Tobias Forge says Ghost has gone through about 15 ‘stage members’ so far

During a new appearance on Drinks With Johnny, the Internet TV show hosted by Avenged Sevenfold bassist Johnny Christ, Ghost leader Tobias Forge was asked how many ‘stage members’ he has had in his band over the years. He responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):

How many stage members? I don’t know exactly — 15 maybe. Something like that. But on the recordings, I’ve used the same drummer for most records — a guy named Ludvig Kennberg. But he’s been drumming on the majority of the records — from the first one to the third one, fourth one, and one of the EPs and stuff in the middle — but never with us live. So that relationship is sort of one standalone thing that feels like… Whenever we get together and we’re recording, it feels like a great… ‘Here we are again.’ That is sort of one thing, and then the live band has always been different.Ghost frontman Tobias Forge

Regarding how he goes about choosing the musicians for Ghost, Tobias said:

If we were to change anyone now, it would have most likely been on recommendation, because there’s definitely a combination… Originally, I put a band together [which] was based more on proximity than ability or professionality. And that will end up being a problem if you’re not very lucky and you sort of just end up being Rush — three best friends ever just being the greatest band together as well. But that is not very common…

Basically, what is very important for me nowadays, and I’ve been trying to do this for the most part… And to be clear, I obviously look to the band first, but to me, the crew is very much an extension of the band, and just overall, I’m very, very picky when it comes to people and attitudes amongst the band and the crew so that we have a very sturdy, friendly, professional team for the most part. I mean, obviously, on a big tour like this where it’s 40 people — our buses is about 40 people, even more so — and then we have two [other] bands with us, of course, amongst 50 [or] 60 people, I can’t curate everyone. But I’m really, really trying to get people that aren’t privy to bullying and screaming and being a fucking dick.Ghost frontman Tobias Forge