Phantom Planet Come To Terms With The Stage

"This dressing room is as big as most of the clubs we play," jokes Phantom Planet drummer Jason Schwartzman.

Ah, the life of an arena rock band...

Well, not really.

Having spent the last 10 months touring clubs opening for the likes of American Hi-Fi, Remy Zero, Pete Yorn and Guided By Voices, the California quintet are getting a taste of the big leagues during their current six-week arena jaunt with label-mates Incubus. After speaking with the band it's evident that the jump is definitely taking some getting used to.

"It's hard to get adjusted to the largeness of it all," said Schwartzman during the band's stop at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton a couple weeks ago. "You can get lost backstage."

"Last night we had trouble finding the stage," adds singer-guitarist Alex Greenwald. "It was a total Spinal Tap moment where we were running around the arena saying 'Alright, we're ready to play, we're ready to go,' we don't know where to go. Security!'"

Along with not being able to find your way around, making the jump from a club to an arena environment can cause a lot of other problems as well. The biggest challenge comes with simply trying to adapt your show to the new surroundings. In a small club on a tight, crowded stage, intensity and performance are at the forefront. It becomes quite easy to relate to an audience and to feed off of the energy they exude.

On the flipside, in an arena setting, on a massive stage the emphasis is more on the overall show, and in the case of an opening act, attempting to get and hold the crowd's attention. All of this can create an intimidating situation to work in. Being just over a week into the Incubus tour, Phantom Planet are still getting accustomed to the larger venues, but overall things are going well.

"We haven't had anything thrown at us yet, which is good," Greenwald says. "All we can see is the front row and then there is a sea of waving beings. It is like an ocean. In a club, you can see the reaction on people's faces. You're practically sweating on a person. Here, there's a 20 foot gap where there is security and monitors and stuff. You do lose a bit but we're still evolving, trying to get what we want out of them and to give them what they want."

"I can never see anybody anyway, so it's the same fucking thing for me," laughs Schwartzman.

The lessons being learned during these few weeks will help them with what should no doubt be a bright future. While only in the early 20s, the group has already been signed to two major labels, Geffen and Sony. It was the latter who released Phantom Planet's sophomore album, The Guest, this past February to glowing reviews.

Brimming with infectious melodies, the record hearkens back to the pop sounds of the '60s and '70s and will have you shaking your ass and singing along in no time. The songs are perfect for summer and ideally will spend the next few months blasting out of car windows everywhere as word of mouth spreads.