Joshua M. Carter und Sarah D. Barthe auf dem Weg in die Schweiz. Europatour. Zürich, ..., Paris, ..., London... Nürnberg. Vor ihrem Gastspiel in der Fränkischen haben wir Sarah irgendwo im World Wide Web abgefangen.
So ist das eben, wenn man zum richtigen Zeitpunkt das richtige Album vorlegt: Das Debüt des US-Duos Phantogram wurde von unserer Musikredaktion mal eben zur verheißungsvollsten TripHop-Platte seit Portishead erklärt und gleich im nächsten Satz müssen wir zugegeben, dass die Lady und der Gentleman aus der idyllischen Kleinstadt Saratoga Springs im Staate New York mit Portishead eigentlich rein gar nichts am Hut haben. Also was nun? Vielleicht erklärt sich der Vergleich durch ihre Art und Weise, Musik zu machen: In einer ländlichen gelegenen Scheune, in der sich ihr Studio befindet, experimentieren sie mit Samplern, Tapes, Platten, Synthies, Drums, perkussiven und Seiten-Instrumenten und kreieren wunderschöne, treibende, aber auch verträumte Popsongs. Genau, Pop eben. Wie auch immer man das nun wieder definieren mag. Auf Amazon steht zu lesen, dass «Eylid Movies» am häufigsten zusammen mit The XX gekauft wird. Aber das ist ja schon wieder so ein Vergleich...
Preparing this interview I found a review about “Eyelid Movies”, starting with the sentence “sometimes coolness will be defined in the coutryside”. How much countryside do you feel?
We love the country.
Do you think the kind of ideas for music tracks varies from countryside to inner city?
No. I don't think it has anything to do with where you live. Bands are inspired and influenced by all kinds of music no matter where they live. People tend to think that we have a city sound, but it really shouldn't matter where you live. Music is music.
You do your music in a converted barn. What does this place mean for you?
It is our "think tank". we can lock ourselves in it for hours, days or weeks at a time without any interruptions. It's how we disappear from everything else in our lives and we can focus all of our attention on music.
After having released “Eyelid Movies” you attracted a lot of medial notice, trying to put the number of influences you combine with your music into words. How would you describe the sound of the album yourself?
"Eyelid Movies" focus's on the blend and contrast between organic and technology. When we wrote the album, we were visually driven and also interested in experimenting with textures that come across dirtier rather than clean. We wanted a more lo-fi vibe. It represents a combination of all our influences. A friend of ours described our sound as "Street Beat Psych Pop."
What are the musical influences you handle with?
We are influenced by so many different genres and artists. We love old soul music, doo wop, older french pop, Underground Hip-Hop, Shoe Gaze, Experimental, sad sounding Country, Indie, Electronica, Psych Rock, Classical, Progressive, Jazz. We like bands like Mogwai, Leonard Cohen, Flying Lotus, Guided By Voices, Madlib, Sonic Youth, The Cure, The Beatles, Slow Dive, Serge Gainsbourg, Sparklehorse, Bill Withers,Yes, Beach Boys, Aphex Twin, The Supremes...
And your guilty pleasures?
We are guilty of liking a lot of main stream music. We like anything that sounds good and that can lead us to some artists like Beyonce, Rhiahna, Justin Timberlake, 'Lil Wayne, T.I., and Missy Elliot. Sometimes we just listen to pop radio for fun.
Do you feel honoured by “minor matters” that one can read on amazon, most of the people buying your album buy the xx too?
That's great news! We were able to open up for The XX a few weeks ago at CMJ and their audience seemed to like us a lot.
Your melodies were described somewhere else as “syrupy nightmare”. But I found no nightmare by now… Did you?
We consider our melodies to be emotionally driven and dream like. So I guess nightmares can be included the same category.
Did you discover other things while composing the tracks, you never had expected before starting to implement a rough idea?
We did a lot of experimenting in this album. We found that we loved bleeps and bloops. Also, chopping up various textures and sounds worked great for layering.
Which movie soundtrack “Eyelid Movies” could be?
I think it would go really well with a documentary or movie about traveling through parallel universes or having an out of body experience.
Your upcoming tour contains seven gigs in Germany. Have you ever been there?
No this is our first tour in Europe. We love German crowds! They are very enthusiastic.
What are the first things you think hearing “Germany”?
Good beer, well built cars, ableton live.
How can people imagine your liveshow?
Flashing lights, moody, driven, and atmospheric.
Which feeling do you want to leave your audience with after the gig?
We want our show to capture some kind of experience for the audience. We want to emotionally connect with the crowd.
What are the preferential things you love to do after your show?
We like meeting our fans and experiencing a little taste of the city we are in for the night. We also enjoy watching the other acts that are on the same bill.
Last question: Which song of Michael Jackson should be covered by you soon?
Too many favorites! P.Y.T., Don't Stop 'Till you Get Enough!
Interview: dl
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Phantogram Youtube
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