Back when I first started Secret Postal Society I kept getting likes and comments from this band in America called The Formerly Misinformed. I'll be honest, I didn't reply much at first but they were persistent. Eventually I started replying to comments, which turned into us messaging each other.

From these messages I found myself in conversation with the main singer-songwriter for the band, Brandon Green.

In the 4+ years since then, Brandon and I have collaborated a bunch of times on various songs and projects, I've been on his amazing (sadly now defunct) podcast twice, we've set up a record label together, met up twice in person, and talk, certainly every week if not every day. Needless to say Brandon has become one of my best friends, despite the geographical distance. 

In preperation for the release of the incredible new Formerly Misinformed album ‘Phantom Ship’ which is out TODAY I caught up with Brandon to discuss the album and future plans for the band.

Please welcome to the Secret Postal Society Brandon Green of Formerly Misinformed…

Hey Brandon, how are you doing?

Hello. I’m doing well…thanks for asking Craig. It's crazy, I was just thinking today that in some ways, it feels like the year is just getting going, and then I look at the calendar, and it's already July. But it's been a pretty nice summer so far. I just can't believe we're already here. 

You've got a brand new Formerly Misinformed album coming out called Phantom Ship. Tell me a little bit about the album.

Yeah, I do. As you mentioned it’s called Phantom Ship. I think really, as I was putting the songs together, I didn't necessarily know it at the time, but I started feeling a theme. I can't remember at what point, I want to say maybe three or four songs in, I started thinking about potential album titles. When I say three or four songs in, really, I had more than that written as far as lyrics go.

But when I started recording and actually doing instrumentation I started thinking about themes and asking myself if there was one? For some reason, this feeling, this realization of isolation and what loneliness and uncertainty can do to a person stuck with me. I mean, those are pretty common themes and definitely no surprise when it comes to Formerly Misinformed and my songwriting in general. Eventually that led to more of a, as strange as it sounds, a ghost type perspective. Or maybe a better way to describe it as moving through day-to-day life feeling empty or hollow. In other words, life just continues regardless of how I feel about what’s happening around me.

And I don't really know, this abandoned ship, hollow sort of ghost ship imagery started forming in my mind. I wrote it down along with a bunch of other ideas but it’s the one I kept returning to over and over again. 

I probably had some buried memory or something but I did not realize a ghost ship was an actual thing, that there's actually a phenomenon and or occurrences of ghost ships. Basically a ship with no living crew onboard. Obviously that has a darker vibe to it but yeah that’s pretty much it; I liked the connection of floating, not being in control, and moving through life that feels empty at times. 

As far as the album itself, I used those first three or four songs as building blocks thematically as I wrote and recorded the remaining tracks. But that's ultimately where I felt the record was heading, at least in a broader sense. A loose thread running throughout, at least in my mind, how I saw the songs sticking together. So, yeah, Phantom Ship, that's what it is.

How does the second album differ from your 2021 debut album "All in a Dream?”

I think it differs in a couple of ways, at least for me, just on the surface. The biggest is the way it was recorded and the impetus for the album to begin with; having a firm idea of sound and feel when I started it. 

For the debut, All In A Dream, I’ve talked a bit about this in the past, but it really started with one song. And that song came about with a challenge: “Can I write a song start to finish?” 

My sister Erica and I had always wanted to take a shot at writing and then we did it…that song was Broken Me. And that was right at the start of the pandemic and because we were stuck at home, one thing led to another. It was exciting and we felt this energy to create and we started writing more. That led to my sister Emily and my Dad joining us and we ended up with 10 songs and eventually the album itself. So much of that process was figuring out how to record them, not having much experience at all, starting with the most basic equipment, and just trying to figure it out. All in all, I'm happy with the way it turned out.

But Phantom Ship differs in that way too. It’s more purposeful and I focused on applying more production techniques that I’ve learned along the way. I've made some equipment upgrades too, and then I think the songwriting is more connected.

After your debut album, you released a number of singles and an EP.  With more and more focus being placed on artists just releasing singles for streaming audiences, what was your motivation in wanting to release the second album over more singles?

There's no denying that singles and a steady drip of new music is the way of the music world. Definitely true for up and coming artists, DIY musicians, those trying to gain a foothold. 

I mean, that is the general advice, the general vibe and approach that I see. Obviously not everyone's going to follow that. For me, the biggest motivation for wanting to release a second album is to avoid falling into any one specific box or playbook just because it’s the “right thing to do”. Or because it’s viewed as a great growth strategy or killer marketing or whatever.

