Dead Man’s Bones: Music that Haunts You
Tap It!
By Emily Kropp
in Culture Features
on October 06, 2009
When Zach Shields was a kid, his obsession with ghosts landed him in therapy. Ryan Gosling and his family moved out a childhood home because it was haunted. It seems fated, then, that these fixated minds would collaborate on something spooky.
The elements that brought together the members of Dead Man’s Bones are unusual, to say the least. Zach Shields and Ryan Gosling (yes, that Ryan Gosling) met because they were dating sisters, but soon after discovered that they shared an even further love connection in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, as well as a history of involvement with ghosts. When Shields was a kid, his obsession with ghosts landed him in therapy, and Gosling and his family moved out a childhood home because it was haunted. It seems fated, then, that these fixated minds would collaborate on something spooky.
The project they embarked upon began as a theater piece about a monster ghost zombie werewolf love story, but as they scaled back the scope of their efforts, the focus turned to music. The pair set some rather extreme rules for the project, hoping to accomplish everything in keeping with a DIY mentality. Some of these rules included playing every instrument themselves, recording no more than three takes per song, and using their own spooky sound effects. They found the perfect producer in Tim Anderson of Ima Robot, who Gosling roped into the project after hearing Anderson mix Disney’s Haunted Mansion record into a DJ set at a party.
Their self-titled album is chocked-full of eerie, otherworldly love-songs, but don’t get the wrong impression. This isn’t just a soundtrack for trick-or-treaters and monster mashes, Shields and Gosling have put together a beautiful album for any time of year. Gosling’s lilting melodies stand out over haunting guitar, made more moving by the children’s voices that sing along. They recorded the album with the L.A.’s Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir and will be re-creating that sound with a local choir from every city on their tour this fall, catch them while you can and if Gosling gets you a little star struck, play it cool.
Download “The Room Where You Sleep” by Dead Man’s Bones for free, here.
North American Tourdates:
10/14/2009 Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
10/15/2009 LPR, New York
10/16/2009 First Unitarian Church Sanctuary, Philadelphia
10/17/2009 Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, Washington
10/19/2009 Le National, Montreal
10/20/2009 The Music Gallery, Toronto
10/21/2009 Schubas Tavern, Chicago early show
10/21/2009 Schubas Tavern, Chicago later show
10/23/2009 The Triple Door, Seattle
10/24/2009 Venue, Vancouver
10/25/2009 Mississippi Studios, Portland
10/27/2009 Swedish American Hall, San Francisco
10/30/2009 The Regent, Los Angeles
(photos by Hama Sanders)