Phoneboy are gearing up for the release of their second studio album, Moving Out (out March 24) - and a tour to go along with it! Right before the holiday break, the trio came by our studio to reveal a few life-altering live shows. Watch as James, Ricky and Wyn talk Deep Purple, Frank Ocean and Remo Drive:
Deep Purple:
James: "I was about 10 years old, you know, I was learning guitar. One of the first songs most people learn is "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. So, naturally, they were doing some reunion tour or something. It was so loud, the bass specifically, that we almost had to leave the show. I felt it in my stomach, I was like, "This is disgusting, I hate music." Eventually we talked to the security, they gave me earplugs.We sat up on the grass. It ended up being a really nice show. Now I play bass in a band, so I guess people can change."
Frank Ocean:
Ricky: "It was 2017, I was a senior in high school at the time. This festival lineup came out, it was called Panorama Festival. Frank Ocean was headlining, so me and my buddies bought tickets, and I was completely silent the whole time. That was the only show I've ever been to where I just did not talk. I did not say a single word, and none of us said a word the whole time. We were just in awe at this guy on stage. It was a crazy visual experience, it felt like a movie. You know, obviously, a festival's just like these huge screens behind the performer, and it was cool to see audio and visual working together so well at a show that big. He was playing "Good Guy," which is off Blonde, he was on his knees just playing and singing, and the camera in front of him just was on him the whole time, and just very slowly through the whole song, just lifted up, and just showing the audience and everything. It was just like, oh my God, this is beautiful. Like so beautiful. I guess it just really changed my perspective of what a show could be."
Remo Drive:
Wyn: It was a cold October day. I was with my friends, I was with Ricky. We had just started the band. and we saw Field Medic and Remo Drive was the headliner.
Ricky: It's like a crazy show, it's like a emo, like Midwestern punk, I don't even know what-
Wyn: Yeah, there are like beat switches and stuff, and like tempo changes and everything, like really translates to our music, especially our live music, when we play shows. It was the first time that I moshed so hard that I ended up crowd surfing, and I got back down, and I was vertical, but my head was on the ground, and I hit my head actually, like really, really hard.
Ricky: That would explain a lot.
Wyn: Yes, I've been kinda off since then. The singer, Erik Paulson, I think he's our age. So that was definitely like, "Yo, Ricky, we can like totally do this." And James, but James wasn't there.
James: I was there, man, you don't remember?
Wyn: You were there?
James: He hit his head really... No, I wasn't there.
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