Phantom Planet
is an alternative rock band from Southern California. The band is best known for its former member, actor and drummer, Jason Schwartzman and its track "California", which became the theme song for the Fox TV series, The O.C.
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PHANTOM PLANET TICKETS
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History
Phantom Planet is named after the theme song of a 1961
B-movie called
The Phantom Planet
. They decided on the name in 1994 in a
Pizza Hut. They played their first show in 1994 at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California. Most of their friends could not attend because they were still in high school.
Phantom Planet released their debut album,
Phantom Planet is Missing
in
1998. A straightforward pop record, with influences ranging from
The Beach Boys to
Electric Light Orchestra, the album didn't catch on. It was after the band's second album,
The Guest
in
2002 that the band found success. It produced the popular song, "
California".
The Guest
continued the pop-rock sound the band introduced in their debut.
The band's
eponymous third album in
2004 marked a change in both the band's sound and lineup. Ditching their radio-friendly pop-rock, the band moved towards a
garage rock sound. Lead singer
Alex Greenwald stated that he wants the band to continue to change its sound. "I love rock 'n' roll music," Greenwald said. "I especially loved bands, like The Beatles, that changed with every single record they made. That's been our plan from the get-go. We want our records to be like experiments. We want to have fun with the music. People can hear when you're not having fun. They discover you're bored and you're boring."
[1] However, in the middle of recording the album, founding member and drummer
Jason Schwartzman abruptly left the band to focus on his acting career. He was replaced by
Jeff Conrad, who helped record the remainder of the album.
Phantom Planet
was released to mixed reviews from critics. Shortly after the album's release, guitarist
Jacques Brautbar left the band to pursue a career in photography
Raise the Dead
Early on in the recording process Phantom Planet's contract with
Epic Records expired, which left them searching for a new record label. Soon after this, they signed to
Fueled by Ramen, which produces bands such as
Fall Out Boy,
Paramore,
Panic at the Disco,
The Hush Sound and
The Academy Is....
On January 20, 2008, Phantom Planet posted a bulletin on their Myspace page to announce that the official release date would be April 15, 2008. Fueled By Ramen re-released a teaser trailer and stated that the first single from the album will be a reworking of "
Do the Panic".
In an interview with , Alex stated that "all bands are kind of their own cult, you know, but we want to take it to a new level. We really like the show Lost, and even though it’s totally fiction, there’s this air of mystery that’s lacking in a lot entertainment these days. I really like mystery in things, and what a little bit of enigma brings out of people and their imaginations...a band is about community, and within itself it is a brotherhood; it’s companionship. But a band can’t be anything without the people to love it. Our goal will be to recruit and befriend as many people as possible with our message."
When describing the new record, Alex said that "the next record is a
concept record. If
the Beatles had
Sgt. Pepper's and the
Rolling Stones had
Their Satanic Majesties Request, we have our “Leader.” We’re
concocting it, but at the same time we’re following it."
In the same interview bassist Sam Farrar described the new logo, which is a circular graphic of piano keys that seem to morph into a shirt sleeve with a hand emerging from the cuff. He said, "The idea is that we’re going to sell a lot of these sweatshirts and all the kids will show up in them so the entire audience looks just like us." Alex followed this up by saying that "'The Leader' is the hand. He is the hand that plays the notes we sing to. It’s in the beginning stages still; we’re just chipping away at the stone."
The new song "Leader", is about Alex's fictional or metaphorical experience with a cult. For the definitive recording of the song, Phantom Planet brought in children from Kenter Canyon Elementary School to sing the chorus, the video for which can be seen on their YouTube site.
The album, titled
Raise the Dead
, was released as scheduled on April 15, 2008.
Hiatus
On November 25, 2008, the band announced in a blog entry on their website that they are going on "hiatus, and will not be playing any more live shows or making any new records, indefinitely."
[2]
They played their last show on December 12, 2008, in Los Angeles. Alex mentioned numerous times during their last show that the band was, in fact, going on a hiatus, not breaking up.
Former drummer Jason Schwartzman makes a cheeky reference to this hiatus in his song "Drummer" from the Coconut Records album
Davy
(released January 2009). The lyrics state "I was a drummer in a band that you've heard of / I was a drummer in a band that just broke up / Isn't that the way it goes?"
Guitarist Darren Robinson posted this message on his personal Myspace page telling fans that they are not broken up:
"We have NOT broken up. We are on an indefinite hiatus. That means we don't know when we'll regroup. But we are NOT broken up. I swear to you it's not just a polite way of saying we have broken up. Got it?"
Other appearances
The band has opened for many well-known artists, including
Guns N' Roses,
Sting,
Elvis Costello,
Incubus,
Guided by Voices,
blink-182,
The Zombies,
The Hives,
American Hi-Fi,
Maroon 5,
Ludacris,
Panic at the Disco, and
Paramore.
