Live shows that make a statement
Performing in front of thousands of people is definitely not everyone’s idea of catharsis. But for Sarah Barthel of Phantogram, the stage — under those bright lights, microphone in hand, music pounding out of towering speakers — is where she feels most powerful.
“It’s a place to express myself,” she says. “As much as it is my job, it’s also my release.”
After nearly 10 years of making the rounds at venues around the world, Barthel and bandmate Josh Carter have mastered the Phantogram live show. Every visual concept, every musical accompaniment, every collaboration and stage cue is strategically designed to complement Phantogram’s explosive, emotionally charged sound. That deliberate, experiential thinking is why the pair is as good a fit for the summer music festival circuit as they are for an intimate oneoff show and why Barthel inevitably gets that inimitable rush when she takes center stage.
“We don’t want to be a band that just plays live. We want to be a musical experience,” Barthel says. “We want our fans to come to our show and leave with something they can always hold on to. … I want it to be an escape for people.”
With a stacked 2017 tour schedule, Phantogram will be busy this summer showcasing its high-octane brand of electronica-infused dream pop, performing songs off of its latest album, October’s “Three,” along with hit singles from across their career such as “Fall in Love,” “Don’t Move” and “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore.” The duo’s upcoming show at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre on Saturday, July 1, with Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow, brings Barthel and Carter back to the Bay Area (they were at last year’s Outside Lands as Big Grams, their collaboration with rapper Big Boi of OutKast fame) and presents yet another opportunity to create a unique concertgoing experience.
But Barthel is also looking forward to touring this summer for another important, personal reason. Phantogram has taken her around the world to perform in different venues, lineups and festivals, on stages that feature some of the best talent in the world, and she often finds she’s the only woman performing.
“It’s something that you get used to at the beginning, because it’s always been that way, and I guess I kind of knew what I was getting into,” she says. “But it’s very important to come out and represent in the music industry because there really aren’t very many women out here. There aren’t enough of us.”
In that moment, Phantogram becomes more than a means of making a mark on pop music — it’s about empowering other women to make a mark, regardless of what field or arena they choose to work in. Being able to do this, Barthel says, is a critical part of the onstage self-expression she values so much.
“I want to come out and represent power in women — that’s my goal. That’s what I strive to be, always,”
“It’s very important to come out and represent in the music industry because there really aren’t very many women out here.” Sarah Barthel, Phantogram singer
Barthel says.
“I am not just a singer; I’m a songwriter and a producer and an artist, a lover, a sister, a friend,” she adds. “And I think that it’s important for women to see that if you want to do something, you can do it.”
From Barthel and Carter’s beginnings as precocious musicians attempting to fill in a gap in the pop music spectrum through becoming one of the most successful and critically acclaimed indie rock acts of the past decade, Phantogram’s writing process is a constant back-and-forth to the drawing board, asking not only “What works?” but also “Does this sound like us?” Does this sound like the outspoken, multitalented, self-professed “psychic twins” who make Phantogram the confident, colorful, spitfire band that it is?
When asked what makes Phantogram unique, Barthel’s answer is immediate: “We always want to represent both of our perspectives.”
“We’re very close,” she adds, elaborating on her working and personal relationship with Carter. “He’s my biggest witness, I’m his biggest witness — we’ve seen it all together. … When we combine our perspectives, that makes Phantogram.”