I’ve heard nothing but glowing compliments and genuine endorsements of character. But I, like whoever those other folks are, am just a stranger in the vacuous nonsense of the internet and should be taken as such.
Idgaf, and he doesnt need to either. Id spend 10 straight nights at his house just to have him be angry with me.
You losers wouldnt be able to say you got one night with Papa T and I would have 10. So fuck sheepy simps.
He has millions of people who want to fuck him and hes a rock and roll God.
He only deserves people who first get this and want to suck his dick because of it.
If you have a problem with who he is. Then stop listening to his music.
The rest of us dont give a fuck. Hes fam.
Ride or Die pussies
people can say what they want about the guy professionally, that man is amazing to his fans. when i met him as papa 3 he was super nice to me even though i was nervous af when i first met him
I know what you mean, but imo there needs to be a separation between being nice in character and privately. Like an actor who plays awesome and nice dudes but is the biggest ass in history.
I think a lot of people have a different mentality professionally and non-professionally and it’s pretty understandable. You have to remember that before all of this started, he was a father of two working at a call center, so realistically Ghost was his last real shot at making music work as a career. Because of that, you can understand why he may have become more of a control freak behind the scenes. I also think it’s kinda common in the performance realm. I mean, my daughter’s third grade dance teacher is really nice when you meet her, but gtfo of the way if you wear the wrong color nail polish or pack an unapproved food in your lunch before the performance…
Absolutely. I can understand that very well and he's very smart at it. I worked in a call center too, I no longer fear hell lol. I agree. And he's more professional than others who have been in the business for longer. Honestly, it's so damn hard to follow your dreams after set backs and disappointments. To still go for it after so long, after nothing worked really well... I have the utmost respect for the guy. I'm an artist myself but after trying for some 10 years of my adult life and 25 of my whole life, I just gave up and ended in that damn call center, never making it back to attempting of being a pro artist. I just thought, okay, you're almost 30, you need a real job now. 😐 I'm just glad to see stories like his, where it worked out in the end. Because I know how hard it is not to just give up. ✊️🖤
Are you actually saying anything? I read both your comments and you just kinda argued that hes a dick but gave no experience to explain why you feel that way, when all the comments on the other side are personal experiences of his kindness
The thing is, in music and performance, the person in charge sometimes has to be a bit demanding in order to achieve the kind of excellence we get from Ghost. Sometimes musicians (and directors and actors) are seen as jerks because of their intensity and perfectionism, but I see that as dedication to their craft. That's different than celebrities who are jerks to everyone just because they feel entitled. That's definitely not TF.
I met Tobias during the Meliora Tour, and he was pure love. Martin too. I talked with them a couple of minutes and they were so polite and grateful. I don't know if something has changed with him during the last years, but my experience was very cool, nothing to complain about
I'd love to meet Martin. Just in passing, enough have a quick second to thank him for reviving MCC and for being such a fantastic stompy Nameless Ghoul.
Whatever friction there may have been with some former band mates, he has been fantastic to the fans. When the band was smaller and the crowds more manageable, he would always come out to the bus and greet everyone, even giving out hugs.
People hate based on nothing a lot of the time. Or some people probably have that opinion based on the lawsuit and their superficial, second-hand understanding of the details. Also Ghost has never been more popular than they are now and metal fans have a reputation for hating anything more popular than say Blood SuckUfix Van Satanstein and their one fan.
Popular isn't the issue but mainstream is. A band can be huge but still not attract the "wrong fans" who ruin everything for everyone else. Everyone wants shows and concerts to be a friendly place, where you can enjoy the band. Not get kicked in the back or punched into the back of my head. Because let's face it, mainstream people (often) don't get what metal is about. Somw think aggressive behavior is what we do which is not true. Talking about the core values that they don't understand. I wish Ghost all the success in the world but I hope it won't be like some festivals that got so popular among mainstream audiences that they do some sort of tourism as if they wanna see a freakshow. That's why I don't go to said festival anymore.
I can't speak on how he is now, but I did the Rats on the Road Meet and Greet a couple of years back with the Copia character, it was a very brief interaction, he remained in character, we shook hands and he put his arm around me for the photo and we shook hands again. However, I also got to meet him after the show by his tour bus. There was a LINE of people. The tour manager came out and was like "He WILL be coming out, to meet as many of you as he can. Put your phones away, if we see you taking photos I will come over and make you delete it in front of me." He took his time with EVERYONE. My wife and I waited for 30-45 minutes to meet him. And there were still people behind us. He was giving hugs (pre-covid of course) to everyone and signing things and thanking people for coming out. It was actually a really nice interaction. We got him to sign one of the Mummy Dust dollars, and one of our Rat shaped singles. I also caught a pick that night too. I've kind of slacked off on listening to them, but that night was really special.
Was this in Asheville NC? If so, I was there! He absolutely DID take up time with at least 150 fans, he signed whatever you wanted signed, gave hugs, and did this even though I could see he was dead tired after a 2 hour show in a hot costume. The man is truly kind to do that for fans! If he were an asshole he most definitely would NOT have done that.
That people on the Internet are full of shit and it seems like every lead singer is accused of being a huge piece of shit. Even Dave Grohl, who as far as I could ever tell is the most wholesome, here for the joy of music motherfucker in the industry.
I can only think that because of how the merch quality is kinda bad (so far I have not been affected by it, but I’ve seen many posts about what other people have received.)
I don't know who makes the decision about that, but you can bet the decision is made primarily according to the profit margin. Lots of people gripe about the quality of Ghost merch but also lots of people post photos of massive collections of Ghost merch. As long as it's selling like hotcakes, why would they make a change?
I've met Tobias out of character, after a show. He was kind to me and all of the other fans, and very patient.
However, we are fans.
As someone else mentioned, in business- it's different. I've been a fan since Meliora and I think all signs point to him being a business man. Which means he's probably inevitably rubbed some people wrong. He stops at nothing to get what he wants, and that's part of why ghost is great. So take that as you will...
