By Lisa Flores
Sam Farrar sits down in the dark, noisy bar of the Knitting Factory and I take a seat across from him.
As Phantom Planet’s bassist, Farrar, 26, has plenty to drink to. Having formed over ten years ago, Phantom Planet has aquired quite a following-and understandably so. Their first album, Is Missing, was released off Geffen in 1998, but didn’t get much attention. After being picked up by Epic, however, Phantom Planet released The Guest in 2002 and their self-titled album in 2004, both of which were well received.
Whether or not you recognize their name, you’ve probably stumbled across the band at one point. Perhaps you’ve found yourself singing along to “California,” the annoyingly catchy theme song to the annoyingly addictive show, “The O.C.” If not, you might have witnessed their first TV debut on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” (think way back to the days of TGIF), or heard their song “Is This Really Happening to Me?” on the Drive Me Crazy soundtrack.
If you haven’t heard their music, you’ve definitely heard or seen their other work. Alex Greenwald, 25, on lead vocals and guitar, appeared in the memorable “Mellow Yellow” Gap commercials and played Seth Devlin, the coke-snorting bully, in the cult indie film Donnie Darko. Their former drummer, Jason Schwartzman, who left the band in 2003 to pursue acting, stars in Rushmore, Slackers and a few other films, the most recent being I Heart Huckabees. Their current drummer, Jeff Conrad, 27, used to drum for Big City Rock and guitarist Darren Robinson, 26, stays close to the fans, updating the band’s blog and MySpace account.
“I do a lot of producing on the side,” Farrar says when asked about the band’s side projects. “I have a studio at my house and I play with a lot of my friends, sitting in as a bass player. Alex is doing Black Black, which is pretty cool. It’s kind of his girlfriend’s band. Darren’s done a little bit of sitting in on some bands and Jeff is obsessed with shooting video. [He’s] pretty much documenting the entire tour and he’s getting pretty good at editing together some stuff and putting together DVDs.”
Of course, they don’t have much time for side projects when they’re on the road, but they don’t seem to mind. “We’ve gotten very lucky getting really good tours,” he says, adjusting his lanky frame in the tiny chair. “I’d say the most fun, all out-I was drunk every night, partying, dancing and stuff-was Incubus. We kind of came out of our shells on that tour. We made a lot of good friends. They’re just so cool, just really nice guys.” His drink of choice? “Jack [Daniel’s] and Coke. Sometimes Captain [Morgan’s]. If I’ve had too much Jack in a week I’ll switch over to Captain’s.” Coconut rum, however, is out of the question. “It’s too sweet,” he explains, then adds, “But if you’re in Hawaii it’s totally okay.”
Phantom Planet has been playing shows since before they could drink, touring with bands as well known as Elvis Costello and Sting to lesser known bands, like Soft, who opened for them Saturday night. They’ve played stadiums, clubs, festivals; all over the United States, in Europe, Japan and Australia. When asked about his favorite city to play in, Farrar replies, “New York’s always great. Chicago, New York, Philly-they’re always good to us.”
On the road, when they’re not drinking or playing music, they’ll enjoy the, uh, occasional video game. “We love them,” Sam declares enthusiastically. “Alex is obsessed with Katamari Damacy. It’s like, one big drug trip, it’s great. He loves that game.”
They also spend time working on their newest album. Compared to their other three, “it’s more dancey,” Farrar says. “Then again, we’re only halfway through writing it, so you never know. We could do a total 180. There’s one song called “Geronimo,” it’s about violent sex. But then there’s another song that’s just fully on a dance song.”
As for who writes the songs, “It’s mostly Alex. There’s one song off [our b-side] Negatives, an acoustic thing that I did. Other than that, Alex has really defined the sound of our band, so it makes sense that he writes them. We definitely work on all the songs to the point where it starts to feel like a large group effort.”
There’s no doubt that these guys work hard, but it seems they’ve had to work a little harder than most to get the respect they deserve. When “California” first hit the radio in 2002 and Schwartzman was still their drummer, they were often referred to as “Rushmore’s band.” Once word got out that Greenwald had been the face of Gap, more and more people started to write them off as just a bunch of pretty boys without even giving them a chance.
“It’s the most retarded thing ever,” Farrar sighs. “It definitely hurt our credibility. We’re from L.A. and that’s what you do to make a living. It’s a great way to not have a day job so you can focus on music. You work for three hours one day and you get ten grand. I was kind of annoyed at the amount of times people brought that up, but now I think everyone’s forgotten that. Now everyone just talks about The O.C.” Which, of course, must really help their credibility. He shrugs. “Everyone always has to talk about something.”
If you’re a fan of the show and have been hoping Phantom Planet will make a guest appearance, you may get your wish, though not necessarily anytime soon. “We were definitely against it for awhile,” Farrar explains, but “now I don’t even think it makes a difference. Everyone knows it’s our song.”
A noise behind the bar pierces through the conversation. It’s time for soundcheck, and the interview has come to an end. As Farrar gets to his feet I thank him for his time.
“No problem,” he says. “That was easy-I like fun questions. I can’t get very deep right now, I’m still a little trashed from last night.”
Understandably so, Mr. Farrar. Understandably so.
Phantom Planet is known for their song “California,” that serves as the theme song for the hit television show, “The O.C.” The Chronicle recently sat down with bassist Sam Farrar. (Image courtesy nextmonthmusic.com)
