Hungry Ghosts

Hungry Ghosts

Hungry Ghosts are an Australian experimental rock, indie rock and post-rock group from Melbourne. The band is active from 1996 to the present and includes Jason G Boneham, Steve Boyle, John Brooks, Tim Howden and J.P. Shilo. John Brooks is also known as J.P. Shilo, and Nancy Lam appears in the earlier line-up between 1998 and 2000.

Formation and early line-up

The group forms in Melbourne in 1996 and quickly develops a quiet, restrained approach to instrumental rock. Steve Boyle is part of the band from 1996 to 1998, Nancy Lam from 1998 to 2000, and John Brooks, Tim Howden and Jason Boneham remain central members of the project.

Recordings

Hungry Ghosts record their debut LP with Rowland S. Howard as producer. They later record Alone, Alone in New York City with Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. The band also releases a self-titled EP. Their early work is associated with sparse instrumentation and a focus on silence and restraint rather than volume or distortion.

Activity

The band stops playing in 2001 and reforms in 2012, remaining active thereafter. Their work is described through its use of minimal playing, melancholy passages and instrumental texture, placing them within Australian post-rock and related experimental rock traditions.