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The Rose Phantom

The Rose Phantom is an independent underground musician based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.

Born Theodoric Newsom, the musician got an early start in high school, located in Taylorsville, Utah. While attending Taylorsville High School, Ted Newsom joined a TV broadcasting class. His senior year of high school was entirely composed of TV broadcasting classes. At that point in time, Ted had already adopted the moniker The Rose Phantom (TRP) for his emerging identity as an artist.

The Rose Phantom’s early musical influences include: Alphaville, Clan of Xymox, David Bowie, David Sylvian, Depeche Mode, Jean-Michel Jarre, Pink Floyd, Recoil, Red Flag, Tangerine Dream, Tears For Fears and U2 - just to mention a few.

Before he started producing his own music and music videos, Ted Newsom started out making music video creations to other artists’ songs through a production company called Rose Phantom Films. Most of those videos were carbon copy remakes, but a good majority were thought up by Ted himself. Ted displayed his skills as a novice videographer, emulating the visual styles of the 1980s and 1990s. Currently, these videos are available for viewing at the Rose Phantom Films YouTube channel.

The very first fan video was of “Mad World” – a song by Tears For Fears – created in 2003. Ted Newsom was joined by a friend, Dustin Hurst. Another fan video – “Pale Shelter” – a song by Tears For Fears – was recorded at The Great Saltair, located at the Great Salt Lake, later in 2003.

Other remakes soon followed. “Stripped” video – a song by Depeche Mode – was recreated in a junkyard in early 2004, where Ted Newsom performed along with his friends Dustin Hurst, Derek Strasters and Jason White. The boys lip synced, banged on an old car with sledge hammers and carried around mirrors with superimposed images of themselves.

In August 2004, an original video creation of “A Victory of Love” – by Alphaville – was recorded on location at Ted Newsom’s house. Alphaville never made their own video for this song. The video creation, initially a passion project, was preserved for years on VHS and DVD-R and distributed to friends and fans. YouTube was not in existence yet, back in 2004. Once the video was uploaded to YouTube, it became the most popular video creation ever made by The Rose Phantom and his claim to international fame, currently at 9 million views.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bpb4I6sSj80&feature=youtu.be

After the music video creations, The Rose Phantom moved on to his own music project, named revideolized. The Rose Phantom composed original tracks and crafted videos to a select few. The result was a debut album which was self-titled “revideolized”. The album was released to CD on December 5th, 2005.

The debut album featured 11 tracks, most of which were performed for the first time at the 2005 Dark Arts Festival in Salt Lake City on June 5th, 2005. The live concert was showcased at Area 51 nightclub. Other performances followed: a community center (?) performance, called “A Night Of revideolized” on October 31st, 2005. Live at Mo’s Grill happened on January 23rd, 2006.

The live performances were recorded on several video cameras with the help of family and friends. Ted refined the videos by adding his videographer’s skills. The visual effects mimicked the glitchy images of old VHS tapes malfunctioning, as well as occasional static of old TV sets.

Ted Newsom, under the project revideolized, produced several albums: "revideolized" (2005), "TheMooNDriveNDark" (2006), "Look-In" (2007), and "Sounds From The Canyon" (2008). Original videos were crafted to fit tracks on most albums. Recorded in the great outdoors, videos span locations ranging from The Great Salt Flats to canyons, forests and deserts within the state of Utah.

“Sounds From The Canyon” was recorded live on location with live overdubs. The Rose Phantom scouted for a location in the Butterfield Canyon, where he transported in audio recording and computer equipment, complete with a generator. The resulting recordings were completely live and unadulterated by any digital manipulations – even the distant hum of the generator is evident quietly at the beginning of the first track.

The Rose Phantom joined his brother’s (Zakkary Hale) progressive/alternative rock band called Melodramus in late 2005, after the release of his debut album. For The Rose Phantom, this was an opportunity to experience working with other musicians and to broaden his playing skills, alongside his continuing solo projects. The Rose Phantom played keyboards, synthesizers and provided backing vocals on songs and live performances for Melodramus.

