Since he was 14 years old, Eric Crespo, Ghost to Falco founder and songwriter, has been writing and looking to tour. After a quick listen to his music, it’s easy to understand why. Whether it’s lonely spaghetti-western dirges or muscular riff-based tunes, the music of Ghost to Falco is distinguished by the way it moves.

The energy behind Crespo’s recordings sounds like something straight from a live show, a talent that Crespo has carefully cultivated through years of playing solo or with rotating band members.
“Touring was all I really wanted to do,” Crespo said.

He pinpoints the start of the project at around 2001.

“I was trying to come up with ways to play out alone, so I could tour as much as I wanted,” he said. “I may have never started Ghost to Falco if the people in my bands really wanted to tour like I did.”
As Crespo played alone under the name Ghost to Falco, he found that he “had no interest or knowledge of folk singers or anything like that.”

“I was weaned on noisy guitar bands,” he added.

This led Crespo to develop the more experimental sound of Ghost to Falco’s studio recordings, complete with looping pedals and analog synthesizers that still figure prominently into the band’s live setup today.

Although Crespo figured out the key components early on, he continues to characterize Ghost to Falco as a growing organism.

“It has definitely been an organic transition,” Crespo said.

With three full-length albums available and a fourth, Soft Shield, on its way, Ghost to Falco is still expanding on Crespo’s solo roots with every release.

When Ghost to Falco rolls into La Cocina tonight to play the downtown bar’s illustrious outdoor stage, the band will be in the third week of a tour that has taken it from Portland across the West, including a stop in Austin, Texas, playing a South by Southwest showcase last week.

“Live shows have been pretty rocking on this tour,” Crespo said. “Playing live is very important for Ghost to Falco. It helps me understand the music in a different way. Music is an ever-evolving thing.”

Crespo said future plans for Ghost to Falco involve touring as much as he can while still finding the time to give Soft Shield the release it deserves.

“I really want to tour Australia, Japan and anywhere else in Asia,” he said. “I’m not sure how to make that happen, but I’m going to try to figure it out.”

It shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for a man who’s been touring and playing so long that he openly admits for a while he “didn’t know how not to be in a band.” Relentless tour schedule or not, Ghost to Falco’s clearly up to the challenge of putting on a rocking show.

Ghost to Falco with Algae & Tentacles at La Cocina on March 20 at 10 p.m., 21 , suggested donation at the door.