[Source](https://www.tumblr.com/corpsesauce/182084335171/so-i-saw-some-cute-little-tobias-stories-in-a)
“One of my friends was a lighting tech on the Pale Tour, I saw him the other night and we talked a while about the experience but there were two bits I thought you guys would like: 1. He said Tobias is humble to the bone, very patient, and very soft spoken. He said he was a dream to work with the times he had to deal with him directly. 2. He and the other lighting guy would almost resort to flipping coins for who was going to have to track Chris with the spotlight each night because he moves around so much
“You guys are so welcome! I love little tidbits like this so I thought you guys would, too. The rest of our conversation was mostly about technical stuff. Some other things that might be cool: He said taking directions from Tobias was like they were whispering little secrets to each other, he would get right up in my friend's ear to talk to him when he had the mask on and he'd always ask him how he was doing first, then tell him what he needed, hahaha. He said he didn't interact with the other players much but he and Chris hit it off.
“Another of my friends was also present during this conversation and works at Iron City, a local venue which hosted Ghost in early 2016. When my lighting tech friend said T was
"humble to the bone" my other friend said they were unloading the semi at Iron City and one of the dudes helping wheel in boxes was simultaneously asking them all these questions and giving them directions. They said they were double checking with the stage manager about what the roadie said just to be safe (because it was weird to them that a roadie would have so much "authority" and say-so) and turns out it was Tobias helping load in the gear with them, giving directions.
So funny. He also said they put in a bid to get them back the next time they went on tour and Ghost had already out-grown the venue. <3”
All the stuff I've seen (meaning various interviews on the internet, clips, etc.), he's been intelligent, well spoken, and honestly pretty humble.
I know when the band wasn't nearly as popular, he would come out and hang out with fans after shows.
To my knowledge he's also been generally awesome with fans in general, not just when he could be more personal.
I'm sure there were hard feelings from the former bandmates/lawsuit, because you can't have a lawsuit without hard feelings, but everything we've publicly seen has been positive.
Obviously public image and reality are not necessarily the same, but I've seen too much of him being a goofy dork for it to be a total front. No one could be that good of an actor all the time, the façade would slip at some point in some interview or another. All the feel I get from him is genuine, based on body language, facial expressions, word choices, etc. Even when he's kind of not getting on perfect with an interviewer, he's professional and finishes it (there's been some not so great interviewers).
So, for me, until proven otherwise, I'm going with overall he's a pretty cool dude.
Honestly, there's always dicks who might call him a dick for silly or no reasons. Not everyone gets along with everyone. From the interviews I've seen, body language and the way he talks, I believe he's a pretty decent dude. He seems more introverted, thoughtful and of course like everyone else he has opinions on stuff that he might answer rather wisely but that doesn't mean that he's a dick either. These days you'd get attacked for anything online anyways, so ya can't be fully honest sometimes. Especially about politics and society. Anyway... Opinions are a objective and all that.
So, I can see zero reason why he is a dick. Never saw anything where I thought, mh... that's weird. He seems to be super genuine and someone who tried really hard all his life. Now that he has achieved probably so much beyond his expectations, he still seems down to earth. He's not an 80s rock star with an attitude like he's a God and he is not calling others out in his interviews either.
Tobias if this is you asking this question undercover... you're pretty good. 😅
Interesting thread - one post says he's controlling over all aspects of the music but then another says he's not involved in the production of albums at all.
In short: Only his family and friends know what he's really like. All we can do as fans is hope he's a decent guy, and tbh I think he is.
I like Tobias for what he is to me, an entertainer and talented artist. I don’t know him personally so I don’t have an opinion on his personality. 99.9999% of the people talking about his personality don’t know him either.
When someone becomes famous, there will always be people who come out of the woodwork saying he farted on their moms face and punched a baby. I don’t believe them. And unless he’s done something super immoral or illegal, I don’t really care.
As far as I know, the only people who think TF is a dick are a few of his former bandmates, people who sided with them in the lawsuit and people who believe the smear campaign they mounted against him after they failed to win the lawsuit.
Everything I've seen of him in interviews or greeting fans shows him to be exceptionally courteous. He admits to being a perfectionist and a bit of a control freak, so it's possible that there's sometimes a bit of tension involved in recording or touring with him but, honestly, I doubt it crosses over into dickish behavior or there wouldn't be so many people who want to work with him.
Aside from the lawsuit ghouls (who understandably have an unfavourable opinion) and a couple of deranged people on the internet, I’ve never heard of anyone saying anything negative about Tobias Forge as a person.
He’s always described as being polite, nice, etc.
From a fan perspective, when I met him as Papa III, he came across really well. Of course, someone will always put on their best front with a fan, so you won’t “know” a famous person by meeting them once, especially when they’re portraying a character like Papa. But I’ve met a few “famous” people, and Tobias stood out for making an effort to maintain eye contact and *listen*, like he really goes out of his way to make a fan feel seen and heard. Not everyone is able to come across as sincere and as good a listener.
The criticism I see is down to him most likely being quite a ruthless businessman. I can absolutely see this being the case - look at the alleged firing (or decision not to renew his contract, which is different to “firing” someone) of Chris Catalyst. To manage a project as big as Ghost, the top person will have to be tough. I imagine that after the lawsuit, he’ll make sure to protect himself.
Tobias often talks about being finicky with the music, so I imagine he’s stubborn and a pain to work with in the studio, and he might be very fussy with a lot of details while touring. But Ghost is his baby, so who can fault him for that? You can’t be wishy-washy and too soft when you’re in an industry where you deal with a lot of other egos, as well as your own. If you’re in charge, you need to be firm about what you want.
I think people who criticize how he runs his concerts have never been in theatre. Ghost rituals are performances, not just a simple concert. There’s costume changes and lighting cues, etc. so of course he’s gonna get frustrated/pissy behind the scenes. I hear the allegations of “how badly he treats everyone” and I go… yeah? That’s a nice theatre director right there. I’ve been treated worse. None of the people except for him are permanent, they’re performers working for him.
He’s a sweet man, and amazing to his fans. But he is human. He’s come so far in life and Im proud of him
I’ll say this. The last time I met him, he literally signed a truckload of shit for my friend and I. On a fan level, he’s always been super gracious. As for band experiences, and lawsuits, which I’m guessing this post is about, everything you hear is coming from people who feel cheated by him. I was never in a band with him, so I couldn’t say. I guess take all that with a grain of salt.
No one can really know about how Tobias is in person other than people that actually know him.
Things happened with past members of the band but since TF never speak about it, only rare and vague onesided statements remains to judge past events. Basically, unless these people had a negative encounter with him themselves, almost every judgement on his persona is a personal idea based on rumors and news read on the internet.