Melodramus released two full-length albums: "30 Silver Pieces" (2007) and "Two: Glass Apple"(2010), during The Rose Phantom’s presence in the band.

During the recording of the second Melodramus album, Ted Newsom was also involved with his duo project, Sleep Slid iN, with vocalist Whitney Willow – a name inspired by a Stephen King novel. Sleep Slid iN released its first and only album, titled "The Open Diary" in 2009.

In 2011, The Rose Phantom decided to abandon all of his previous projects, including revideolized and Sleep Slid iN. Going forward with his new solo endeavors, he officially adopted the long-time alias he always credited in his previous works: The Rose Phantom.

The Rose Phantom's first full-length album, "Abandon" was released in December 2012. The album consisted of ten original tracks that delved into many genres such as darkwave, gothic, industrial and electronic. Many of the tracks are accompanied by music videos, as created and directed by The Rose Phantom.

In the years since the release of Abandon, The Rose Phantom followed a different pattern; rather than committing months and years to one full album, he began producing and releasing singles with videos. Among them were: "Them Bones" (a cover of an Alice In Chains song) in collaboration with members of Melodramus. The video was followed by others, such as "The Message", "Limitless Reaches of the Earth", "Broken Heart / Distant Shore", "I'll Never Reach the Night", "Just Breathe", and "False Alarm (The Game Mix 2019)”.

The Rose Phantom also released six EP's: "Picking Up The Pieces", "Sketches: Live at Storm Mountain", "Soulless Experiment", "Wicked Flowers", "Solace", and "Sympathy", as well as an additional full-length dark ambient instrumental release, "Dark Moods".

In early 2012, The Rose Phantom was approached by a filmmaker to create an original soundtrack for an independent documentary film, “Picking Up The Pieces”. The documentary is about child prostitution in Cambodia and was shown at many film festivals, including Sundance in 2013. Titled after the film, “Picking Up The Pieces” EP album was released on June 30th, 2012.

"Sketches: Live at Storm Mountain" showcased a live recording of five songs on location at the Storm Mountain Amphitheater in September 2014 and released on Bandcamp on November 1st, 2014. The Rose Phantom was joined by backing synthesizer keyboards and vocals of Luna and Sol, two female musicians. The outdoor performance did not have an audience, only the performers and a filming crew. The final product was a concert video that was weaved with a collage of performance art involving fantasy costumes and natural landscapes.

In early 2014, The Rose Phantom explored an entirely different angle of music application. In between all the albums, an independent film project began to take shape as a collaboration between The Rose Phantom and Purgatory Pete. The project “Conjuring the Spirits” involved composing live music that aimed to connect with the spirits. The project’s aim was to launch a new career path in television for The Rose Phantom. Ultimately, the pilot episode, called “Old Montana Prison” had to be shelved due to lack of attention from any TV networks.

The pilot episode “Old Montana Prison” featured The Rose Phantom and his partner, Purgatory Pete, spending one night in a defunct Montana prison, while walking around in complete darkness and recording audio and video. The concept was of a reality TV show, using electronic accessories (MEL meter, spirit box) to access the world of ghosts that may still inhabit abandoned spaces. Currently, the pilot episode is available for viewing at the Conjuring the Spirits YouTube channel, which also contains an assortment of other videos relevant to ghost hunting.

“Dark Moods” LP was released on February 3, 2015. The album contains 5 tracks that were original compositions used in the "Conjuring the Spirits" pilot episode.
“Soulless Experiment” was created as a 4-track EP, with each song catering to a different musical genre. The album is exclusively available on a cassette tape only, released on October 31, 2015.
"Wicked Flowers" was released on October 31st, 2016.
"Solace" was released on October 31st, 2018.
"Sympathy" was released on April 1st, 2019.
“Dark Moods” was released on February 3rd, 2015.
“Dead Ringers” [LP] was released on October 1st, 2020. With this album, The Rose Phantom experiments with a guitar-styled sound, referring to the sound as "desert rock".
“Death & Valentine” [EP] was released on February 14th, 2022.
“Songs from the Desert Garage” [EP] was released on July 4th, 2022.
2022 – Abandon is poised for a 10-year anniversary special edition reissue, due out on December 21st, 2022. Included will be: the original album + demos + outtakes + alternate versions.
2023 – Midnight Piano will be an album of 13 tracks, available online and CD, due to be released on February 14th, 2023.
2023 - VOODOO will be an electro/darkwave album, with a tentative release date of December 2023.

