Former GHOST Keyboardist Releases Home-Video Footage From Band's First-Ever Visit To U.S.

Former GHOST keyboardist Mauro Rubino, who performed with the Swedish band from 2011 until 2016 under the stage name Air, has uploaded personal home-video footage from the group's first ever visit to the U.S., which took place in May 2011. He wrote on his Facebook page: "We were invited to play Maryland Deathfest at the end of May 2011 so we also booked the Studio at Webster Hall [in New York City] the day after, 1st of June." The two clips, which include personal notes from Rubino about the gigs, can be found below.

Rubino is one of four former members of GHOST who sued the band's frontman and founder Tobias Forge last year, accusing him of cheating them out of their rightful share of the profits from the group's album releases and world tours.

The original lawsuit, which was filed in the district court of Linköping, where GHOST was originally based, claimed that Forge solely controlled the band's business affairs without input from anyone else in the group. The four musicians furthermore stated that a partnership agreement existed between them and Forge which put Tobias in charge of carrying out the company's management duties.

In a statement explaining the lawsuit, the musicians officially revealed their identities as Rubino, Simon Söderberg (Alpha; member of GHOST from 2010 until 2016),Henrik Palm (Eather; member of GHOST from 2015 until 2016) and Martin Hjertstedt (Earth; member of GHOST from 2014 until 2016).

Forge was asked in an interview with CBS Philadelphia if he considers GHOST a solo project or a band. He replied: "I actually refer to it as the earlier of the two options. Even though I've never wanted it that way, but at the end of the day, that is what it is. So I think it speaks clear for itself. I mean, I started it in 2006, and no one that was ever in the band in 2016 was even on the first record. Call it solo, if you want to, but I call it a project."

Forge, who does all the band's interviews as a Nameless Ghoul, dismissed the entire lineup at the end of 2016 and brought in a fresh group of players. He explained: "I have been in the band since I started the band. I started writing songs for it in 2006. Nowadays there's a handful of very new members, yeah. But there has been about 10 to 15 people now going in and out of the band, so there's been a lot of rotation."

He added: "People have a tendency to want to feel that they're very important for something, and if it's not crucial that they're there, there will also be a little bit of a friction there."

Forge entered the studio in August to begin recording a new GHOST LP. The follow-up to 2015's "Meliora" is expected out sometime this year.