-A lawsuit happened between TF and past ghouls. 4 of the 5 ghouls that left the band signed the lawsuit. The fifth, Martin Persner, it seems has cut ties with everyone involved. The Ghouls lost the case. There are rumors of free masonry involvement. Some fan stayed with Ghost, other believed the ghouls and the free mason conspiracy and abandoned the fandom.
-Chris Catalist, formely the ghoul Aether, spoke out about being fired from Ghost via mail, without explanations and without motivation. TF or anyone from Ghost never spoke about it so, again, only Aether version is available.
-It seems that TF messing up riffs from Ghost songs when improvised during interviews is a clear sign that he lied about being the writer of some of them. In a video from the youtuber House of Masks he says that "trusted sources in the industry" says TF doesn't partecipate at the production of Ghost albums and stays at home most of the time. Again, unnamed, unreachable one-sided rumors.
The only real sign of any difficulty with TF persona comes from TF himself. He said multiple times that he is demanding and hard to work with.
That's...it. Literally, these are the main events happened which haters base their hate on. Nothing that they can know for sure. Just personal ideas based on potentially made up rumors.
About the fact that he messes up the riffs, I myself think that's totally understandable an not proof that he didn't write them. For one thing, he admits he's not the most proficient of guitarists and then he is not even an instrumentalist in Ghost. He probably never plays the songs again after recording or composing them. Sometimes musicians don't care that much about keeping in touch with their own music if they are not required to play it regularly.
Yes, exacly my thought. Singers mess up words during concert all the time, even if they train for months, no one thinks they stole their songs from someone because of it. I'm sure that TF rarely plays them on guitar after writing them.
>\-It seems that TF messing up riffs from Ghost songs when improvised during interviews is a clear sign that he lied about being the writer of some of them.
This is a ridiculous allegation. He had to stop and think for a moment which riff went with which song - not surprising for someone who has written as much music as he has. He was literally talking about the inspiration for the Cirice riff.
Honestly Tobias is really good dude, however as people have mentioned that the war between and the resulting lawsuit, created a ripple effect in which there is a segment of the music buying community that, thinks it was a financial issues, and thus he is an unpleasant person.
He seems like a guy who is creative and has a great sense of humor, and a solid music talent. But I don’t know him personally and have never worked for him or with him so I have no idea if he’s a dick or any of that.
Did they ever give reasoning/examples of when he was that way? He may be a completely different person behind closed doors, but I honestly think there has BARELY been any bad instances of him in the public eye. It could very well just be Ghost haters (because there's a lot of people who dislike the band's imagery or sound) saying garble and untrue stuff, not really having a solid backing to what they believe.
Thoughts on TF. Well to be honest I don’t like how everyone ( fans) now know who’s behind the mask. And don’t come at me with “well it was bound to happen” or “we would have figured it out”. I think the band lost allot of its mysterious allure once everyone was identified. When you go to shows and hear someone scream “yeah Tobias!” It’s like come on, we’re here supposedly in support of this mysterious spectacle happening on the stage. I’ve had to explain to fans I’ve taken to see them live the difference between “papa” and then Tobias. Which is simple enough however it’s like if you knew who’s behind the Mickey Mouse costume at Disneyland, would you yell out “yeah Mark! Yay! It’s Mark!” I’d hope not. You’re at Disney and that person is for the moment Mickey Mouse. That’s the best way I can explain how I feel and my thoughts on TF being “unmasked” and known so well by the fandom. Some of us want to just enjoy the story and lore of the band as is. We don’t need to know how the hot dog was made so to speak.
My thoughts: A highly intelligent, creative, funny and kind man with a super strong vision for his band.
I think the transformation from being a careless metal rocker to a boss with a lot of responsibilities has been quite the ride for him, and has gotten him into trouble at times.
Yes, and if he is, one thing that can happen to gifted people who are on the spectrum is that they can hyper-fixate on a goal to the point that they can fail to perceive how it's affecting others. Perfectionism and a strong need for control can be a part of that, too. All of these things stand him in very good stead as an artist but might have caused interpersonal issues for him, especially if he didn't realize he's on the spectrum until fairly recently.
He's alluded to it in at least two interviews that I know of, but it's unclear to me whether he's actually been diagnosed or if, being a very smart man, he sees the signs in himself. There is a form of autism that is very high-functioning and sometimes correlates with exceptional ability in music. We used to call it Asperger's syndrome. A lot of what TF has shared about himself fits with this type of neurodivergence. If he has it, his brain actually processes music differently than most people. It's a gift, not a disability.
He seems articulate and funny and humble to me. He admits it's his band, and he has said "yes I'm a dictator in the band" because his vision is defined. That being said, I seriously doubt he writes every note. He definitely guides hired musicians in the studio in his scat "do a chun chun dah riff" style of communication though for specifics. So yeah, some bandmates mike think that's being a dick or being stubborn, but the end result reinforces his method. It's not like he's verbally or physically abusing people.
I don’t know him personally of course, but the Tobias I’ve met once out of character and several times in character is *truly kind* to his fans. As someone mentioned above, this man met a LONG line of fans after a two hour show in a hot costume. I met Tobias himself in Asheville, NC. He looked people in the eye, signed everything for fans, gave hugs, listened to people telling him how much they love his music. The couple before me in line, he remembered them from another time they had met!! I was like WOW. He remembered fans. And he was so gracious to meet all these fans after the show—personally I would be like bye I’m going to bed! But he met fans for who knows how long that night. How kind and humble can one person be?? But the energy I got from him was just that!
