May Contain Ghosts
Music by Gail Gallagher
Mixed and Mastered by Jake Dewar
Guitar by Jake Dewar
Special Sound Effects by Joe Griffin and his Excessive Machine
Album art by Drew Morse
Track 1 Heartbeat:
Originally called, “it begins” my inspiration for Heartbeat was simple enough. I asked myself, “what does the opening track to a horror album sound like?” I enjoyed using the heartbeat track as a drum beat and improvising the piano part over it. The most climatic moment of this track is the rising sound at the end, a sample labeled “hell riser” I doubled it and pitched it down a half step resulting in this very intense rising sound
Track 2: She is the wind
She is the wind features original stems from my song 2:22 featured on my 2020 album Power of the Unnamed Passion. Originally titled, street lamp, my concept for this track was to answer my songs Empty Wind and 2:22. Empty wind is about realizing someone is gone and not actually haunting you and that the wind is just the wind. 2:22 is about being skeptical about signs and still seeing synchronicities everywhere. She is the wind fully embraces the spookiness of the wind and gives an etherial, haunted forest sort of vibe.
Track 3: Insomnia
This track was originally called glassy and I went into my recording session with the idea of “broken glass” in mind. It also was an opportunity to play with some of the sound effects Joe gave me. During the writing process, this track got stuck in my head for an entire night and so it got renamed “insomnia” out of spite
Track 4: Whirlpool
I had some downtime at work and had the idea to do a composition inspired around the prompt “shipwreck.” I did my initial improv in my classroom that day and then came home and improvised the piano solo in one take and added sound effects around it. I found a synth that sounds like wood cracking and that was probably my favorite discovery of this track.
Track 5: Clowns and Coasters
This track started out as an experimental track called “circus” that I came back to once I had the first seven tracks of the album and realized I needed to have something weird and upbeat and not just sad and moody. As the track evolved my concept for it became “fright night at the rollercoaster tycoon park.” I had way too much fun making this as chaotic as possible. This was sent off to Jake right after I sent over Procrastination and so I asked for guitar on this one as well.
Track 6: Howl
This track starts and ends with coyote howls I recorded while with family at the river in Healdsburg. I then added additional howl sounds including samples from Joe Griffin’s excessive machine, a synth labeled banshee and my co-worker Kiara pitched down an octave. The voice you hear at the end is myself and Andy Stacklin
Track 7: What’s in the Attic?
The initial idea for this track came while experimenting with choir synth sounds at work with one of my students. I came home and started working on the track giving myself the prompt choir. The image of exploring an attic came to me as the track progressed and I added different sound effects that surround the listener. I’ve been told this one sounds the most like video game music.
The music box you hear at the end is a music box I found in a trunk of my mom’s things. It doesn’t play only clicks and makes weird squeaking sounds
Track 8: A Normal Music Box
This is the first track I wrote for the album and also the track that inspired the name of the album. Originally the track was called “This music box may contain ghosts” and then when I was looking over the first 10 or so track ideas I had and trying to figure out a name for the album, I decided “May contain Ghosts” was a great album title. So then this track got renamed “A normal music box” because let’s face it, all music boxes contain ghosts
Track 9: Procrastination Catches Up
The original inspiration for this track was the panning shaker sound effects you hear. Early on I had an idea that I wanted this to be the opposite of chillwave study music. I also knew I wanted to have Jake play guitar on a track. I was thinking of times in college when I was up late working on a research paper and feeling stuck and listening to dream theater on repeat. I decided that was the concept of the track and jake ran with it and made some epic guitar.
Track 10: Under the floorboards
Originally titled “haunted house” this was one of the first tracks that I made for the album. I wanted it to have a cinematic feel to it, like you feel like you’re entering a haunted house. At one point in the process, I considered renaming the album “under the floorboards” as I was realizing how much unprocessed feelings and bits of grief I had that were coming up thru writing this album. I decided to keep the album name but renamed the track Under the floorboards as reference to that thought.
Track 11: May your ghosts become ancestors
This was the last track I wrote for the album and I wrote it intentionally as a callback to the other tracks. My initial inspiration for this track is the wind phone at ocean beach. It’s an art installation where you can call a loved one who has passed and talk to them on a payphone they have set up (costs a pebble to make a phone call). I used ocean sounds I recorded while hanging out with friends. The track calls back all the other tracks from the album and the resolves into a major chord (yay). That last motif you hear is a melody I wrote when I was 20 and it’s a common theme I come back to that symbolizes feeling creatively connected. The last note of the melody plays to an unresolved tone, there's a pause and then that final note answers, fades and you’re left with the sounds of the ocean.