Discography

Albums released under the name: revideolized

Revideolized [LP] – released December 5, 2005 – 11 tracks:

1. Video 1

2. The Fortress

3. Dark

4. The Mass

5. Lights

6. Synthtech

7. Atmospheric

8. Last Dance

9. Melodramic

10. Infector

11. Fallen Leaves

TheMooNDriveNDark [LP] – released February 1, 2007 – 8 tracks:

1. Too Deep For Dreams

2. The Deja-Vu Mirror

3. Lost In Obscurity

4. Phenomenon

5. Sounds From Out There

6. Not So Fast

7. Ghost Voices

8. Paradox

Look-In [LP] – released December 5, 2007 – 11 tracks:

1. In This Dream (You Are)

2. Wild Eyes

3. Look-In

4. Wolf Moon

5. Doorways

6. The Sky

7. Fox

8. Paradigm

9. Canyon Lands

10. Inside

11. Corrupt Landscape

Sounds From The Canyon [LP] – released December 5, 2008 – 5 tracks:

1. Seeing-In

2. Grand Illusion

3. Follow Me

4. Sacred Ground

5. Escaping Reality

Albums released under the name: Sleep Slid iN

The Open Diary [LP] – released December 5, 2009 – 10 tracks:

1. Demon Skin

2. Sacrifice Season

3. Feelings Of Truth

4. The Wind

5. Searching

6. Dead Love

7. Second Sight

8. The Key

9. Inside My Heaven

10. The Open Diary

Albums released under the name: The Rose Phantom

Picking Up The Pieces [EP] – released June 30, 2012 – 2 tracks:

1. Piece 1

2. Piece 2

Abandon [LP] – released December 21, 2012 – 10 tracks:

1. All I Want

2. Here It Is

3. The River Runs Wild Today

4. Emotional Closet

5. Destiny Wants My Heart

6. New Dreams

7. Into The Day

8. Once In A While

9. Until

10. It’s Over Now

Them Bones [Single] – released May 28, 2013.

The Message [Single] – released May 27, 2014.

The Limitless Reaches of the Earth [Single] – released September 1, 2014.

1. The Rose Phantom & Taylor Saville – The Limitless Reaches of the Earth

2. The Rose Phantom & Taylor Saville – The Limitless Reaches of the Earth (Estranged Version)

Sketches: Live at Storm Mountain [EP] – released November 1, 2014 – 5 tracks:

1. Sketch 1: Differences & Heart Attacks

2. Sketch 2: My Love Takes Me Home

3. Sketch 3: It’s All Right (Heart of Stone)

4. Sketch 4: Endless Night

5. Sketch 5: Star of Pain

Dark Moods [LP] – released February 3, 2015 – 5 tracks:

1. A Dark Night On The Desert Highway

2. Apparitions In The Abandoned Factory

3. Dancing Shadows Seen Through Foggy Windows

4. Desolate Highway Meets Open Fields

5. A Gathering In The Forgotten Farmhouse

Broken Heart / Distant Shore (Live Sessions) [Single] – released May 1, 2015 – 2 tracks:

1. Broken Heart (Live Session)

2. Distant Shore (Live Session)

Soulless Experiment [Cassette Tape EP] – released October 31, 2015.

Wicked Flowers [EP] – released October 31, 2016 – 5 tracks:

1. Dance! In The Desert

2. Western Bar

3. False Alarm (Love Is Not A Game)

4. Love/Pain

5. To Hell And Back

I'll Never Reach The Night [Single] - released September 1, 2018.

