Holy Ghost! is an American

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

duo from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Founded in 2007, the duo consists of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel.

History

Millhiser and Frankel both grew up on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

and attended Trevor Day School together. They were later part of a hip hop group called

Automato Automato was a Brooklyn, New York-based hip hop sextet formed in 1995. Its members were Nick Millhiser (drums), Jesse Levine (vocals), Morgan Wiley (guitar), Andrew Raposo (bass), Alex Frankel (keyboards), and Ben Fries (vocals). All six of its m ...

. Automato's debut album was produced by James Murphy and

Tim Goldsworthy Tim Goldsworthy is a British record producer, DJ and recording artist. Career Originally a musician/producer for Unkle with James Lavelle, he later worked with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and was formerly joint owner of DFA Records. ...

of DFA. According to Frankel, after the release of the album, Automato "kind of fell apart". Millhiser and Frankel kept working on music, their collaboration having already begun moving towards the

alternative dance Alternative dance (also known as indie dance or underground dance in the U.S.) is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained American and worldwide expos ...

genre. The name Holy Ghost! was selected just before the pressing of their debut single "Hold On" in November 2007. The single was described by ''

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...

'' as "one of the dirtiest little Italo tunes you're likely to hear this year". The duo continued to work on various remixes for the likes of

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

Cut Copy Cut Copy (sometimes stylised as Cut/Copy) are an Australian synth-pop band formed in 2001 by Dan Whitford (vocals, keyboards and guitar). Originally a home-recording project, the band now includes Tim Hoey (guitars), Ben Browning (bass guitar), ...

and

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists o ...

. Their second single, "I Will Come Back" was initially released in conjunction with

Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Brid ...

's Green Label Sound record label. A video was made for the single that is a shot-for-shot remake of New Order's "

Confusion In medicine, confusion is the quality or state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion"

" video, including Arthur Baker reprising his role from the original. The song was later included on the ''Static on the Wire'' EP, released on the 18 May 2010. The duo also began to play live, starting with a tour with label mates

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals, various instruments), Nancy Whang (synthesizer, keyboards, vocals), Pat Mahoney ( ...

. The duo's self-titled debut album was released on April 2, 2011. Their second album, '' Dynamics'', was released on September 3, 2013. The duo's second extended play, ''

Crime Cutz ''Crime Cutz'' is the second EP by American synth-pop duo Holy Ghost!, released on April 29, 2016, through DFA Records. Its title came from the name of a person of the same name who offered a drum break for the title track that was not included in ...

'', was released on April 29, 2016. Their third album, ''Work'', was released on June 21, 2019.

Discography

Albums

* '' Holy Ghost!'' (2011) * '' Dynamics'' (2013) * ''Work'' (2019)

Extended plays

* ''Static on the Wire'' (2010) * ''

'' (2016)

Mix albums

*''The Remixes Vol. 1'' (2009) *''Work for Hire'' (2015)

Singles

Remixes

*2007: "Goblin City" by Panthers *2007: "Spectacle Wins" by

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...

*2007: " Hearts on Fire" by

*2008: "I Love to Move in Here" by

*2008: "Business Acumen" by In Flagranti *2008: "Moon Song" by They Came from the Stars I Saw Them *2008: "I Can See" by Jazzanova featuring

Ben Westbeech Ben Westbeech is a British DJ and record producer originating from Hertfordshire who spent his formative musical years in Bristol. Trained as cellist and vocalist, his influences include house, soul, jazz and hip hop. Music career Early car ...

*2008: " Of Moons, Birds and Monsters" by

*2009: "Lisztomania" by Phoenix *2009: "The Deep End" by

Curses! ''Curses!'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Roscoe Arbuckle and Grover Jones. Cast * Al St. John as Buttonshoe Bill * Bartine Burkett as Nell See also * List of American films of 1925 * Fatty Arbuckle filmography Re ...

*2009: "The Pretender" by Datarock *2009: "I Can See" by Jazzanova *2010: "Drunk Girls" by

*2010: "Love Get Out of My Way" by

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy ...

*2010: "Somebody to Love Me" by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, ...

and the Business Intl *2010: "The Deep End" by

*2011: "Drop Me a Line" by Midnight Magic *2011: "Blue Moon" by

*2013: "Working the Midnight Shift" by

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular m ...

*2018: "Control (Secretly Sorry)" by JR JR

Members

* Nick Millhiser * Alex Frankel

Touring members

* Chris Maher – guitar, percussion, background vocals (2010–present) * Erik Tonnesen – synthesizers, background vocals (2010–present) * Sam Jones – synthesizers, percussion, background vocals (2011–present) * Chris Berry - drums (2014–present) * Jim Orso – drums, background vocals (2011–2014)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Alternative dance musical groups American musical duos DFA Records artists Electronic music duos Electronic music groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 2007 Musical groups from Brooklyn Nu-disco musicians Remixers American synth-pop groups