Courtesy photo Thomas Ross Turner and Aaron Kyle Behrens say they enjoy the independence of calling their own shots and touring when they want. See them live in New Braunfels.

Austin-based Ghostland Observatory is no ordinary band. It’s a gentleman’s agreement between frontman Aaron Kyle Behrens and producer/drummer Thomas Ross Turner. And though Behrens steals the show with his lead vocals and guitar, behind the scenes, Turner, on background vocals, drum, keyboard and synthesizer, makes the magic happen with his independent label Trashy Moped Recordings.

Together, the two create an eclectic musical experience: part rock, part electronic and entirely “ballsy.” A super-friendly Turner gave 210SA the goods before their show Saturday, July 19, in New Braunfels.

So you two don’t call yourselves a band, but an agreement between musicians. How does that work?

Aaron and I, when we started working together and started Ghostland, we had no intentions of being a rock band or doing the normal band thing, having four or five guys, doing that whole deal. We just wanted to create and experiment and make music that we like. There was no talk of being a rock band. It was just let’s make music. Don’t even categorize it. Just whatever comes out as long as we’re pushing each other’s boundaries and having fun doing it.

How does your musical collaboration work?

We just get into our rehearsal room and work stuff out. Aaron is really good with coming up with lyrics and guitar riffs and stuff like that. I’m good at doing beats and making melodies. ..... We try to keep ego and things like that out of the group. We just try to keep it positive to help each other out and make something that’s going to sound good on a real loud sound system in front of a lot of people.

How would you describe the music to someone who hadn’t heard it?

Some of it is electronic. Some of it is dance-y. Some of it is jamming. Some of it is straight rock ’n’ roll and some of it’s experimental. ..... It’s just so many different combinations, but it’s still ..... Ghostland.

What inspires your eclectic music?

I guess we get our inspiration, a lot of it just is from the fans, from the crowds. We see so much happiness. If there are thousands of people out there, they’re all smiling and dancing and hands in the air. They’re having fun. That creates a lot of positive energy in the room. That’s always in the back of your mind, reminding us of why we’re doing what we’re doing. ..... It just becomes two hours of a positive experience. It just inspires us to keep doing that and try better for the next show.

In February, we went to your Robotique Majestique album release party at Austin Music Hall and were AMAZED when you brought out a big chunk of the UT Austin marching band during the song, “The Band Marches On.” How did you manage that?

We just wanted to do something really special for our CD release party and give something special to the crowd that attended. ..... We just didn’t want to let our fans down. That was the show 4,500 people had come to support us, a lot of whom have been supporting us from our very first shows. We wanted to do something that was over the top. We had horns. We had brass. We had drums. We had percussion. We had tubas. We tried to get as much of the brass as we could fit on the stage. We had, like, close to 50 band members on stage.

Your label is Trashy Moped Recordings out of Austin. Are you completely independent of “the man”?

We are completely, 100 percent independent. We do it all. We don’t have a major label. We’re on my label, and my wife helps out doing orders. And for national distribution, we have a distribution deal through ADA (Alternative Distribution Alliance). It’s pretty much all in-house.

Why is independence something you’ve stuck to?

We had a lot of interest from some major labels. We had an opportunity to change, but we felt this was the right thing to do. We felt comfortable doing things as we’ve always done them. There’s nobody controlling us. There’s nobody telling us we have to do this tour or this radio promotion. When we want to tour, we set up a tour. When we want to bring the UT band out, we do it. When we want to spend all our money on lasers and lights. ..... The only pressure we have is delivering a good show every time.

The rave-like lights and lasers at your shows are pretty awesome. Do you program them?

The laser guys (Lightwave International), they’re spot-on now. They’ve got it perfect with our stuff that we play. They’ve got the programming down so good that it’s all synched together. It lines up real good with the music. ..... It’s just three-dimensional. You’re hearing the music. You’re seeing the performance. You’re seeing almost a visual art piece with the lasers. They come toward you and make patterns in synch to the music. The lighting itself increases some of the climactic parts of the set.

Will your show at Whitewater on the Horseshoe in New Braunfels be like coming home?

I think this is going to feel like a homecoming of sorts because we haven’t been here since February. We’re excited about that and always, like, the home shows are kind of special to us, shows in Texas, because you just get a lot of support here.

Jennifer Lloyd | 210SA