Kansas band Deflecting Ghosts have made somewhat of a family affair of their modern yet nostalgic rock sound inspired by personal pain and tragedy, which they describe as “real, passionate, and honest.”
The Hutchinson trio is formed of singer, songwriter and guitarist Luke Fitzgerald, his wife Rhema, who learned to play bass because Luke needed a bassist, and his brother-in-law Austin Gautier on drums. Luke and Rhema dated briefly around 25 years ago but, due to his drug use and living in different towns, they lost touch in 2002. That same year, Luke’s brother Adrian and three of his friends were killed in a car crash that he witnessed at the age of 15. He went on to spend the next 10 years battling addiction, which led to him suffering two heart attacks and overdoses that saw him technically die five times. He finally ended up in rehab after overdosing on a plane, forcing an emergency landing in Atlanta and ending up in a coma for 11 days.
After rehab, Luke started a band, but it fell apart and life happened with a bad marriage for 12 years. But that ended in November 2021 and he reconnected with Rhema after 20 years, the music rekindled and Austin came on board after marrying Luke’s sister. Since then, the trio have crafted a sound that Luke describes as “Modernized 90s to 2000s-influenced rock.”
And he added: “I write music that is real, that is from the heart. I write music, and I start singing, and that’s how I get the lyrics. The music draws it out, so if you are looking for something like everything else that’s popular, you won’t find it here. The industry has trained people to like things a specific way. It’s all so polished and overdone that it lacks raw emotion and feeling, the way music used to be in 90s and 2000s.
“Back then, it was real people singing about real life, the good and the bad. It was about the music and people connected with it on a deep level. The music scene now is like a ridiculous popularity contest. I have never cared about being popular, but I’ve always cared about music. We have been taught that what you see and hear in real life isn’t good enough. I don’t care what’s good enough; I don’t even know what is good enough, but I know what’s real, and that’s good enough for me. Life is nothing short of painful, difficult, and tragic, but it’s also beautiful and amazing, and it’s real. I want something that is real, and that’s what my music is.”
To give us a taste for this, they sent us Broken, which was released in May. It opens up with a light little lick that continues as engaging vocals “Broken and stolen in the sands of time, Seasons come and gone just like another life” come in. Heavier guitar chords kick in as it flows into a big singalong chorus “Now you walk alone still jaded from the fall, All the secrets creeping in to kill your soul, Now you wait this out for judgment day to come, All the waiting in the silence yet to come.” That ends with chunky guitars flowing into a heavier second verse and a big chorus, which ends with another hit of heavy guitars. Empassioned vocals “Burnt out and breaking how can I save this life, Old and faded taking what is left leading to my demise, So now tell me what do I do, Look to the heavens and pray for a sign to guide me back where I belong,” before a cool guitar solo sets up a final blast of the chorus.
On the track, Luke told us: “Broken is an older song I wrote back in 2010. It’s a little old school, but that’s me, and all my music is going to be like that.”
Broken was followed by the release of Death Is Calling last week, which you can check out in the video below. And it follows the band’s first two singles Passion of the Scorned and Lost My Mind, which were released last year.
The Deflecting Ghosts sound has been influenced by the likes of Cold, Marilyn Manson, Staind, Tool, System of a Down, Metallica, Audioslave and more.
And on what inspires them to write music, Luke explained: “Pain and tragedy are big topics of mine. My life was tough, to say the least. I had a great upbringing, great family, and parents who loved me. I suffered a lot of loss and saw a lot of things that were very traumatic as a teenager, and I took a path that was not good. Even when I got away from that life, it’s been one loss after another. So my topics are about struggle with a hint of hope, or ending with a turning point in life or deciding to fight on. My message is mainly that life is tough, but no matter how hard it gets, you can get through it.”
Deflecting Ghosts are always writing new music and plan to release a song every four to six weeks, if possible. They also have some gigs coming up through October and November with an additional small tour in the works, and Luke is working with Anthony Tone Godwin from Outermost Music to start a music movement across the Midwest. He added: “Get ready because we have a lot of good material and have a lot of stuff planned. You will be hearing a lot more from us soon.”
You can follow Deflecting Ghosts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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