Eric Whitney was born on April 15, 1991, in Lake Worth, Florida to parents from New York. Whitney grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. As a teenager, he was mainly interested in hardcore punk music. He learned to play the guitar and performed in several bands, including Nemesis and Seven Serpents.
Ghostemane's themes focus on occultism, depression, nihilism, death and illuminism. He started his career as a musician playing guitar in hardcore punk bands, and drums in doom metal bands. He has stated that his biggest influence is black metal band Bathory. He spent most of his teenage years listening to extreme metal bands such as Deicide, Death, Carcass and Mayhem. In terms of rap music, Ghostemane is influenced by Southern rap groups such as OutKast and Three 6 Mafia. He has also gone on to cite Midwest rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony as an early influence.
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