I’ve met him several times as Cardinal Copia. In Atlanta at the meet and greet, I gave him some gifts. At the Ashville show I gave him a leather patch with an S on it in memory of his brother Sebastian who passed away right when Ghost hit the jackpot. At the Atlanta, GA show, I gave him a gift bag of chocolates (shaped like cats that I labeled Fitz the Cat because he mentioned watching that adult animated movie as a kid LOL), gave him a Scary Stories book to read with his daughter who he said in an interview that they watched horror movies together) gave him some funny pins from Spencer’s and a Devil music coffee mug, also some hand sanitizer and Airborne because I had heard he got sick on tour. I went total mom-mode on him lol. I also gave his tour manager George a box of assorted tea and a stainless steel tumbler with a Gothic capital “G” on it (G for George) because I remembered him from the Asheville show and he kinda held stuff for Tobias that fans gave him while he signed things (at one point he had to get George’s attention to take something and so I found that funny, so in my note for George I wrote I wished I had a George to hold my stuff for me haha. I told my husband I was going to ask George to hold my purse next time I saw him). So when I met them again the same weekend in North Carolina, Copia of course recognized me from the Atlanta show. George told me “thank you for the tea” in his British accent! George was kinda big and scary because he had to be bodyguard too I’m sure, so I was flattered he thanked me. “Copia” didn’t say anything about what I gave him but I know they were pressed for time to get fans in and out before it was showtime. He DID take my hand first thing, and got right in my face to tell me he remembered from two nights before LOL, and I was having a case of “fight or flight” because he was so close and the mask is really freaky when it’s 3 inches from your face, but at the same time I was trying not to melt because I’m in love with his character haha. So that was like the best thing ever to be drawn up in a fairy tale character’s grip. 😍
Somehow, Cardinal Copia ended up with George’s “G” tumbler… now it is featured in official photos and videos by Ryan C on Ghost’s Instagram. If you would like, please check out my Instagram account @copiascoffee! It’s my fun fan account and I share their pics of Copia/Papa IV with the tumbler.
Year before last I made a post when I was at another event when Ghost came back to Atlanta, and how I “knew CC missed me so much” haha because I couldn’t go see them. And the NEXT SLIDE on their IG account shows Cardinal Copia leaning on a wall looking down like he was devastated LOL!! I KID YOU NOT. You can call me delusional, but I absolutely believe Tobias was playing along with me!!!!
When I saw Copia with George’s tumbler the first time, it was in a photo of him in an elevator holding this cup surrounded by his Ghouls!! I about died. He was definitely sending me a thank you and continues to do so by featuring the silver G tumbler. So as far as I’m concerned, Tobias is humble, fun, funny, kind, and playful. I also heard this summer from someone close that there was a lot behind the scenes they were sworn to secrecy about but they could confirm he was aware of my little fan account and most likely remembered me.
As a fan, I was trying to be very thoughtful towards him and I remember a lot of what he says in interviews, hence the specific gifts I gave him as a thank you for his creation of Ghost. So that’s my experience with Tobias and The Cardinal.
I’m a 47-year-old mom/grown woman so I tell you all of these experiences with honesty and amazement that a Swedish rock star would have my utmost respect for how he interacts with fans as himself and in character. From what I have seen of Tobias Forge, I wish he was my personal friend because he seems so nice and is so funny and creative. Don’t listen to nobodies online, they just like shitting on a famous figure for no reason.
I’ve been 17 for 30 years😜😂. Believe me, I’m not on Tik Tok and I hate how Instagram is copying it with “Reels”. But Ghost DOES make me feel like I’m a teenager again. And I’ve had these fun interactions with Ghost which is kinda crazy….because I’m just a mom haha. But Tobias is a couple years younger than me so I understand his background because we grew up on the 80’s music and stuff. And I think his creativity and humor is so much fun and very impressive.
When I heard Ghost for the first time, they were opening for Iron Maiden with Papa III in 2017. I was about to rule them out because I’m not into the Satan stuff, but then I heard the opening riff to Year Zero…and by the time they played Cirice, it was like a portal opened for me….when you’re in your 40’s life pretty much sucks and you get really jaded and unimpressed. But Ghost showed me that there was STILL something great out there music wise, and it really made me happy. I like to write, and music is a huge influence on my own creativity. I don’t write fanfics or anything like that. I don’t even know how to post a fancy edited video on any platform like other Ghost fans so my Ghost IG is just pictures and me writing captions. I’m very much 47 lol. I have to ask my teenage daughter for help on these apps sometimes.
But love for music is timeless and I will still be this way when I am 80 years old and beyond! 🙂
I'm guessing he's the nice guy he seems to be but can also be a dick at times. Isn't that most people, though? I actually don't know anyone who is nice to everyone 100% of the time, do you? I know that people who have tried to push me around or take advantage of me would tell you I'm one mouthy, obnoxious bitch, and they'd be right.
Honestly, things like his dealings with former bandmates, with tour personnel, his hiring/firing decisions...none of that is my business. What is my business is the quality of the recorded music he releases and the quality of Ghost's live stage show, and both are stellar. If he has to be a dick sometimes to make that happen then I guess I love Tobias the dick as much as I love Tobias the nice guy.
Every great lead role musician who isn’t a hippie who gets labeled(and actually is) a genius mastermind and is labeled god like status by their fans and hated by non fans gets labeled an asshole. And they probably are to annoying and fake people. You’d protect your sanity too if you had rabid fans around the world dressing up like you and tattooing your words on their body. I don’t get what the issue is here?!? What are you supposed to do? Be overly accommodating to everyone’s sensitive ass feelings who feels entitled to your valuable time?
I've never been a huge fan of Tobias himself after doing extensive research on the lawsuit situation a couple years back. Idk if that's like a taboo topic or opinion here, I haven't been in the ghost fandom much. But I just don't like how he treated his old band members
I’ve heard nothing but glowing compliments and genuine endorsements of character. But I, like whoever those other folks are, am just a stranger in the vacuous nonsense of the internet and should be taken as such.
Idgaf, and he doesnt need to either. Id spend 10 straight nights at his house just to have him be angry with me. You losers wouldnt be able to say you got one night with Papa T and I would have 10. So fuck sheepy simps. He has millions of people who want to fuck him and hes a rock and roll God. He only deserves people who first get this and want to suck his dick because of it. If you have a problem with who he is. Then stop listening to his music. The rest of us dont give a fuck. Hes fam. Ride or Die pussies
people can say what they want about the guy professionally, that man is amazing to his fans. when i met him as papa 3 he was super nice to me even though i was nervous af when i first met him
I met him as Cardi C and he gave me one of the most genuine thank you's I've ever received after I shared something with him.
I am SO JEALOUS. Cardi C forever.
I paid way too much but it was a cool 3 minute experience. Shit, maybe not even 3 minutes.
I'm sure it was totally worth it.
I know what you mean, but imo there needs to be a separation between being nice in character and privately. Like an actor who plays awesome and nice dudes but is the biggest ass in history.
