PHOTOS: Megan Dapper

Groovemine contributor Megan Dapper had the pleasure of meeting up with Phantogram, a.k.a. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter, during the great Sasquatch Music Festival. It's been a whirlwind four months for the band since the release of their album, Eyelid Movies, came out earlier this year. The music has been compared to the likes of Massive Attack and a band they're touring with now, The xx. The interview below is refreshing and insightful, a brief account of how a relatively new band has been embraced by record labels, fellow musicians, and fans alike.

Read the Groovemine album review of Eyelid Movies here.


Groovemine: First, Congrats on your new album Eyelid Movies, and to thank you so much for meeting with us!

JOSH: Oh yeah, no problem!





Groovemine: So how have the last four months been going for you guys since you released your new album?

JOSH: It’s been exciting. It’s been very exciting. We’ve had a lot of positive responses. The shows are getting bigger and bigger and we’ve been touring our asses off. It’s exciting that bands that we admire and respect ask us to come on tour with them, so that’s cool, too.

SARAH: It’s unreal, kind of surreal in away, because we never expected it to happen so fast. Its really cool and very exciting.





Groovemine: So you said that you’ve been touring a lot. How’s touring going, is it everything you dreamed it would be?

JOSH: It’s...oh, its tiring, very tiring, cause were on the move all the time. We don’t get to sleep much, but its great. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Before we were doing this we were waiting tables for rich people so this is an unexpected change. I don’t think I would give it up.





Groovemine: What has been your favorite stop on the tour? Your favorite crowd that you’ve seen?

JOSH: Well, it has to be last week.  A few days ago we sold out a crowd in the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. That was just a really, really cool experience. Very monumental to us. As far as crowds go, I guess New York city, Chicago, Minneapolis and L.A. How about you, Sarah?

SARAH: I guess, the same places.





Groovemine: What do you guys do to prepare for a show?

SARAH: Every night, what we always like to do is—to have some time to breathe, to get to the venue on time—our set up. We have a lot of shit to do since it’s just the two of us. One of us has to set up the board and one of us has to set up the projector. And after that, we have like five other jobs: putting people on the guest list, interviews, etc. Sometimes, if its possible, we like to warm our voices up and coordinate with the other bands that we’re opening for or those who open for us.





Groovemine: Do you guys request bands who open up for you or do the venues or promotion companies have people that they suggest?

JOSH: Oh yeah, most of the time, but sometimes we get a list of bands to choose from, or a couple of CD’s to listen to and pick from. And sometimes, the promotion companies have a couple of local bands for us to choose from. I’m pretty sure that’s how that works, at least that’s how it works for us.

SARAH: Yeah, in the past, we’ve gotten on some bills for some pretty big bands that way. When we were first starting out, we opened for Yeasayer. It was like our seventh show in total that we’ve ever played. It was crazy! The next thing we knew, we were opening for bands like Brazilian Girls.





Groovemine: So we read that you wrote the album in early 2007. What happened between then and when it was released this past February?

JOSH: Um, O.K. What year is it? It’s 2010. We started the band in early June 2006 and we immediately began writing the album. We had a show in like 2 weeks, so we quickly just wrote a bunch of songs to play a set. And then, we kind of worked on it from there. Then we wrote and finished the album in the winter of 2007/2008. It was originally intended to be released as a self release demo near NYU. But somehow, it was decided that we would be playing some shows with some bigger acts, and started play around NYC and record labels started taking some interest. Barsuk Records ended up flying us out to Seattle and they took us around town, showed us a good time and just were all such great people. They treated us so awesome that we said "we have to sign with these guys". They are just some incredible people! So, we couldn’t be any happier with our decision. That’s pretty much the story. So, we put out our record four months ago that we wrote two years ago. So, it’s a little old for us but its still cool. And then this band that we had been touring with, School of Seven Belles, got us with Ghostly for our vinyl release, so that was cool.





Groovemine: So, whats it like working with an East coast (Ghostly, NYC) and a West coast (Barsuk Records, Seattle) label?

JOSH: A lot of phone calls, a lot of conference calls, a lot of traveling back and forth.





Groovemine: It’s awesome that you guys are on Ghostly. They’ve been such a straight-up techno label for so long that its great to see them branching out and exploring some new sounds.

JOSH: Yeah, and it’s great to be branching out with something different and experimental like School of Seven Belles and we’re pretty different from a lot of their stuff. And, we’re also pretty different from a lot of the stuff that’s on Barsuk. So, its kind of interesting how that worked out.





Groovemine: Beyond this summer, what are the plans for Phantogram?

JOSH: After this summer? When summer’s finished and we’re done touring—we’re pretty much going to be on tour through the end of august—we’re going to start a headlining tour for the fall. Probably going to get a crew to accompany us for the tour. Hopefully a sound guy and mixer, cause right now its just the two of us which involves lots of driving. But it was cool we got to tour Europe last fall and we had a tour manager. He drove us everywhere and took us on little tours of the different cities we went to, and all we did was just sit  around in the car and pick our noses and eat stinky french cheeses. It was awesome not have to drive even out here.





Groovemine: How has your Sasquatch experience been so far, as first timers?

SARAH: Short, and wonderful, and beautiful. We’re so excited to be here! We’ve been looking forward to this for the better part of a year. When they asked us, it was a long time ago and they told us we weren’t allowed to announce it or to tell anyone. It’s been really hard not to tell anyone, especially as it got closer!

JOSH: It’s just so beautiful out here, can’t believe it.I’m glad the rain stayed away for today, and I’m actually not hot. Our manager told us it was going to be hot, but this is perfect!





Groovemine: I’m glad you guys are here and I’m glad I got to meet you and talk with you.

SARAH: Yeah!

JOSH: No problem, it was great plus a good excuse to be outside today.




Read the Groovemine album review of Eyelid Movies here.