Just Breathe [Single] – released September 1, 2018.

Solace [EP] – released October 31, 2018 – 4 tracks:

1. Town in the Psyche

2. City

3. Empty Beds in Empty Rooms at Midnight

4. A Return

Sympathy [EP] – released April 1, 2019 – 4 tracks:

1. Less Than A Kiss

2. Painted Desert Skies

3. Peace Of Mind

4. This Wilderness Is Where I Call My Home

False Alarm (The Game Mix 2019) [Single] – released October 31, 2019.

Death’s Standing In Your Sorrow [Single] – released April 1, 2020 – 2 tracks:

1. Death’s Standing In Your Sorrow [Single]

2. Deep Breath [B-Side]

Nightmare Road [Single] – released May 1, 2020 – 2 tracks:

1. Nightmare Road [Single]

2. Taking My Time [B-Side]

When It Starts to Rain [Single] – released June 1, 2020 – 2 tracks:

1. When It Starts to Rain [Single]

2. Over Again [B-Side]

Just Keep On Keepin’ On [Single] – released July 1, 2020 – 2 tracks:

1. Just Keep On Keepin’ On [Single]

2. Poncho [B-Side]

Dead Ringers [LP] – released October 1, 2020 – 10 tracks:

1. Endless Desert Highway

2. Just Keep On Keepin’ On

3. Fancy Meeting You Here

4. Desert Despair

5. A Broken Little Heart

6. Death’s Standing In Your Sorrow

7. Nightmare Road

8. Move Me Tonight

9. When It Starts To Rain

10. The Land Is Crying

To Hell And Back (The Heavenly Mix 2021) [Single] – released October 31, 2021.

Death & Valentine [EP] – released February 14, 2022 – 4 tracks:

1. Till Death Do Us Part

2. Suicide Valentine

3. Death Is Listening

4. My Valentine

Songs from the Desert Garage [EP] – released July 4, 2022 – 4 tracks:

1. Drifter

2. I’ll Surrender My Dreams

3. Wait For Me There

4. Desert Sky

Abandon [LP] – (10th anniversary reissue) – this new reissue features original demos, acoustic versions, and tracks that didn't make the final cut. Released December 21, 2022 – 33 tracks:

1. All I Want

2. Here It Is

3. The River Runs Wild Today

4. Emotional Closet

5. Destiny Wants My Heart

6. New Dreams

7. Into The Day

8. Once In A While

9. Until

10. It’s Over Now

11. All I Want (Demo)

12. Here It Is (Demo)

13. The River Runs Wild Today (Demo)

14. Emotional Closet (Demo)

15. Destiny Wants My Heart (Demo)

16. New Dreams (Demo)

17. Into The Day (Demo)

18. Once In A While (Demo)

19. Until (Demo)

20. It’s Over Now (Demo)

21. Love Not Despair (Demo)

22. The Path That Leads (Demo)

23. There Are No Words To Say (Demo)

24. For Now The Wind Is Blowin’ (Demo)

25. Desert High (Demo)

26. In The Forest Of Your Heart (Demo)

27. Love Will Never Find A Way (Demo)

28. The Strangest Weather (Demo)

29. Into The Day (A Bare Instrumental Mix)

30. The River Runs Wild (Live Unplugged 2013)

31. New Dreams (2022 Piano Version)

32. For Now The Wind Is Blowin’ (2011 SSi Studio Version)

33. Liar (Abandon Outtake)

Midnight Piano [LP] – due to be released February 14, 2023 – 13 tracks:

1. The Sum of Truth

2. Forever Yearn

3. She’s A Mystery

4. See You in Dreams

5. Hang on

6. My Death

7. She’s Out There in the Cold

8. No Such Thing

9. Those Days Are Gone

10. Black And Blue

11. Endless Rain, Endless Pain

12. Wishin’ All My Wishes Away

13. The End of Something

VOODOO [LP] – December 2023 (tentative release date).