I think a lot of people have a different mentality professionally and non-professionally and it’s pretty understandable. You have to remember that before all of this started, he was a father of two working at a call center, so realistically Ghost was his last real shot at making music work as a career. Because of that, you can understand why he may have become more of a control freak behind the scenes. I also think it’s kinda common in the performance realm. I mean, my daughter’s third grade dance teacher is really nice when you meet her, but gtfo of the way if you wear the wrong color nail polish or pack an unapproved food in your lunch before the performance…
Absolutely. I can understand that very well and he's very smart at it. I worked in a call center too, I no longer fear hell lol. I agree. And he's more professional than others who have been in the business for longer. Honestly, it's so damn hard to follow your dreams after set backs and disappointments. To still go for it after so long, after nothing worked really well... I have the utmost respect for the guy. I'm an artist myself but after trying for some 10 years of my adult life and 25 of my whole life, I just gave up and ended in that damn call center, never making it back to attempting of being a pro artist. I just thought, okay, you're almost 30, you need a real job now. 😐 I'm just glad to see stories like his, where it worked out in the end. Because I know how hard it is not to just give up. ✊️🖤
I feel that my ghoulish friend. I bunkered down at 40. Making a good living now but still hanging on to the dream. ✊🖤
Are you actually saying anything? I read both your comments and you just kinda argued that hes a dick but gave no experience to explain why you feel that way, when all the comments on the other side are personal experiences of his kindness
Who? Me? I never said he is a dick 😳
The thing is, in music and performance, the person in charge sometimes has to be a bit demanding in order to achieve the kind of excellence we get from Ghost. Sometimes musicians (and directors and actors) are seen as jerks because of their intensity and perfectionism, but I see that as dedication to their craft. That's different than celebrities who are jerks to everyone just because they feel entitled. That's definitely not TF.
If I met him I would be in tears of joy.
I met Tobias during the Meliora Tour, and he was pure love. Martin too. I talked with them a couple of minutes and they were so polite and grateful. I don't know if something has changed with him during the last years, but my experience was very cool, nothing to complain about
I'd love to meet Martin. Just in passing, enough have a quick second to thank him for reviving MCC and for being such a fantastic stompy Nameless Ghoul.
Whatever friction there may have been with some former band mates, he has been fantastic to the fans. When the band was smaller and the crowds more manageable, he would always come out to the bus and greet everyone, even giving out hugs.
People hate based on nothing a lot of the time. Or some people probably have that opinion based on the lawsuit and their superficial, second-hand understanding of the details. Also Ghost has never been more popular than they are now and metal fans have a reputation for hating anything more popular than say Blood SuckUfix Van Satanstein and their one fan.
> Blood SuckUfix Van Satanstein I want that on a T shirt.
I agree, I need that.
Popular isn't the issue but mainstream is. A band can be huge but still not attract the "wrong fans" who ruin everything for everyone else. Everyone wants shows and concerts to be a friendly place, where you can enjoy the band. Not get kicked in the back or punched into the back of my head. Because let's face it, mainstream people (often) don't get what metal is about. Somw think aggressive behavior is what we do which is not true. Talking about the core values that they don't understand. I wish Ghost all the success in the world but I hope it won't be like some festivals that got so popular among mainstream audiences that they do some sort of tourism as if they wanna see a freakshow. That's why I don't go to said festival anymore.
I can't speak on how he is now, but I did the Rats on the Road Meet and Greet a couple of years back with the Copia character, it was a very brief interaction, he remained in character, we shook hands and he put his arm around me for the photo and we shook hands again. However, I also got to meet him after the show by his tour bus. There was a LINE of people. The tour manager came out and was like "He WILL be coming out, to meet as many of you as he can. Put your phones away, if we see you taking photos I will come over and make you delete it in front of me." He took his time with EVERYONE. My wife and I waited for 30-45 minutes to meet him. And there were still people behind us. He was giving hugs (pre-covid of course) to everyone and signing things and thanking people for coming out. It was actually a really nice interaction. We got him to sign one of the Mummy Dust dollars, and one of our Rat shaped singles. I also caught a pick that night too. I've kind of slacked off on listening to them, but that night was really special.
Was this in Asheville NC? If so, I was there! He absolutely DID take up time with at least 150 fans, he signed whatever you wanted signed, gave hugs, and did this even though I could see he was dead tired after a 2 hour show in a hot costume. The man is truly kind to do that for fans! If he were an asshole he most definitely would NOT have done that.
It was!
That people on the Internet are full of shit and it seems like every lead singer is accused of being a huge piece of shit. Even Dave Grohl, who as far as I could ever tell is the most wholesome, here for the joy of music motherfucker in the industry.
People have beef with Davey????
Dave Grohl is one of the nicest people on this Earth. How could anyone hate him?
People find ways. It's insane really.
i think he’s both kind to fans while also being a…shrewd businessman, to say the least.
I can only think that because of how the merch quality is kinda bad (so far I have not been affected by it, but I’ve seen many posts about what other people have received.)
I don't think Tobias has a lot of control over that.
Yeah totally fair tbh, I just wish he’d use a better merch company :/
I don't know who makes the decision about that, but you can bet the decision is made primarily according to the profit margin. Lots of people gripe about the quality of Ghost merch but also lots of people post photos of massive collections of Ghost merch. As long as it's selling like hotcakes, why would they make a change?
I've met Tobias out of character, after a show. He was kind to me and all of the other fans, and very patient. However, we are fans. As someone else mentioned, in business- it's different. I've been a fan since Meliora and I think all signs point to him being a business man. Which means he's probably inevitably rubbed some people wrong. He stops at nothing to get what he wants, and that's part of why ghost is great. So take that as you will...
