Meet The Phantods
By Travis Hoewischer |
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Perhaps I would have been sold on Dan Hagquist's faux criticism, had I not heard otherwise with my own ears.
As I sat in the living room of the Phantods' guitarist, four fingers and a thumb curled around a can of Budweiser, he described in deadpan the first time he heard the siren song of lead singer Gretchen King.
"It was horrible," he said, eliciting a howl from King herself, seated next to him on the couch. "We had a lot to work on. Basically, I'm her vocal coach. She was completely tone-deaf when I met her, actually."
At this, King feigns being hurt while the bassist Nate Jacobs and drummer Kenan Edler lean forward on their haunches, grinning and ready to get their digs in.
One interview reveals what it's like to be in the Phantods, a boys club whose members pretend to reluctantly include their younger female sidekick, all the while knowing they're backing one of the finest vocalists in the capitol city.
Considering that, King may get the brunt of the abuse if not for any other reason than to keep her humble.
"They're the like the brothers I never wanted," she says.
And, as it turned out, the group shared a familial bond with all things dark. On their 2008 self-titled full-length, the band layered kitsch and crunch around King's vocals, transforming over the track list from Transylvania house band to the most hardcore bar mitzvah outfit this side of Jerusalem.
Now, with the July 3 release of their second record - a 4-song EP titled Revival - the Phantods' have expanded on their unclassified sound. Horror movie organs and darting minor arrangements remain, but sophisticated songs like "Wolf" and "Missed the Boat" have vaulted the band into more serious territory.
The band, which will release Revival EP officially at Skully's - sat down to talk to 614 about the new record, bacon and zombies.
I imagine your initial reaction to Gretchen's voice was much more substantial than, 'she's alright."
The first time I heard her sing, she was, from the beginning, pretty shy about showing her voice to people. But, from the bits and pieces I heard, it was like, orgasm."
Ha! Oh, okay.
Multiples.
(laughs) Why not.
Gretchen was extremely talented when I joined the band and I think she's gone leaps and bounds since I've been here.
Thanks, Kenan.
By far the best singer I've ever played with. Still, every time we practice, I get chills.
I'll tell you when I get chills. Here's how the songwriting goes. However the song's developed, it's written and vocals are not there, She basically listens to the song. And she'll sing and write lyrics in her head, by herself and after so many days, she'll say, 'I'm ready." We'll play the song, and she'll sing every single time without fail, the song is elevated to another level and we'll all just look at each other and say, 'That's so fucking perfect.'
Yeah, we'll all just stop playing.
And Gretchen's probably like, 'What? What happened?'
No, Dan will stop and say, 'A little pitchy.'
(laughs) Time for another lesson.
Clean it up.
We'll all fuck up because we're listening to her.
I do that on purpose. You're not going to see what I'm testing - I'm going to bring you the final product. That's what I want you to remember.
Sounds like a comfortable way of working; While Gretchen works on the lyrics, you guys can move on and start hashing something else out.
You don't crank out songs that way, but we've still been able to put out quite a bit of new material recently.
And with the Revival EP, she's really exploring her ranger more than on the first record, (turns to her), I mean you had some high moments before, but I really think you're challenging yourself. It turned out really cool. And I think you're awesome (laughs).
Sorry, I made them speak highly about you.
You called them out on picking on me, and then they got nice; it's weird.
When dudes are mean to you, it means they actually like you.
Am I wrong that this EP is a step forward for you guys musically? "Wolf" I really like especially. I can see the progression.
We want to stay true to our sound and our vision but we want to make this a bigger part of our life. In doing that, we're trying to make that more of a possibility. For the first album, we did what we want to do. We still do that but it's what the general public will be a little more comfortable hearing.
That's always been the challenge - to maintain our old kooky weird sound, but to challenge ourselves to be more listener-friendly.
The songs all still sound different (from each other) so we kind of still have that genre-skipping thing.
Yeah, you guys go from pagan to polka in one beat.
That's a great album title.
Well, if it makes into the article, you can clip it. It's all yours.
I like it, I like it.
The contrast with your songs works well - sultry vocals that move into shredding riffs, but I dig that you don't stay on one or the other for too long.
I don't mind if people make an assumption and when they hear its not what they expect. You might think it's going somewhere when it comes in with guitar, drums and bass, but I don't sing like a dude - I sing it like a lady. A lot of people don't expect it.
Think of it like a BLT sandwich.
Think of it? I've been thinking about bacon since I got here. (Adler has a two-week old tattoo of two crisp strips of bacon on his right forearm).
Contrast is what makes everything good. With a BLT, you've got crunchy and soft, sweet and savory and all those things balance together to make great stuff.
I've never loved you more. You just used bacon to describe Phantods.
(laughs)
At least one of your has used the word creepy when talking about your music. Is that a part of everyone's personality?
I don't know. When we first met, we were on the same musical page ....
And, exactly what page is that?
Dark. Zombies. Minor chords that don't resolve, don't quite go together.
Stuff that illustrates. When you listen to, you're getting a visual.
Gretchen, you said the song Revival is about an ex-boyfriend in real life, yet part of the lyrics come from imagining a high school girl with a dead boyfriend. And you compared it to the zombie comedy "My Boyfriend's Back." Unique.
Gretchen thinks and dreams in zombie.
That's just how my brain works. It helps me be visual. I've always been a vivid dreamer and I have crazy nightmares. I don't dream about people robbing a store I'm in, or someone chasing me. I dream about zombies.
We're a very fun-loving band, but I think we're all drawn to (dark). If there's a bright neon side on one side of the street, and on the other there's a dive bar in an alley with some dark shit going on, we're going to go into the alley and have a great time.
Exactly. We just want to take our own path.
Originally Published: July 1, 2009
