Mark Geary releases his second album, Ghosts, on Independent Records on 27 August 2004. A release date for outside ireland will be confirmed shortly...

Recorded in New York, France and Dublin, Ghosts was made over the course of a bruising and traumatic year of solid touring. With debut album 33 1/3 Grand Street as his calling card Geary took to the road touring constantly in the U.S. and Ireland and squeezing in recording sessions wherever possible - with Justin Quip in New York and the Odlum brothers in France's Black Box studios as well as snatching a couple of quick recording sessions in the Odlum house in Dublin. Geary grabbed friends he had met along the way (including Glen Hansard and Josh Ritter) for vocals and advice before taking it all back to Black Box for a final mix.

"Black Box was kind of like living in a space station, Dave (Odlum) would be mixing a song and Karl (Odlum) and I would be in another room recording a song that had just been written...the excitement was always there; you're working and sleeping at such odd hours - working 18 hours and then sleeping for ten, waking at dinner time to have breakfast and then head straight into the studio."

"Ghosts was written and in some part recorded in the mists of a madness in Up-State New York when I was walking on a broken ankle for three days before I was finally convinced that something was not right. Black and blue and purple though my leg was, it was the smell that finally convinced me. These songs had been in my head and scribbled on the back of beer mats (coasters!!!) bits of paper, motel stationary. From New York to L.A to Dublin and France and then back to New York...little bits of family time...friendships and hugs...At times I wanted to record and play for ever, then I'd crawl away swearing: "I'm done!!!"

"This album has been just about the greatest fun I've ever had - the irony is not lost on me that a lot of what I seem to write about is sad and thoughtful, a little freaked out and melancholy. The truth is I'm only just learning how to be okay with whatever comes... Playing music, recording these songs with Karl and Dave Odlum, having Glen Hansard and Josh Ritter to call on during recording taught me not to be precious about these songs."

"Fighting for your right to fail" a line from the title track sums up a lot of what I think I'm about.

The Songs:
Ghosts: I wrote this song in Brooklyn, New York. I kept thinking about all the time I've wasted being unsure of my feelings, my beliefs and all that. It's hard sometimes not to regret and "Ghosts" is an admission of regret... I'm sorry I really am.

Beautiful: was written upstate and out of state. I had broken my ankle and was on these really powerful painkillers. I wrote it in one sitting and then recorded it with all these harmonies - I was listening to a lot of Bowie "sorrow" at the time.

Your The Only Girl: I wrote most of it in Orlando where I had this fuckin' awful show, a nasty crowd and a real coke "horror" afterparty. Just the most awful mix of bad vibes and bad breath. I was kinda trapped there so I hid away and smoked and wrote this song...

I Fell: I had many attempts at writing and recording this one. Karl Odlum and I dusted this one eventually upstairs in his Ma's house. Karl and Dave play great on this. I loved playing and singing on this.

Morphine: I think I was in North Carolina. I had this guitar part that I was convinced was someone else's it just sounded so heavy and creepy. The words kind of wrote themselves really: obsession, lust and anger, all the good stuff. In France Karl and I worked on this song and put it together while Dave was mixing other tracks.

Fanfare: I was listening, really obsessing over The Stones' Exile On Main Street. "Tumbling Dice" is so musical and singable. Josh and I and tour manager John Vickers were all in a car coming back from a show playing it maybe twenty times in a row and it just got better and better and better. So this is my attempt, the handclaps and the shouting and 800 guitars and all, just great fun....

Whisper (set your guns to stun): The first line is pretty literal. It's what we've been hearing over the last two years, after a show driving late so we can get the good sleep in before the bastards start kicking down the door and asking for money. This song is all about some kind of enforced acceptance, which is the worst kind of acceptance. It's like being told to say you're sorry while someone is standing on your balls.

Mid-nite Sun: Glen's singing on this is just beautiful. A lot of what I've been doing over the year has revolved around just getting people to sing and engage with me. I seem to write a lot of songs which climax with a big showdown. I'm a big fan of the anti Hollywood ending...the good guy gets eaten by wolves... and squirrels!!!!

Hold Tight: By any means necessary...teeth and fingertips...all the strings and the live drums by Dave. I just had a great time singing this, trying to get more and more desperate in the singing...

A Prayer for St. Rita: "Don't fall in love if they are far away, don't fall in Love if they're too close" an anti-love song for the commitment weary !!!!

Up & Up: Another one of these rants. I tend to rant in a pretty quiet voice just in case anyone hears!!