Interview: Phantogram
One could almost tell by looking at them that the two members of Phantogram have known each other forever. Sure enough, as singer, guitarist and beatmaker Josh Carter explained to us, they have been in each others lives since highschool. “Well we’ve been good friends since 9th grade” Carter explained, “after high school Sarah went away to college in Burlington, Vermont and I went to a community school and then moved to New York City to play in a band and then we both ended up moving back to our home area after I decided to quit the band I was in and Sarah was done with school so we were kind of in a transitional period in our lives…We ran into each other randomly one night and after that we decided to start hanging out a lot just as friends and nothing musical for maybe two or three years but we’d talk about music a lot, and I had been working a lot on my own stuff, but if there was a song on the radio Sarah would sing along and I noticed she had a great voice and also if we were ever anywhere with a piano she would always play something really cool on it. So she had this kinda talent that was awesome that she kept pretty much a secret from everybody and so I asked her to help me finish one of my songs and lay down some vocals and help out and it turned out really awesome, so we were like “let’s start a band together” and the rest is history i guess.”
So it began. The two began to play music together under the moniker “Charlie Everywhere”, but neither member of the band was truly happy with this name. As keyboardest and singer Sarah Barthel explains, “It was kind of a half baked name from the start. When we started working on music together we set up a show, someone wanted us to play and we were like, “oh shit”. It was just a half baked name and we were like let’s change it because it could be a little bit cooler and I think Phantogram works a lot better with our sound and our concept.”
If you were wondering exactly what a Phantogram is, Barthel also explained that it is “an optical illusion. It’s a 2 dimensional object. It’s a blue and red object and when you look at it it’s supposed to pop up. Which works a lot better than Charlie Everywhere I would think. And Josh thinks as well.”
Phantogram has been touring like crazy in support of their newly released debut album, Eyelid Movies and have been playing shows in Canada for the first time on this tour. “It’s been going awesome. Most of our shows have sold out in the US. I guess we’ll see how Canada goes because i think we’re relatively unknown so we’ll see how tonight goes but we’re having a lot of fun regardless”, said Carter. But these guys are no strangers to the road, as they have already toured all around the United States and have even ventured into Europe on a headlining tour. “Yeah it was good considering we didn’t think anybody knew about us. We were pretty nervous, going to a different continent thinking that nobody is gonna hear about us. Germany I think was the best for us. Lots of people showed up at all our German shows. Everybody was really friendly and hospitable.”
When asked whether these road warriors were truly happy on the road or would prefer to just stay put in the studio and write and record music Carter answered, “I think they’re two totally different kind of things. Touring is a lot of fun just cause it’s fun to see new places every day and play for a new crowd every night, especially when there is a good crowd. But we’ll go from playing a show in front of a lot of people or sell out a club to the next show might be only 25 show up and it’s just kind of weird and they just sort of stand there and scratch their chins. I would think that most musicians just enjoy making music. It would be awesome if all we had to do was sit around and record and put out records. But touring is all part of the process and we just make the best out of it and have fun.”
Their debut album, Eyelid Movies, which is out now, has been getting great reviews from all over the map, but these two humble musicians aren’t really interested in what people have to say about it. “The whole idea when we started the band was to make music that we would wanna hear so we’re trying not to read to many reviews. Sometimes our managers send us good reviews, but we’re trying not to pay too much attention to reviews in general cause I just don’t think it’s good for your morale whether it’s a good review or bad review you should just focus on what you’re doing.”
And if you were wondering when would be the next time you will be able to see these guys live, there is good news. “We’re going to California just for a few dates and then we’re flying back to Canada to play five shows with Hot Hot Heat. And then we’re flying to SXSW in Austin, Texas. And then we’re doing a tour with The Antlers. So we’re gonna be pretty busy with touring for awhile. We’re probably gonna be touring this whole year or more.”
Well, we wish these two road warriors all the success in the world, and we urge all of you out their to go check these guys out live when they come to a city near you, because as good as they sound on their album, they bring their songs to a whole new level in the live setting. We’d like to thank Sarah and Josh for taking the time to chat with us and here are the rest of their upcoming tour dates.
March 3 – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, California
March 4 – Bordello – Los Angeles, California
March 6 – Mercury Lounge – Goleta, California
March 9 – Red Dog – Peterborough, Ontario (w/ Hot Hot Heat)
March 10 – Ale House – Kingson, Ontario (w/ Hot Hot Heat)
March 11 – L3 Nightclub – St Catharines, Onatario (w/ Hot Hot Heat)
March 12 – Supermarket – Toronto, Ontario (w/ Hot Hot Heat)
March 13 – Call The Office – London, Ontario (w/ Hot Hot Heat)
April 16 – The Basement – Columbus, Ohia (w/ The Antlers)
April 17 – Capony Club – Urbana, Illinois (w/ The Antlers)
April 18 – High Noon Saloon – Madison, Wisconsin (w/ The Antlers)
April 20 – Varsity Theatre – Minneapolis, Minnesota (w/ The Antlers)
April 21 – The Blue Moose – Iowa City, Iowa (w/ The Antlers)
April 22 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, Illinois (w/ The Antlers)
April 23 – Blind Pig – Ann Arbor, Michigan (w/ The Antlers)
April 28 – Casbah – San Diego, California (w/ The Antlers)
May 3 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, Oregon (w/ The Antlers)
May 4 – The Biltmore Cabaret – Vancouver, BC (w/ The Antlers)
May 5 – Nuemo’s – Seattle, Washington (w/ The Antlers)
May 31 – Sasquatch Music Festival – George, Washington
Interview Conducted by Jordan Ghetler
Click here for our review and photos of their Montreal show.
