Courtesy Photo:
Sarah Barthel (vocals, keyboard) and Josh Carter (vocals, guitar) of Phantogram. The band is known for their approach to electronic rock and catchy hooks.
Rolling into Fayetteville this Saturday complete with electro rock sound and serious hip-hop beats is Phantogram.
This band from upstate New York has already sold out George’s Majestic Lounge for their show, which according to a phone interview with vocalist Sarah Barthel from the band promises to be big. Active since 2007, Phantogram’s music has millions of plays on Spotify and appears on the soundtrack of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” In the following interview, Sarah Barthel discusses Phantogram’s creative process and her opinion on recent trends in the music industry.
TFW: You featured for Big Boi on his album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. What was it like working with Big Boi?
Barthel: It was pretty fuckin’ awesome. It was fun, he flew us down there for a couple weeks and we just worked and worked and worked all day, all night and came up with that track (Objectum Sexuality) which Josh produced and then I co-wrote for a couple of the other songs that are on the record.
TFW: What can you tell me about your writing process? What comes first, the lyrics or the beat?
Barthel: It’s different for every song but normally what works best for me is to start with the beat, then we kinda hash out ideas, either jam together or I’ll snag a bunch of Josh’s beats and write/produce over them and come up with the ideas there and the lyrics normally just kinda happen while the melody is getting worked out. Ideas just happen there with different sounds. That’s usually the process.
TFW: How do you get yourself psyched up before a show?
Barthel: Well sometimes I listen to Beyoncé and sing along to her.
TFW: Tell me about your Spotify session this year. Did you enjoy working with Spotify and how do you feel about the new streaming trends in the music industry?
Barthel: We loved it. It was cool. I’m a huge fan of Spotify, I use it all the time to find out about new bands. It’s a great tool to have in this day and age. It doesn’t necessarily help the artist’s income but there’s other ways for artists to use their skills and get paid for it. There’s a lot of opportunities with commercials or being in movies or whatever as long as it doesn’t mess up the integrity of their art. I love Spotify.
TFW: What can you tell me about the process for the video Fallen Love? Who was the artistic lead on that?
Barthel: The idea was created during our press photo shoot. We worked with this photographer, super talented guy named Timothy Saccenti, and he was gonna be shooting us and brought a bunch of projections that he wanted to put on us and then shoot kinda black and white so there’s the light-dark contrast, shapes and whatnot on our faces and everything. Timothy collaborated with this artist Joshua Davis who created all of the projections and we loved it so much that we thought it would make a really cool music video and we ended up just using that theme.
TFW: Can you tell me about why you changed the name of the band from Charlie Everywhere to Phantogram?
Barthel: Charlie Everywhere was just a half-baked idea. We had to come up with a band name fast because we had booked our first show before we even had a name so we had to think fast. We ended up thinking about it and realizing that we could come up with something a lot cooler that would fit us. I like Charlie Everywhere, it had cool imagery for me, but I think Phantogram fits us a lot better.
TFW: How do you as an artist feel about the related artists page on Spotify? Do you think the comparisons of yourself to other bands are accurate?
Barthel: I think it’s a cool option. I use that option a lot on Spotify or Pandora. Everyone is always gonna relate your sound to somebody else’s sound and vice versa so it’s a cool compliment that people think that we sound like Broadcast or Poliça
TFW: Last question: Have you ever been to Arkansas before and what do you think about the state going into your show here on Saturday?
Barthel: We’ve been to Arkansas before. We’re super excited to play a solid show. Awesome production with lighting and everything which makes it a really great experience to come see us so it’s nice to finally have a solid professional show there.
