The Weekender Band of the Week: Phantom Planet
By Derek Wright
Weekender Reporter
Phantom Planet came to DeKalb, and between bowling a few games in the
Huskie Den, guitarist Darren Robinson talked with the Weekender —
this is what he said.
Weekender: So, have you blogged anything yet today?
Robinson: No, it’s hard to get online here. I would sit online
all day if I could; I’m a dork. It’s easier to keep in touch
when talking to six people at a time.
W: I cringe when I see “what are your influences” in interviews.
I’ll spare you.
R: I guess it’s part of the job.
W: So, what’s your impression of NIU so far?
R: It’s cool. Colleges are the best place to play. We love it.
W: Even better than a club tour or opening arena shows?
R: The biggest thing is not the venue but where you play on the bill.
Opening shows causes more pressure to impress, which can be a good thing.
W: Because you have to win over the fans?
R: Yeah. When you open, you only have a little time to play. When you
headline, people are there for you, and your job is to make sure they
don’t leave.
W: So I take it you’re never completely relaxed on stage
R: No. When you get too comfortable, the shows suck. They are sloppy
and boring.
W: So what do you prefer?
R: It’s strange. Playing for a few hundred people is harder than
playing for 20,000 because it feels like every eye is on you.
W: Let’s talk about the record. It’s different than the first
two.
R: We didn’t say, “We want to write a dark record.” It
was a natural change.
W: It is much different than the first two but sounds more like you
do live.
R: I hate when bands don’t change. We toured for 18 months, and
we grew up as people and songwriters. Our tastes changed, and we wrote
music that represented that.
W: Are you happy with it?
R: Of course. This is what I wanted our last record to sound like. I
wasn’t totally happy with the production on our first two because
they sounded too poppy. I liked the songs, but they were so polished.
This is the kind of band we are. I mean, we have three guitars, so I
wanted to sound like we had three guitarists. It is very raw and hard-rocking.
I always thought, “Why have piano intros and bells when we don’t
have a piano player in the band?”
W: Live these songs are great, but when I reviewed the disc, I only
gave it two out of four stars.
R: That’s OK. There wasn’t really anything in your review
that wasn’t truthful. The thing is, this represents how we’ve
always seen ourselves.
W: I didn’t say it was bad, just not as good as your last.
R: To each his own. If it’s good, people get it.
W: So this is obvious, but you guys are so fan-friendly. You registered
your band on Friendster, you have invite-only shows, tonight you’re
meeting contest winners. Why?
R: It’s better to get involved. It’s a nice contact. I consider
this a job, but it’s a fun job. We have such a good thing going.
If we didn’t connect with the fans, I’d feel like I was blowing
it. We get to play music and travel the world. It’s the best job.
