Phantom Planet |
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Fri. September 27.2002 3:47 PM EDT |
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Road Trippin To a Phantom PlanetA year's worth of road life can be a very messy deal. by Gil Kaufman |
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Phantom Planet (VH1.com) |
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Over the past 13 months, "California" power popsters Phantom Planet rocked each and every one of their million fans. Okay, maybe not a million, but several thousand, at least. Of course, there was that freezing night last winter in Buffalo - the
Whoever claimed a rock bands road life to be nothing but groupies, glamour and glitz never met this tribe of non underwear-changing boys. Hitting the road is hard on any band, but when its your first-ever tour and your group has two vegans and a lactose intolerant guitarist, things are quickly complicated. The group - Farrar, singer/guitarist Alex Greenwald, guitarist Jacques Brautbar, guitarist Darren Robinson, and drummer Jason Schwartzman - has been on the move since its 1998 debut, Phantom Planet is Missing. For the last 13 months theyve admirably slogged their way across the globe in support of their second album, The Guest. Its a beautifully crafted 12-pack of pop sunshine with summertime anthems such as "California" and "Lonely Day." A bit of pre-fab visibility comes with this outfit. You might know Schwartzman from his starring roles in "Rushmore" and "Slackers." And Greenwald has appeared in both Gap commercials and the black comedy "Donnie Darko." With the end of their epic tour finally in sight, the Planet is preparing to enter the studio to work on their next album. But not before they share some of their road tales. Pay close attention as Farrar, 24 and Greenwald, 22, explain how and what to pack, why they ask for a live baby tiger at every show, and why you should never, ever stick your hand in their backstage cooler. VH1: How many shows have you played in the last 13 months? Alex Greenwald: [sighs] A million? Maybe 160. VH1: Is this the longest stretch youve ever been out on the road? Greenwald: Wed never been on tour before. We tried to tour for the first record on the East Coast, a bit but complications set in. We just went back home. Were all very lonely crybabies. VH1: When you pack to leave for that long, what do you need to pack? Greenwald: When we first left, none of us had any idea what to pack or how long we should pack for or how big the suitcases should be. Some of us came on with trunks and trunks of stuff. Have you ever seen Spaceballs? It was like what Princess Vespa was bringing across the desert. Just huge trunks of useless things. By the end of this tour we figured out what we needed - like we all wear the same underwear for five days in a row. VH1: Whats the most ridiculous item you brought at the beginning of the tour that you now realize was useless? Greenwald: A clean conscience. VH1: Is there something that you brought that you cant live without now? Greenwald: Maybe a loin cloth. VH1: Now that youre not crybabies anymore, what do you miss the most when youre on the road? Greenwald: As cheesy as it sounds, friends and family. VH1: Have you ever asked for something totally ridiculous on your tour rider that you knew you wouldnt get? Greenwald: Yes. Every rider we make has something completely ridiculous on it to check if someones been reading it or to see if we could get it out of them. This tour its a baby tiger [listed], and people dont often supply it. The ones with a sense of humor often give us a nice, little baby stuffed tiger. When they ask, Why the hell is there a baby tiger on here? then we know theyve been paying attention to our needs. Weve never gotten a living one yet. VH1: If you suddenly got huge tomorrow, what would be your first indulgence on the road? Greenwald: Wed each get our own stretch Ferraris in a rainbow of colors with jacuzzis and whatnot. VH1: With DVD players in the steering wheels? Greenwald: Of course, the whole 18 yards. VH1: I assume you dont have your own Phantom jet. How do you travel? Greenwald: The first six months was a van, then we all got fed up of being in such close proximity to each other, so we moved on to a bus. VH1: What kind of music do you listen to when youre driving? Greenwald: Luckily, the bus is divided into three parts: a lounge, bunks and a second lounge. We all listen to our respective things separately. If Im taking over one of the lounges youll usually hear Gang of Four, Buzzcocks and Wire, some poppy kind of punk-esque music. I just got the Interpol record; theres some good songs on that one. Other places youd hear the hum of Playstation 2. And you might hear Jacques listening to classical music on his headphones. VH1: Is there a guilty pleasure you all indulge in on the bus? The occasional Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne? Greenwald: Jason and I were just in a hotel room and that new Avril Lavigne song, "Sk8er Boi" came on ... I guess it isnt that bad, so maybe its not a guilty pleasure. Maybe a reluctant pleasure. Sam Farrar: Is Peter Gabriel a guilty pleasure, or is that okay? We all have ProTools on our computers, so were always off making music by ourselves. Usually you sleep overnight and when you get to the city you walk around and dont hang out on the bus. VH1: When I watch "How To Be A Pop Star," it seems like its all Cristal, luxury hotels and tricked-out buses. Farrar: [laughs] I dont know about the Cristal part. VH1: So, after a year on the road, has it gotten any easier? Greenwald: It helps that were sponsored by Cristal. [laughs] We drink that instead of water. Its exhausting, but its really just like an exaggerated summer camp. All the things you felt at summer camp: exhaustion, not being able to sleep ... just multiplied ten fold. VH1: Summer camp with drink tickets? Farrar: Yes! Its like adult summer camp, its like "Porkys." Wait, no "Meatballs." Actually, vegan meatballs. VH1: I dont imagine you get to eat a proper meal on the road. Whats the grossest thing youve been forced to eat in a pinch? Farrar: Alex and Jason are vegan, Jacques is lactose intolerant, so weve got some picky stomachs. Its part of their ritual to find the Whole Foods whenever we get into a city. Were going to publish the most in-depth map of health food restaurants and stores ever. VH1: Have you had one of those shows on this tour where no one shows up? Farrar: Last year we headlined a club in Buffalo and 12 people showed up. We just laughed about it and enjoyed it and made it special for those 12 people ... and froze our asses off. It was the dead of winter - or thats what we told ourselves, anyway. VH1: Do you have groupies? Farrar: I wouldnt call them groupies. We cant sleep with them. Groupie qualifies as someone you kiss or sleep with. We dont go that far. But a lot of kids at our headline shows would go to every show, follow us around, hanging out on the sidewalk playing music. Greenwald: This last headlining tour we had a bunch of college girls who were the Deadhead equivalent for our band. Farrar: They were really cool. We would usually just go out there and play guitar for them and hang. VH1: Have any one of you gotten to partake in that rock rite of passage of signing a boob or a butt? Farrar: Weve all signed boobs, butts, panties, had bras thrown at us. Ive signed a foot. VH1: Have you ever trashed a hotel room? Farrar: Once. We didnt set fires or anything. Levis threw a party for us at The Standard [in Hollywood] and we had 40 of our friends come back to our suite after the party. There was puke, Coke, beer, cigarettes everywhere and Alex and I woke up in the same bed together and we have no idea how that happened. But were still close, so it didnt get too ugly. VH1: Whats the strangest thing thats ever happened backstage at one of your shows? Greenwald: Two weeks ago we had a really tiny dressing room at a club in Indianapolis with no attached bathroom. You had to leave the dressing room to go to the bathroom and everyone in the club would see you and we were about to go on, so we didnt want to be seen. I had to piss really bad. There was a container that held all the beer that was just ice water, so I just pissed and pissed and pissed in it. We played and we were all sweaty and bleeding from our fingernails, as usual, and Darren has cut his face open from a guitar. He needed water to wash it off and he runs straight for the bin I just pissed in. We walk in and say, No, no, no, no! I said, Darren I pissed in there. And hes keeps doing it and says, Maybe its good for my pores. For bio, news, CDs, songs and more go to the Phantom Planet Artist A - Z pages. |
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