Listening to The Phantom Band’s third LP Strange Friend suggests that this Glasgow sextet aren’t too bothered by adhering to musical rules.
It’s been more than three years since their lasst record The Wants and a further two since debut Checkmate Savage. But the wait between releases has clearly been time well spent judging by the music bubbling out of them. While those first albums were perhaps more experimental in their blend of motoring kraut rhythms and the folkily pastoral, this new LP offers the most refined condensation of their ideas yet.
That’s not to say the Glasgow group have gone soft. Their musical potion of cosmic, indie, psych, kraut, folk, rock, pop sounds more vital than before, tethered to firmer musical forms yet with enough madness bubbling underneath the surface to retain their original appeal.
Strange Friend captures their experiments perfectly in a record which is remarkably coherent despite the deluge of invention flowing through it. Phantoms they may call themselves but the band are much more than mere ghosts in the machine…meet them in our 30 seconds interview below...
We first started writing music because…
It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, mostly to have some fun together.
We have been making music since…
We've played music together in varying combinations for a long time, but The Phantom Band started mid 2000s when we were all living in Glasgow. 2010 when Iain joined the band is another key point in our history.
Our music is…
The cause of a lot of bother in our personal lives. But when we're playing well together, its awesome to be immersed in that total sound.
You'll like our music if you listen to...
Our music!
Our favourite venue is…
Couldn't pick just one but there are some corkers in Holland like the Vera in Groningen and the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Brooklyn Party Expo in NY was fun too.
Music is important because…
Lots of reasons, but it does seem to be a social conduit. The anthropologist Alfred Gell described a flute as psychological weapon for altering feelings and atmospheres. Maybe that goes some way to describe music's capacity? That definition could sound a little tyrannical though!
Our biggest inspiration is…
Perversely, maybe it's each other, as our music is primarily triggered by us playing together. When that happens all our own individual inspirations spill out. Then you hear many references from our record collections bubbling around together all at once. It’s a collective musical memory bank in that sense.
Our dream collaboration would be…
Each band member would pick someone different I reckon. At the moment I really like Laurie Spiegel, I'd love to meet her. Captain Beefheart and John Fahey are big personal influences too but I hear they were fairly difficult people to work with (they're also dead unfortunately, which could be inconvenient for any collaborative project).
I imagine The Phantom Band can be difficult to work with too. Although not intentionally.
To try us out, listen to my song…
Maybe Doom Patrol on our new album Strange Friend. Why not?
If we weren’t making music we’d be…
We're regularly not making music as we all have non-musical jobs – it’s a necessary evil.
In 10 years time we want to be...
Not destitute. Or, not suffering some kind of environmental apocalypse please.
phantomband.co.uk
twitter.com/ThePhantomBand
Check out album teaser below...
It’s been more than three years since their lasst record The Wants and a further two since debut Checkmate Savage. But the wait between releases has clearly been time well spent judging by the music bubbling out of them. While those first albums were perhaps more experimental in their blend of motoring kraut rhythms and the folkily pastoral, this new LP offers the most refined condensation of their ideas yet.
That’s not to say the Glasgow group have gone soft. Their musical potion of cosmic, indie, psych, kraut, folk, rock, pop sounds more vital than before, tethered to firmer musical forms yet with enough madness bubbling underneath the surface to retain their original appeal.
Strange Friend captures their experiments perfectly in a record which is remarkably coherent despite the deluge of invention flowing through it. Phantoms they may call themselves but the band are much more than mere ghosts in the machine…meet them in our 30 seconds interview below...
We first started writing music because…
It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, mostly to have some fun together.
We have been making music since…
We've played music together in varying combinations for a long time, but The Phantom Band started mid 2000s when we were all living in Glasgow. 2010 when Iain joined the band is another key point in our history.
Our music is…
The cause of a lot of bother in our personal lives. But when we're playing well together, its awesome to be immersed in that total sound.
You'll like our music if you listen to...
Our music!
Our favourite venue is…
Couldn't pick just one but there are some corkers in Holland like the Vera in Groningen and the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Brooklyn Party Expo in NY was fun too.
Music is important because…
Lots of reasons, but it does seem to be a social conduit. The anthropologist Alfred Gell described a flute as psychological weapon for altering feelings and atmospheres. Maybe that goes some way to describe music's capacity? That definition could sound a little tyrannical though!
Our biggest inspiration is…
Perversely, maybe it's each other, as our music is primarily triggered by us playing together. When that happens all our own individual inspirations spill out. Then you hear many references from our record collections bubbling around together all at once. It’s a collective musical memory bank in that sense.
Our dream collaboration would be…
Each band member would pick someone different I reckon. At the moment I really like Laurie Spiegel, I'd love to meet her. Captain Beefheart and John Fahey are big personal influences too but I hear they were fairly difficult people to work with (they're also dead unfortunately, which could be inconvenient for any collaborative project).
I imagine The Phantom Band can be difficult to work with too. Although not intentionally.
To try us out, listen to my song…
Maybe Doom Patrol on our new album Strange Friend. Why not?
If we weren’t making music we’d be…
We're regularly not making music as we all have non-musical jobs – it’s a necessary evil.
In 10 years time we want to be...
Not destitute. Or, not suffering some kind of environmental apocalypse please.
phantomband.co.uk
twitter.com/ThePhantomBand
Check out album teaser below...