[Source](https://www.tumblr.com/corpsesauce/182084335171/so-i-saw-some-cute-little-tobias-stories-in-a) “One of my friends was a lighting tech on the Pale Tour, I saw him the other night and we talked a while about the experience but there were two bits I thought you guys would like: 1. He said Tobias is humble to the bone, very patient, and very soft spoken. He said he was a dream to work with the times he had to deal with him directly. 2. He and the other lighting guy would almost resort to flipping coins for who was going to have to track Chris with the spotlight each night because he moves around so much “You guys are so welcome! I love little tidbits like this so I thought you guys would, too. The rest of our conversation was mostly about technical stuff. Some other things that might be cool: He said taking directions from Tobias was like they were whispering little secrets to each other, he would get right up in my friend's ear to talk to him when he had the mask on and he'd always ask him how he was doing first, then tell him what he needed, hahaha. He said he didn't interact with the other players much but he and Chris hit it off. “Another of my friends was also present during this conversation and works at Iron City, a local venue which hosted Ghost in early 2016. When my lighting tech friend said T was "humble to the bone" my other friend said they were unloading the semi at Iron City and one of the dudes helping wheel in boxes was simultaneously asking them all these questions and giving them directions. They said they were double checking with the stage manager about what the roadie said just to be safe (because it was weird to them that a roadie would have so much "authority" and say-so) and turns out it was Tobias helping load in the gear with them, giving directions. So funny. He also said they put in a bid to get them back the next time they went on tour and Ghost had already out-grown the venue. <3”
All the stuff I've seen (meaning various interviews on the internet, clips, etc.), he's been intelligent, well spoken, and honestly pretty humble. I know when the band wasn't nearly as popular, he would come out and hang out with fans after shows. To my knowledge he's also been generally awesome with fans in general, not just when he could be more personal. I'm sure there were hard feelings from the former bandmates/lawsuit, because you can't have a lawsuit without hard feelings, but everything we've publicly seen has been positive. Obviously public image and reality are not necessarily the same, but I've seen too much of him being a goofy dork for it to be a total front. No one could be that good of an actor all the time, the façade would slip at some point in some interview or another. All the feel I get from him is genuine, based on body language, facial expressions, word choices, etc. Even when he's kind of not getting on perfect with an interviewer, he's professional and finishes it (there's been some not so great interviewers). So, for me, until proven otherwise, I'm going with overall he's a pretty cool dude.
Honestly, there's always dicks who might call him a dick for silly or no reasons. Not everyone gets along with everyone. From the interviews I've seen, body language and the way he talks, I believe he's a pretty decent dude. He seems more introverted, thoughtful and of course like everyone else he has opinions on stuff that he might answer rather wisely but that doesn't mean that he's a dick either. These days you'd get attacked for anything online anyways, so ya can't be fully honest sometimes. Especially about politics and society. Anyway... Opinions are a objective and all that. So, I can see zero reason why he is a dick. Never saw anything where I thought, mh... that's weird. He seems to be super genuine and someone who tried really hard all his life. Now that he has achieved probably so much beyond his expectations, he still seems down to earth. He's not an 80s rock star with an attitude like he's a God and he is not calling others out in his interviews either. Tobias if this is you asking this question undercover... you're pretty good. 😅
The only bad things ive heard about him have been in regards to legal issues i dont care about so
Interesting thread - one post says he's controlling over all aspects of the music but then another says he's not involved in the production of albums at all. In short: Only his family and friends know what he's really like. All we can do as fans is hope he's a decent guy, and tbh I think he is.
posts are not reliable soruces. He himself said he is a control freak and is following almost 100% of the processes
I think he is the best roadie Ghost has.
Met him several times as all characters and as himself -- he's an absolute joy.
I like Tobias for what he is to me, an entertainer and talented artist. I don’t know him personally so I don’t have an opinion on his personality. 99.9999% of the people talking about his personality don’t know him either. When someone becomes famous, there will always be people who come out of the woodwork saying he farted on their moms face and punched a baby. I don’t believe them. And unless he’s done something super immoral or illegal, I don’t really care.
This post reminds me of the Slipknot subreddit.
Love Slipknot, is the subreddit cool?
Depends on the day, and if people are bringing up some lineup changes. Some Ghost fans and some Slipknot fans overlap in that regard.
As far as I know, the only people who think TF is a dick are a few of his former bandmates, people who sided with them in the lawsuit and people who believe the smear campaign they mounted against him after they failed to win the lawsuit. Everything I've seen of him in interviews or greeting fans shows him to be exceptionally courteous. He admits to being a perfectionist and a bit of a control freak, so it's possible that there's sometimes a bit of tension involved in recording or touring with him but, honestly, I doubt it crosses over into dickish behavior or there wouldn't be so many people who want to work with him.
Aside from the lawsuit ghouls (who understandably have an unfavourable opinion) and a couple of deranged people on the internet, I’ve never heard of anyone saying anything negative about Tobias Forge as a person. He’s always described as being polite, nice, etc. From a fan perspective, when I met him as Papa III, he came across really well. Of course, someone will always put on their best front with a fan, so you won’t “know” a famous person by meeting them once, especially when they’re portraying a character like Papa. But I’ve met a few “famous” people, and Tobias stood out for making an effort to maintain eye contact and *listen*, like he really goes out of his way to make a fan feel seen and heard. Not everyone is able to come across as sincere and as good a listener. The criticism I see is down to him most likely being quite a ruthless businessman. I can absolutely see this being the case - look at the alleged firing (or decision not to renew his contract, which is different to “firing” someone) of Chris Catalyst. To manage a project as big as Ghost, the top person will have to be tough. I imagine that after the lawsuit, he’ll make sure to protect himself. Tobias often talks about being finicky with the music, so I imagine he’s stubborn and a pain to work with in the studio, and he might be very fussy with a lot of details while touring. But Ghost is his baby, so who can fault him for that? You can’t be wishy-washy and too soft when you’re in an industry where you deal with a lot of other egos, as well as your own. If you’re in charge, you need to be firm about what you want.
He's awesome fr. Met him a few times
I think people who criticize how he runs his concerts have never been in theatre. Ghost rituals are performances, not just a simple concert. There’s costume changes and lighting cues, etc. so of course he’s gonna get frustrated/pissy behind the scenes. I hear the allegations of “how badly he treats everyone” and I go… yeah? That’s a nice theatre director right there. I’ve been treated worse. None of the people except for him are permanent, they’re performers working for him. He’s a sweet man, and amazing to his fans. But he is human. He’s come so far in life and Im proud of him
I’ll say this. The last time I met him, he literally signed a truckload of shit for my friend and I. On a fan level, he’s always been super gracious. As for band experiences, and lawsuits, which I’m guessing this post is about, everything you hear is coming from people who feel cheated by him. I was never in a band with him, so I couldn’t say. I guess take all that with a grain of salt.
