Luke Patterson

Luke Patterson is a main character on Julie and the Phantoms. He was the lead guitarist and singer for the band Sunset Curve and is now the current lead guitarist and secondary singer for Julie and The Phantoms.

He is portrayed by Charlie Gillespie.

Luke was 17 years old in 1995 when he died. His are parents Emily and Mitch Patterson. He is an only child.

His parents bought him a guitar which ignited his love and passion for music.

Sometime before 1995, Luke formed a band with his friends Alex, Reggie, and Bobby called Sunset Curve. He was their lead singer, lead guitarist and the main songwriter.

Luke’s parents disapproved of his dream to be in a rock band. This caused a rift between him and his parents resulting in Luke running away from home.

On the night of July 22, 1995, Sunset Curve was due to play at a The Orpheum, which has kickstarted many bands careers. According to Luke, “We’re playing the Orpheum. I can’t even count how many bands have played here and then ended up being huge.” After a soundcheck Luke, Reggie, and Alex went to get “street dogs” for dinner, which ended up giving them food poisoning and killing them, a mere two hours before their performance.

After Luke, Reggie, and Alex died, they were trapped waiting an hour in a “black room,” until Julie played their CD, which released them back into the world. Unbeknownst to them, it had been 25 years since they had died and that the current year was 2020.

Season One

Luke and the band perform Now or Never at the Orpheum before going out for street dogs. Luke tells Reggie and Alex that he wants their music to connect with everybody.

Julie plays Sunset Curve’s demo while cleaning out her mom’s studio, which pulls Luke, Reggie, and Alex out of the “dark room.” There is a bunch of screaming as the band and Julie first interact, since no one has any idea what’s going on. When Julie comes back, Luke and the others teleport back in behind her. Luke explains that the studio used to be theirs, but the grand piano, acoustic guitar, and chairs on the ceiling are new. Julie tells the boys they have to leave.

While they’re in the studio, Luke, Reggie, and Alex begin playing and discover that they can be heard by others, including Julie’s dad, when they play music. Julie yells at them before storming out of the studio. Luke teleports outside and apologizes to Julie for coming into her life. Julie explains to Luke that her mom died a year ago, which is why she’s reluctant to let them in. Luke tells Julie about the song her mom left on the piano bench.

Luke teleports to sit on the awning of the Orpheum with Alex and Reggie, where he explains that he thinks the band has been given a second chance to share their music. The next morning, Luke, Reggie, and Alex teleport back to the studio to find Julie playing and singing “Wake Up.”

Alex steps forward to comfort Julie, but Luke stops him and tells the boys to teleport outside. While they’re discussing what to do, Flynn walks up crying. Luke observes that two girls crying is even scarier than one girl crying, but the three boys listen in on Flynn and Julie’s conversation. After the two girls left, the boys enter the studio and end up eavesdropping on Ray as he talks to Julie’s mother’s spirit.

Luke, Alex, and Reggie visit the beach and learn that Reggie’s house has been replaced by a bike shop. They talk about how everyone they knew from before they died has moved on, but Luke reminds them they still have each other and their music. He and Alex begin playing This Band is Back to cheer Reggie up, and the three of them play and sing for the people on the beach.

Julie comes home after school to find the three ghosts in her room. Luke asks what’s in her dream box, and they talk about the boys’ new ghost powers. Julie tells them about her dream box and what’s inside. When she learns that the boys teleported in while she was singing, she decides to set some boundaries. (“number one: stay out of my room!”)

That night, Luke manages to open the fridge and stands there staring at the food inside until Julie comes down and closes it. He tries to convince her to do something to get her spot in the music program back and gives her one of the bands’ songs to perform.

The next day, Luke, Reggie, and Alex teleport into the gym during the spirit assembly to watch Julie “stick it to the man”. As Julie begins to perform Bright, Luke, Reggie, and Alex teleport onto the stage with their instruments to back her up. They quickly realize that the crowd of students can see the ghosts as they play. As they’re bowing, the three boys teleport away. 

Luke, Reggie and Alex sign up to perform in order to get the attention of the record executives that frequent the cafe looking for talent. Luke, being invisible, snuck their band’s name onto the set list. After Alex reminds them that Julie quit the band, Reggie mentions how the Hollywood Ghost Club was a cool place. Luke insists that they didn’t need Caleb’s club because things were going to work out with Julie. At this, the three phantoms felt the same painful jolt they felt in the empty gym at Los Feliz High School. 

During their performance in Edge of Great, Julie tries to follow the advice of Flynn and avoid making eye contact with Luke. Perhaps because of his earlier conversation with the boys, Luke is hyperaware of Julie’s avoidance of him while performing. To get her attention, he riffs a guitar solo that compliments her vocal melody. Furthermore, he goes to the piano and sings with her even when Reggie and Alex have disappeared, finally getting Julie to make significant eye contact.

Luke arrives at his parents’ house while Julie is there, trying to work up the courage to give Mitch and Emily one of Luke’s songs. Julie asks Luke to trust her, and he rings the doorbell instead of replying. Mitch answers and invites Julie in. Luke follows them into the house, where Emily enters. Julie gives them Luke’s song, and Luke, standing in the background, begins to sing Unsaid Emily.

The song frames the shouting matches Luke had with his mom. The scene shows them yelling at each other with Christmas decor in the background. Luke is shown leaving the house on his bike, with his mother running across the driveway after him and his father arriving too late to intervene. Luke is then shown back in the music studio, only it isn’t the decorated, furnished studio of Julie’s mom but more obviously a garage with a giant Sunset Curve banner hanging in the background. He is frustrated, trying to figure out the words of a first draft of Unsaid Emily. In another time, a scene shows Luke, alone, figuring out the melody with an acoustic guitar, distinct from his usual use of his blue electric. Then, Luke hiding in between bushes to check up on his family while he was still alive. Another scene shows Luke working on the song with the rest of Sunset Curve, then a scene in which Emily and Mitch find out about Luke’s death with the arrival of a police car.