Phantom Planet has appeared on the television programs
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
, performing "So I Fall Again", and "American Dreams", playing British rock band The Zombies.
They have appeared in the 2005 remake
Bad News Bears
, playing a band called The Bloodfarts.
In 2005, they covered the
CSNY track "Our House" for the movie
The Chumscrubber
.
Phantom Planet also performed a cover of
Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby" for
Not Another Teen Movie
. "Big Brat" was also introduced in the soundtrack to the video game
Driv3r
and featured as a "Hip Clipz" on the website of Curly Grrlz Skateboards.
Alex Greenwald, the band's vocalist, sang a
fusion jazz cover of
Radiohead's "
Just" for the 2006 compilation
Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads
.
Sam Farrar also contributed to the Hanson album, Underneath, on the song Lost Without Each Other.
In 2008, Raise the Dead was featured in an episode of the second season of
Gossip Girl.
In 2009, Phantom Planet will be featured on
Josh Schwartz new show 'Rockville, CA.'
[3]
Their music has been heard frequently on television, most notably "California," as the theme song for the popular tv show "The OC," and the songs "Do the Panic" and "Dropped" in various commercials.
Line-up
- Alex Greenwald — lead vocals, guitar
- Sam Farrar — bass guitar, backing vocals
- Darren Robinson — guitar, backing vocals
- Jeff Conrad — drums
Former members
- Jacques Brautbar — guitar, vocals — Left the group in May 2004 to pursue photography. Was not replaced. Brautbar went on to join electronica band Something for Rockets. He also helped Phantom Planet perform a few songs during their last show.
- Jason Schwartzman — drums — Left the group in the Summer of 2003, during recording of their self-titled third album, to pursue his acting career full-time. [4] He was replaced by Jeff Conrad, formerly of Big City Rock.
Discography
Official releases
- Phantom Planet Is Missing
(1998) (MCA Records)
- The Guest
(2002) (Epic Records) - #133 US
- Phantom Planet
(2004) (Epic Records) - #95 US
- Limited Edition Tour EP
(2007) (Fueled by Ramen)
- Raise the Dead
(2008) (Fueled by Ramen)- #119 US
Singles
- "California" (2002) - #33 US Modern Rock [5]
- "Big Brat" (2004) - #20 US Modern Rock
- "California 2005" (2005, re-release) #9 UK [6]
- "Our House" (2005) - The Chumscrubber: Original Motion Picture Score
- "Do the Panic" (2008) - #71 Rolling Stone Single of the Year [7]
- "Dropped" (2008)
Bootlegs
- Polaroid
(1999) (Phantom Planet Family)
- Connect Sets
(2004) (SonyConnect Exclusive)
- Live at The Troubadour
(2004)
- Phantom Planet: Live 2004
(2004)
- Phantom Planet: Negatives
(2004) (Phantom Planet Family)
- Negatives 2
(2004)
Compilations
- Not Another Teen Movie Soundtrack
(2001) (Maverick Records)
- Maybe This Christmas
(2002) (Nettwerk)
- Orange County: The Soundtrack
(2002)
- Music from the OC: Mix 1
(2003) (Warner Bros./Wea)
- Music from the OC: Mix 5
(2005) (Warner Bros./Wea)
- Stubbs the Zombie: The Soundtrack
(2005) (Shout Factory)
- The Bad News Bears: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2005) (Rykodisc)
- Chumscrubber: Original Motion Picture Score
(2005) (Lakeshore)
- Nano-Mugen Compilation 2008
(2008) (Sony Music)
- OMFGG No.1 Original Music From Gossip Girl
(2008) (Atlantic Records )
DVD releases
- Phantom Planet: Chicago, Chicagogoing, Chicagogone
- (2004) (Epic Records)
- Phantom Planet: Live at the Troubadour
- (2003) (Epic Records)
Trivia
- Alex Greenwald became a popular model and the familiar face of many commercials for clothing retailer The Gap. Greenwald also played Seth Devlin in the 2001 film Donnie Darko
. Bassist Sam Farrar is the son of John Farrar, the singer/songwriter known best for notable songs from the movie Grease
and other hits sung by Olivia Newton-John.
- The band's favorite sunglass are the Ray-Ban Wayfarer.
- The band has also performed the title song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera
live in concert.
- The band provided voice overs in the movie Being John Malkovich.
- Greenwald made an impact on the British music scene in early 2008 by featuring on Mark Ronson's cover of the Radiohead song "Just". The song is credited to Mark Ronson feat. Phantom Planet.
References
- [1]
- Phantom Planet No More?
- In Rockville, USA the Music Tells the Story
- Planet Waves
- http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=279842&model.vnuAlbumId=1
- http://acharts.us/song/1996
- http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24947047/singles_of_the_year/18