Interview: Middle Tennessee Ghostbusters
The Grid's very own CaptainN sat down recently with some of the members of the Middle Tennessee Ghostbusters. Read what they have to say about what the Captain asked, also check some of the cool pictures that they sent along with the transcript.
When did you guys first see Ghostbusters?
Andrew Mays: I'm not entirely sure when my first viewing was, it might not have
come till I was in college- and I knew it was a magical film immediately.
Directly after the movie ended, as a grandfather clock sung out for midnight,
the electricity went out in the house and left me in darkness.
Albert Roberts: I can distinctly recall seeing it in the theater when it came
out in '84. I remember it because I remember getting mad when everyone laughed
at Bill Murray's big line "he slimed me" and I wasn't able to hear Dan
Ackroyd or Harold Ramis' lines afterward.
How did you come up with the idea for the franchise?
Andrew: To be honest I've always been skeptical of ghosts. The subject has
always fascinated me, but without empirical data, I couldn't believe. Back in my
college days I was doing some investigative reporting on local haunts in the
Murfreesboro, TN area for the school paper- in particular I was researching a
woman whose youthful imaginary friend had turned out to be a ghost. The story
checked out, right down to the history of the house, the past owners and a
certain entry into the logs of a graveyard. When I went to visit the home to
photograph it, I managed to convince the current resident to let me inside.
On one set of my exposures, two photos taken consecutively; one showed a strange
glowing sphere and the other did not. That was enough for future investigation.
Albert: It was all Andrew Tim and Matt's idea for the franchise. Although I'd
like to think that my high school friendship with Andy helped push him in the
direction of paranormal elimination. Our senior year we made a trip to Adams
Tennessee to investigate the Bell Witch, the rest is history...Andy still
doesn’t like to talk about the giant hairless dog we encountered there.
Where are you located in Tennessee?
Andrew: Our services cover the middle Tennessee area, including Nashville,
Murfreesboro, Lebanon, Dickson and Hartsville. We recently relocated our
offices to downtown Nashville so that we are closer to all our coverage areas.
Albert: It’s a real killer, Tennessee is a big state. We’ve tossed around
the possibility of another office and more help. Maybe “East Tennessee
Ghostbusters”? Who knows?
How many busts have you been on?
Andrew: We are not at liberty to give an exact number of busts we've made, as
that might give certain federal agencies the idea to calculate how close we've
come to filling the maximum capacity of our containment unit. I can say that we
have hundreds of happy customers on our client list.
Albert: Well, I just joined in May 2000 so I haven't been on nearly as many as
Andrew or the other guys. But if I had to put a number to it, I'd probably have
to say I've been on XX or so busts.
Do people ask you weird questions, or give you strange looks?
Andrew: Most of the time when people call us they've already seen the weird
stuff; so the strange looks- no. As for weird questions, when Tim was a
single man the chicks kept asking him out for dates. Go figure.
Albert: Oh yeah. We get just about everything you can imagine. But mostly people
love us; they stop us on the street and want their picture made with us. They
want their picture made with the car, and the gear. And they ask things like,
"What's that red button do?" or "Will you let me shoot
something?"
Will you do anything special if GB comes out again in 2004?
Andrew: It's documented that the release of the second movie caused a
massive upsurge in spectral activity. I think that the level of spectral
activity pretty much stays the same all the time but when the movies are out it
becomes in vogue to talk about ghosts and goblins- so if they re-release the
film I expect to be very, very busy.
Albert: If the original gets re-released in theaters I'd get dressed up in my
uniform and gear and go. Of course I'd have to buy two tickets because I'd have
to set the proton pack in the seat next to me...it's heavy and very hard to sit
down in. But just for the record, I don't think it'll happen. Sony/Columbia
doesn't know how to market it properly and have effectively killed the GB
franchise. I think it would be extremely difficult for it to make a comeback.
What do you guys do in your spare time?
Andrew: I've recently been performing experiments in spectral transference
through modern telecommunications devices. Ghosts are all ,more or less,
energy forms, and as such after capture could be compressed and uploaded to a
central containment unit, such as an orbital satellite, which would make the
possibility of home ghost busting kits a possibility. Watch for our late night
infomercials soon!
Albert: I tinker with the equipment quite a bit, and I practice a little stage
magic when I can. Recently I’ve been working on the Ecto-VW…new seat covers,
carpet, speedometer cable, rear bumper, oil leak, replaced fuses, stuff like
that.
Are any of you married? If so what do your wives and extended family think?
Andrew: I am married and my wife worries about me out on the job. It can be
dangerous work, and she hates getting ecto stains out of my uniform!
Albert: I've been married for nearly eight years and have two kids. My wife
thinks I'm a huge dork, and my family just thinks it's weird.
Do you get any prank calls?
Andrew: There was a group of teens that got a hold of our number one night, but
we traced the call and with the help of some mood slime set their telephone out
to get them. Needless to say the owner of the phone wasn't very happy, but
those kids won't be making any more prank phone calls- and maybe any more calls
at all.
Albert: Inactive MTGB member Matt James frequently sends us prank e-mails. We
also get a lot of calls from people who think they have a haunting but it turns
out to have a perfectly normal explanation (faulty wiring, leaky pipes, etc.).
If they were to make another GB film would you go out to Columbia Pictures and
try out for roles, or as extras?
Andrew: I'd be interested in helping with the technical side, and possibly in a
small cameo roll.
Albert: Sure, why not. I think it'd be a hoot if we got cast in a Ghostbusters
sequel. Andy would make a great young Egon!
