The band prides itself on making their live shows organic, forgoing overdubs and pre-recorded segments to keep things pure in the rock sense. With these guys, what you see is what you get and what you're going to get is a rock show. They're not interested in layers and layers of guitar when one will do just fine. They don't need Auto-Tune or other vocal modifiers when Matsuyama can go from a whisper to a yell in a matter of seconds all on his own.

For their debut EP, the band also wanted to stay away from using any studio magic, recording it live to get that same energy they give off in their live show.

Rocket & the Ghost initially began as a songwriting collaboration between Lily Claire of Lily & the Parlour Tricks and Matsuyama. But as things began to take off for Claire's own project, Matsuyama decided he needed to move on too. He contacted his friends, bassist Brian Kesley, drummer Stuart Bidwell and guitarist Sean Gavigan, who all attended New York's New School together, but didn't become friends until after they graduated, about working on some songs. Keyboardist Alan Markley later entered the group thanks to some mutual friends.

Matsuyama, who was previously in the band the London Souls, told Radio.com that Rocket's debut EP is the perfect primer for those who haven't seen the band live. The five songs on the EP each show off the band's multi-genre style, which is a mix of Americana, pop, folk and rock.