Phantogram's music sounds like it's made by a band from the city. Electronic loops, hip-hop beats, shoegaze, soul, pop each finds its way into their songs. Unexpectedly, the band calls the town of Saratoga Springs, NY (population 26,186) home. But Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, the duo that make up Phantogram, have flourished in Saratoga. In fact, the town itself isn't rural enough for their taste they drive almost every day another 45 minutes into upstate farmland to a barn they call Harmony Lodge to write and record. Serving as their homemade studio/practice space/think-tank/bat-cave, the barn is equipped with various samplers, tapes, records, synths, drums, and both percussive and stringed instruments, and it's there that Phantogram allows their natural surroundings and metropolitan influences to meld together creating beautiful, beat-driven dreamlike pop songs.
The band's debut album, eyelid movies, will be out in early 2010 listen to a track from the upcoming release here. |