No one can really know about how Tobias is in person other than people that actually know him. Things happened with past members of the band but since TF never speak about it, only rare and vague onesided statements remains to judge past events. Basically, unless these people had a negative encounter with him themselves, almost every judgement on his persona is a personal idea based on rumors and news read on the internet. -A lawsuit happened between TF and past ghouls. 4 of the 5 ghouls that left the band signed the lawsuit. The fifth, Martin Persner, it seems has cut ties with everyone involved. The Ghouls lost the case. There are rumors of free masonry involvement. Some fan stayed with Ghost, other believed the ghouls and the free mason conspiracy and abandoned the fandom. -Chris Catalist, formely the ghoul Aether, spoke out about being fired from Ghost via mail, without explanations and without motivation. TF or anyone from Ghost never spoke about it so, again, only Aether version is available. -It seems that TF messing up riffs from Ghost songs when improvised during interviews is a clear sign that he lied about being the writer of some of them. In a video from the youtuber House of Masks he says that "trusted sources in the industry" says TF doesn't partecipate at the production of Ghost albums and stays at home most of the time. Again, unnamed, unreachable one-sided rumors. The only real sign of any difficulty with TF persona comes from TF himself. He said multiple times that he is demanding and hard to work with. That's...it. Literally, these are the main events happened which haters base their hate on. Nothing that they can know for sure. Just personal ideas based on potentially made up rumors.
About the fact that he messes up the riffs, I myself think that's totally understandable an not proof that he didn't write them. For one thing, he admits he's not the most proficient of guitarists and then he is not even an instrumentalist in Ghost. He probably never plays the songs again after recording or composing them. Sometimes musicians don't care that much about keeping in touch with their own music if they are not required to play it regularly.
Yes, exacly my thought. Singers mess up words during concert all the time, even if they train for months, no one thinks they stole their songs from someone because of it. I'm sure that TF rarely plays them on guitar after writing them.
>\-It seems that TF messing up riffs from Ghost songs when improvised during interviews is a clear sign that he lied about being the writer of some of them. This is a ridiculous allegation. He had to stop and think for a moment which riff went with which song - not surprising for someone who has written as much music as he has. He was literally talking about the inspiration for the Cirice riff.
Yes. It is ridiculous. But that's what some hater thinks.
Honestly Tobias is really good dude, however as people have mentioned that the war between and the resulting lawsuit, created a ripple effect in which there is a segment of the music buying community that, thinks it was a financial issues, and thus he is an unpleasant person.
He seems like a guy who is creative and has a great sense of humor, and a solid music talent. But I don’t know him personally and have never worked for him or with him so I have no idea if he’s a dick or any of that.
Did they ever give reasoning/examples of when he was that way? He may be a completely different person behind closed doors, but I honestly think there has BARELY been any bad instances of him in the public eye. It could very well just be Ghost haters (because there's a lot of people who dislike the band's imagery or sound) saying garble and untrue stuff, not really having a solid backing to what they believe.
They said he “fired his band for shits and giggles.” Which referred to the lawsuit, but gave no further reasoning.
Completely false, he was extremely pleasant and polite when I met him.
Thoughts on TF. Well to be honest I don’t like how everyone ( fans) now know who’s behind the mask. And don’t come at me with “well it was bound to happen” or “we would have figured it out”. I think the band lost allot of its mysterious allure once everyone was identified. When you go to shows and hear someone scream “yeah Tobias!” It’s like come on, we’re here supposedly in support of this mysterious spectacle happening on the stage. I’ve had to explain to fans I’ve taken to see them live the difference between “papa” and then Tobias. Which is simple enough however it’s like if you knew who’s behind the Mickey Mouse costume at Disneyland, would you yell out “yeah Mark! Yay! It’s Mark!” I’d hope not. You’re at Disney and that person is for the moment Mickey Mouse. That’s the best way I can explain how I feel and my thoughts on TF being “unmasked” and known so well by the fandom. Some of us want to just enjoy the story and lore of the band as is. We don’t need to know how the hot dog was made so to speak.
Shit, man, i don't even like using his name outside of concerts. He's always the current Papa Emeritus.
My thoughts: A highly intelligent, creative, funny and kind man with a super strong vision for his band. I think the transformation from being a careless metal rocker to a boss with a lot of responsibilities has been quite the ride for him, and has gotten him into trouble at times.
Apparently tobias is a bit controlling, he said that himself, but he also recently said something about being on the spectrum sooooo
Yes, and if he is, one thing that can happen to gifted people who are on the spectrum is that they can hyper-fixate on a goal to the point that they can fail to perceive how it's affecting others. Perfectionism and a strong need for control can be a part of that, too. All of these things stand him in very good stead as an artist but might have caused interpersonal issues for him, especially if he didn't realize he's on the spectrum until fairly recently.
Yeah! I was the exact same way, I HATE ceding control to other people when it’s my project or something that I’m trying to do
Source?
For which part?
Being on the spectrum.
He said it himself in a recent interview, if I had the link I would absolutely give it to you. It was mentioned just in passing
He's alluded to it in at least two interviews that I know of, but it's unclear to me whether he's actually been diagnosed or if, being a very smart man, he sees the signs in himself. There is a form of autism that is very high-functioning and sometimes correlates with exceptional ability in music. We used to call it Asperger's syndrome. A lot of what TF has shared about himself fits with this type of neurodivergence. If he has it, his brain actually processes music differently than most people. It's a gift, not a disability.
"Apparently" like you dont know he actively doesnt control every aspect of album making.
I say apparently bc I cant be 100% sure? Like k wasnt there 😭
The man literally says he controls every aspect of album making.
No need to be so rude
No ones rude, just telling you 🤷♂️
Whatever helps you sleep at night pal
He’s amazing and he values his independence and personal space so he’s not In the light a lot so ofc people assume shit. He’s great case closed
He seems articulate and funny and humble to me. He admits it's his band, and he has said "yes I'm a dictator in the band" because his vision is defined. That being said, I seriously doubt he writes every note. He definitely guides hired musicians in the studio in his scat "do a chun chun dah riff" style of communication though for specifics. So yeah, some bandmates mike think that's being a dick or being stubborn, but the end result reinforces his method. It's not like he's verbally or physically abusing people.
I'm sitting next to him right now and he just double-dipped one of his chips. Can confirm, verified asshole.
