Michael Avishay has been writing and recording in his bedroom under the name Ghost Animal since he was 15. In his dorm room in the winter of 2009 Michael began experimenting with a more lo-fi, fuzzed out, punk-rock aesthetic, inspired by best friend Marisa Rowland who introduced him to artists as diverse as My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, the Pixies, the Gun Club, and Phil Spector, as well as contemporary acts like No Age, Wavves, and Zola Jesus. In April of 2010, having no live band and an upcoming house show to perform at, Michael asked his Marisa to fill in on drums, an instrument she'd never played but picked up quickly, playing upright a la Moe Tucker and Bobby Gillespie, and Ghost Animal was expanded from a solo bedroom project into a two-piece. Ghost Animal's first physical release, a cassette entitled Summertime in Heaven (mostly recorded by Michael in Los Angeles between June and August, released in September 2010), was put out as a collaborative effort between the cassette labels of Coma Cinema's Mat Cothran (Summer Time in Hell) and Foxes in Fiction's Warren Hildebrand (Orchid Tapes). Michael is from Los Angeles and Marisa is from Berkeley; they both attend Reed College in Portland, OR. Ghost Animal also has a cassette entitled Youth out on Kill/Hurt, and two projected 7"s in early 2011 from AMDISCS and The Spooky Town, respectively, as well as a split 7" with Tan Dollar on the San Diego label Trivial Pursuit. They are working on writing and recording a full-length LP for a hopeful fall 2011 release.