I have released some singles, collaborative singles, remixes and a few Formerly Misinformed tracks that are on the new album. But really at the heart of it, I know what I like personally. I know how I like to listen to and digest music. Of course, I listen to singles too but what draws me in the most is sitting down with an album and listening from start to end. I still love to read lyrics while I listen to the songs. That's the it factor for me and it's just what I prefer and what I wanted to do.

But I'll release some more singles again as well. And hopefully there'll be other albums in the future. I'll just mix it up.

Your dad, Terry, and both your sisters, Erica, and Emily, all contributed to the first album. Have they been involved in the second album, too?

You know, I haven’t really touched on that too much outside of how we worked on the debut album. It worked so well given the circumstance we were in and how we were able to get the process started. I was living in a different state; it really, you know, was conducive to collaborative writing from different locations and trading ideas, remote recording and all of that. 

With this new album, it took on a different approach. When I think about intent and more focused songwriting, I really mean that I continue to write. I’ve got a stash of fully written songs and a bunch of half-baked ideas as well. That led to a different approach for Phantom Ship where I pushed forward more from a solo approach while looking for opportunities to bring others in where it made sense.

Some of that is just due to how busy we all are, combined with me not wanting to wait too long to get songs recorded. I really approached it as an opportunity to work on my songwriting and my craft, and so I did that. I wrote every song on the album this time and then worked with Emily to add vocals on a number of tracks along with a few other collaborations. 

But even without direct writing or recording as far as Erica and, you know, my dad being involved, they've heard some of the demos, they heard some of the early efforts and we still talk and touch base on where things are going.

The way that Formerly Misinformed is evolving, the best way I can describe it at this point is, you know, when you hear “music collaborative” or something of that nature, that's kind of my vision for Formerly Misinformed. Song to song, album to album, it's probably going to morph in different ways. I'm going to continue to write and record, but I want to work with different people when it makes sense. 

And so, again, speaking of not falling into any one label or one box, it will ebb and flow. For good or bad, that's what happened on this album.

As the main songwriter, producer, and performer in the band, "What's your process for writing and recording songs.

It's funny, my track record hasn’t exactly been a super organized person. I feel I've gotten stronger at that…call it forced organization even…as I've gotten older. But the reason I bring that up is from a process standpoint for writing and recording songs, I find myself being quite sectioned off or split off into separate phases. I don't know if it's just different parts of my brain, but I go through phases where I'm in the zone or in the right mindset to write and pull lyrical ideas together. 

I will jot ideas down or a word or two or three…maybe a couple of lines as they occur to me. I learned several years ago, and it's not a unique idea, but I will pull out my phone or a notepad and write ideas down in the moment, even if it's, you know, 1 AM and I'm struggling to go back to sleep. I'll capture it and then I will slowly start to put those ideas together.

I found that for me, it doesn't work really well to try to do both at the same time; attempting to write melody and chord progression and all of that at the same time that I'm recording or mixing. I find myself not playing guitar nearly as often when I am working on mixing and production. Once I've recorded the tracks I shift into a different mindset. I'm pretty slow and methodical and it takes a lot of time for me to finish that last 10% of a song. 

What's your studio setup like? 

It’s pretty straightforward but it has changed over the last few years. It was absolute bare bones, minimal equipment at first. I'm fortunate to have a bigger space to work in now than I've had in the last few years. I have room for my instruments and have plenty of space to move things around and record in my home studio.

Equipment wise it’s pretty standard; interface, pre-amp, mics, monitors, of course my guitars, banjo, bass, and a couple of other goodies thrown in there. But comparatively, still, pretty minimal. I've got some pedals, amps and things like that, but most of what I do is in the box. I use Logic Pro pretty much exclusively at this point as my DAW but outside of that pretty normal studio stuff. 

You've also been collaborating with other artists recently, with a couple of those collaborations ending up on the new album. Who else is on the album and how did those collaborations come about?

Yes, it’s been exciting. It was one of my goals entering into this album and will hopefully continue with whatever form Formerly Misinformed takes. Not only to be open to more collaboration, but to seek it out, especially when it makes sense.

So that was pretty much baked in for me, at least to try that approach more for some of the tracks that ended up on the album. The collaborations, which I've already talked about Emily, and Erica, even though Erica didn't record on this album, she's always a sounding board for me when it comes to ideas. But Emily, she dedicated some time to come into the studio and record vocals on four of these songs and that was awesome. 

On the track Stop The Tape, my wife Tracy recorded backing vocals. Of course that was as easy as it gets but it still represented a shift for Formerly Misinformed having someone else contribute. 

