“Social media has given a lot of people the false hope that their voice actually matters”: Why Tobias Forge “shied away” from consuming media while writing new Ghost album
Ghost frontman Tobias Forge has explained why he “shied away” from media consumption during the creation of the band’s forthcoming album Skeletá.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone UK, Forge says he’s been on a “media blackout” since November 2024.
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He says that while the band’s last outing, Impera, dabbled in political themes, he sought to get away from that while writing Skeletá. And while composition for the album was done before his “media blackout”, Forge says he was cognizant of his media consumption while writing.
“There’s a misconception that I wrote the record [Skeletá] during my media blackout – that is not true,” he says [via Louder]. “But I did, however, shy away from the immediate media.”
“[I needed to] focus on what my role is as a human and what my job is. My job as an entertainer is to make as many people happy and motivated and joyous as possible. And my job as a husband and father is to take good care of my children and my family.”
Forge describes social media, in particular, as a “dead end” which distracted him from best fulfilling those goals.
“Social media has led a lot of people to believe that they can magically change the world,” he says. “Even though social media has done tremendous good for a lot of people, especially when it comes to structural change, it also has given a lot of people the false hope that their voice actually matters no matter what. If they can’t use that voice, and it’s not heard, it’s like a right that’s been taken away from them.”
Tobias Forge’s comments on social media are similar in the sense that he’s wary of newer technology as those he made last month, when he explained why Ghost will ban phones during their tour for the album, dubbed Skeletour.
“I’m not saying that all social media is bad,” Forge says. “I’m just saying that when it comes to the actual live show, my calling, my reason for being there is the connection between myself and everybody that I brought with me that are working in tandem to give you an experience, that experience is completely de-cocked if everybody’s just filming.”
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