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Gig going foodie who reads too much, watches too much film, likes gardening, cooking/baking, and sewing. Likes to go to the theatre and anything arty. Likes travel, likes planning travel....likes solar eclipses.

Monday 19 May 2014

Interview : Phantom Runners


Interview : Phantom Runners
 

Brighton based The Phantom Runners have certainly been causing a few vibrations on the radar over the last few months with multiple blog sites tipping them amongst the “ones to watch” for 2014.  With their catchy, feel good, summer led lyrics you could be forgiven for thinking they’d beamed directly from a feel good film but this band have been steadily working on their craft for a couple of years.  With their new single “Chasing The Feeling” out this month we spoke to them about their music, the highs and lows, their future and space travel…

Q: Your debut single “It Takes Me Away” was very well received and has quite a poppy feel to it, almost a movie soundtrack feel.  Was that intentional?
A: Cool looking at it like that now sounds great, because were going all out on the cinematic theme, especially with new video and the next videos lined up.  Each video is gonna be part of a series which will culminate in a full on Movie.  Like a film track for the whole EP.

Q: You say your inspirations are amongst others The Cure and The Stones Roses which you can hear but there’s also a touch of The Psychedelic Furs in there.  Does it worry you when people reference other artists in your reviews?
A: Yeah first track definitely has that nostalgic, lovelorn sound.  Was a really cool era in British music, those melodies and anthems from back then are timeless, seems to resonate with everyone writing on those vibes.

Q: So for those who don’t know how did the band come about?
A: Arron was a mate of my girlfriend, who tried to get us to hook up for over a year, but we eventually met on a floor at a house party in Hanover and bonded over Motown and British Indie..and being really driven at ‘making it happen’.
The band formed officially in April 2013, and within a few months lady luck found them a friend in Jamie Danan, who hooked them up with the legendary Huey Morgan, of BBC Radio 6 and Fun Loving Criminals, and all of a sudden they were recording their debut EP at the amazing Dean St. Studios.

Q: You played Hyde Park in 2012; was that daunting or did you not pay attention to where you actually were and just rely on the music?
A: Yeah it was really early on when I started writing tunes with my brother, we were just thrown out in front of over two thousand people, was pretty insane, but actually felt less nerve racking than just playing to my dad.

Q: How did that differ from your first gig both physically and mentally?
A: The very first gig was in a small town in wales called oswestry seemed like a much bigger deal than it was, I guess its the illusion that gets you hyped!

Q: How does the process for you of writing a song start?
A: I think it starts out as like tiny ideas for a vocal, or guitar riff, and I try and imagine the rest in my head then put it down.  Was sat in an old flea market when I got the idea for ‘it takes me away’, love trying to write in weird places, find it really inspirational

Q: When have you felt the most frustrated about your career?
A: When I had to walk out on my brother and my best friend who were in the band at the time.

Q: What has been the highpoint so far?
A: Getting to record the EP with Huey Morgan has been really amazing.  Balcony TV, the debut single release and the Radio 1 plays  were all a great buzz too!

Q: And the lowest point?
A: Trying to get the determination to carry on after leaving my brother behind because we used to write together, its just sadly I wanted to make things happen a lot more than him.

Q: When can we expect to hear the album?
A: This year for definite, can’t wait!

Q: You’re down to play The Great Escape Festival this year – any plans to tour or are you happy to play one off gigs for now?
A: Yeah we are planning to do 4 whole Tours this year were currently half way through the first one just playing quite quirky low key venues up then down the country from Brighton to Manchester and back.  Were playing the summer festival circuit too.
We definitely believe any band worth their salt should do their time on the road!

Q: What would be your dream gig venue?
A: One of the space stations, even if it was pretty cramped would be amazing!

Q: If you could see this time next year where would you like to be in terms of the band?
A: Getting our music out to big audiences, but we still want to keep it intimate at gigs, by maybe playing acoustic outside the venues before air after.

Q: Finally one last question.  On your Facebook bio you say you’re keen on stargazing.  Would you ever sign up to go into space?
A: Yes most definitely, really fascinated with the vastness of space and the vastness of possibility.  Been following some posts recently on anti gravity ufo technology, by a guy called ‘ralph ring’ amazing, all seems so plausible too!


For live dates check out The Phantom Runners Official Facebook page

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