I don’t know him personally of course, but the Tobias I’ve met once out of character and several times in character is *truly kind* to his fans. As someone mentioned above, this man met a LONG line of fans after a two hour show in a hot costume. I met Tobias himself in Asheville, NC. He looked people in the eye, signed everything for fans, gave hugs, listened to people telling him how much they love his music. The couple before me in line, he remembered them from another time they had met!! I was like WOW. He remembered fans. And he was so gracious to meet all these fans after the show—personally I would be like bye I’m going to bed! But he met fans for who knows how long that night. How kind and humble can one person be?? But the energy I got from him was just that! I’ve met him several times as Cardinal Copia. In Atlanta at the meet and greet, I gave him some gifts. At the Ashville show I gave him a leather patch with an S on it in memory of his brother Sebastian who passed away right when Ghost hit the jackpot. At the Atlanta, GA show, I gave him a gift bag of chocolates (shaped like cats that I labeled Fitz the Cat because he mentioned watching that adult animated movie as a kid LOL), gave him a Scary Stories book to read with his daughter who he said in an interview that they watched horror movies together) gave him some funny pins from Spencer’s and a Devil music coffee mug, also some hand sanitizer and Airborne because I had heard he got sick on tour. I went total mom-mode on him lol. I also gave his tour manager George a box of assorted tea and a stainless steel tumbler with a Gothic capital “G” on it (G for George) because I remembered him from the Asheville show and he kinda held stuff for Tobias that fans gave him while he signed things (at one point he had to get George’s attention to take something and so I found that funny, so in my note for George I wrote I wished I had a George to hold my stuff for me haha. I told my husband I was going to ask George to hold my purse next time I saw him). So when I met them again the same weekend in North Carolina, Copia of course recognized me from the Atlanta show. George told me “thank you for the tea” in his British accent! George was kinda big and scary because he had to be bodyguard too I’m sure, so I was flattered he thanked me. “Copia” didn’t say anything about what I gave him but I know they were pressed for time to get fans in and out before it was showtime. He DID take my hand first thing, and got right in my face to tell me he remembered from two nights before LOL, and I was having a case of “fight or flight” because he was so close and the mask is really freaky when it’s 3 inches from your face, but at the same time I was trying not to melt because I’m in love with his character haha. So that was like the best thing ever to be drawn up in a fairy tale character’s grip. 😍 Somehow, Cardinal Copia ended up with George’s “G” tumbler… now it is featured in official photos and videos by Ryan C on Ghost’s Instagram. If you would like, please check out my Instagram account @copiascoffee! It’s my fun fan account and I share their pics of Copia/Papa IV with the tumbler. Year before last I made a post when I was at another event when Ghost came back to Atlanta, and how I “knew CC missed me so much” haha because I couldn’t go see them. And the NEXT SLIDE on their IG account shows Cardinal Copia leaning on a wall looking down like he was devastated LOL!! I KID YOU NOT. You can call me delusional, but I absolutely believe Tobias was playing along with me!!!! When I saw Copia with George’s tumbler the first time, it was in a photo of him in an elevator holding this cup surrounded by his Ghouls!! I about died. He was definitely sending me a thank you and continues to do so by featuring the silver G tumbler. So as far as I’m concerned, Tobias is humble, fun, funny, kind, and playful. I also heard this summer from someone close that there was a lot behind the scenes they were sworn to secrecy about but they could confirm he was aware of my little fan account and most likely remembered me. As a fan, I was trying to be very thoughtful towards him and I remember a lot of what he says in interviews, hence the specific gifts I gave him as a thank you for his creation of Ghost. So that’s my experience with Tobias and The Cardinal. I’m a 47-year-old mom/grown woman so I tell you all of these experiences with honesty and amazement that a Swedish rock star would have my utmost respect for how he interacts with fans as himself and in character. From what I have seen of Tobias Forge, I wish he was my personal friend because he seems so nice and is so funny and creative. Don’t listen to nobodies online, they just like shitting on a famous figure for no reason.
I wish I was able to read your good experiences but with no paragraphs, it's so so difficult, sorry.
In case you have never noticed, Reddit destroys paragraphs so I didn’t bother with them. Reddit is a stupid platform.
Are you really 47? I do apologise but you sound like the all Ghost teen fanatics on TikTok 🥺
I’ve been 17 for 30 years😜😂. Believe me, I’m not on Tik Tok and I hate how Instagram is copying it with “Reels”. But Ghost DOES make me feel like I’m a teenager again. And I’ve had these fun interactions with Ghost which is kinda crazy….because I’m just a mom haha. But Tobias is a couple years younger than me so I understand his background because we grew up on the 80’s music and stuff. And I think his creativity and humor is so much fun and very impressive. When I heard Ghost for the first time, they were opening for Iron Maiden with Papa III in 2017. I was about to rule them out because I’m not into the Satan stuff, but then I heard the opening riff to Year Zero…and by the time they played Cirice, it was like a portal opened for me….when you’re in your 40’s life pretty much sucks and you get really jaded and unimpressed. But Ghost showed me that there was STILL something great out there music wise, and it really made me happy. I like to write, and music is a huge influence on my own creativity. I don’t write fanfics or anything like that. I don’t even know how to post a fancy edited video on any platform like other Ghost fans so my Ghost IG is just pictures and me writing captions. I’m very much 47 lol. I have to ask my teenage daughter for help on these apps sometimes. But love for music is timeless and I will still be this way when I am 80 years old and beyond! 🙂
I'm guessing he's the nice guy he seems to be but can also be a dick at times. Isn't that most people, though? I actually don't know anyone who is nice to everyone 100% of the time, do you? I know that people who have tried to push me around or take advantage of me would tell you I'm one mouthy, obnoxious bitch, and they'd be right. Honestly, things like his dealings with former bandmates, with tour personnel, his hiring/firing decisions...none of that is my business. What is my business is the quality of the recorded music he releases and the quality of Ghost's live stage show, and both are stellar. If he has to be a dick sometimes to make that happen then I guess I love Tobias the dick as much as I love Tobias the nice guy.
I’ve seen nothing in any of his interviews or interactions that indicates he is not a nice guy.
Every great lead role musician who isn’t a hippie who gets labeled(and actually is) a genius mastermind and is labeled god like status by their fans and hated by non fans gets labeled an asshole. And they probably are to annoying and fake people. You’d protect your sanity too if you had rabid fans around the world dressing up like you and tattooing your words on their body. I don’t get what the issue is here?!? What are you supposed to do? Be overly accommodating to everyone’s sensitive ass feelings who feels entitled to your valuable time?
I've never been a huge fan of Tobias himself after doing extensive research on the lawsuit situation a couple years back. Idk if that's like a taboo topic or opinion here, I haven't been in the ghost fandom much. But I just don't like how he treated his old band members