And then there's the tremendous guitar player, Ian Wardle, who I met several years ago and was lucky enough to have as a guest on my old podcast. I reached out to him because I really admire his playing. He does a lot of great guitar arrangements on his Instagram channel. 

I was working on a song called Nine of Ten, had it recorded and you know, really liked it overall, but it was just missing something. I wanted a fresh approach, something different guitar wise. Ian came back in pretty short order with some ideas, and I just loved what he put together. 

And then working with you as well Craig, admiring your work as Secret Postal Society, it’s had a major influence on me. It helped that we had collaborated previously on a song called Underneath the Same Stars. Obviously you and I have continued to bounce musical ideas back and forth and we are working on a separate musical project as well. 

Anyway, I felt pretty comfortable asking if you would be interested in recording some vocals for Cut to Scene (Half Life). Luckily for me you were more than willing to do it, and the results were…yeah they were remarkable. 

And of course it came down to the last track on the album; how to close it out? It ended up being a track called With All Due Respect; a completely different sounding song than Cut to Scene (Half Life). I really liked the idea of it in the initial recording. At the same time, it needed something else that I wasn't really able to bring to the table. 

So when I reached out to you, really, I was open to anything. Whether that be vocals, different instrumentation, whatever. You took the song and within a couple of weeks came back and said, "hey, I’ve got an idea." And that turned out to be the string arrangement. I laid down on the floor of my studio when you sent that isolated demo back because it was just stunningly beautiful. It was really moving. Now I can't imagine the track without it.

I won’t go into specifics at this point but I also had another collaboration with an artist I really admire, but we decided to pause as it wasn’t fitting for a specific song. But I look forward to what we might do together in the future. 

What are the main benefits and also the main challenges in collaborating with other artists as opposed to working primarily by yourself ?

I've been really fortunate so far. I can honestly say that I haven't really had any big obstacles or challenges. Outside of the coordination piece and the realization that not everyone's on the same timeline and schedule. What may feel urgent to me is not going to be the same for another person or group of people. Again, I’ve been really lucky in that everyone that I worked with was super responsive, came with ideas, etc. 

I also had a conversation with someone about collaborating on a particular song, and they came back to me after listening to it and said, “Hey, I don't think I can add anything to this. I listened to it. I like where it is.” I've been on the opposite end of that myself and outside of offering something like a lyrical tweak, I didn't feel like I could really add anything new to the song without distracting from it.

From my point of view, it's really just the coordination and describing the vision and what your ideas are to the person you want to collaborate with. I understand it doesn't always go that way, so you have to be willing to have people disagree on approach and realize that you may not like the end result. Are you willing to be honest if that's the case and say, "Hey, can we try a different approach?” 

On the positive side, while you asked about the challenges, the upside can be quite high too, especially working with such talented artists, musicians and writers. You can get some incredible and even unexpected results by opening yourself up to collaboration.

When will the new album be released, and where can people hear it?

Not to bury the lead, but today! Phantom Ship released digitally this morning on both the Formerly Misinformed website and on our Bandcamp. There will also be a physical CD release; more news on that coming soon. 

It will hit almost all streaming services 3 weeks from today, August 22nd. Until otherwise noted, none of the Formerly Misinformed releases will be available to stream on Spotify. 

What other bands/artists are you currently listening to?

This really should be an easy answer but it’s not. Or it doesn’t seem like it because my normal listening habits are a bit upside down right now. I’ve been so focused on getting Phantom Ship over the finish line. I started 2025 listening to a ton of new music (or at least new to me) and that dwindled over the next few months. The good news is I’ve been listening to more music recently. 

I’ve been listening to The Crux by Djo. I recently picked up the newest Car Seat Headrest album The Scholars and I really like it. Let’s see, well one of my absolute favorite albums from 2024 was Ferried Away from the band Stay Inside; I’m still listening. And I’ve been diving into Wolf Alice. I’m a little late to the party but catching up now. Looking forward to hearing their new album. 

After the release of 'Phantom Ship' what's next for you and Formerly Misinformed?

Hopefully a couple of weeks of downtime. I've continued to write down some ideas along the way so I’ll slowly start organizing them as a first step. I touched on it a little bit before, but because of the way I tend to work and move in cycles, I haven't really been able to just sit and play. Maybe learn some new songs, that's what I really wanna do. I will take a few weeks and then I'll play guitar every day and just write without any set plan or deadlines. I also have a couple of projects that I want to revisit and get sorted out, including a couple of collaborations, but nothing really pressing. 

Thanks for chatting with me and all the best for the release of the new album.

Absolutely. Anytime Craig.

‘Phantom Ship’ by Formerly Misinformed is out TODAY via their website or through Bandcamp: