The members of O’Phantom take questions from Soundsphere about their forthcoming EP, ‘No Remorse’, creative inspirations and the music scene in East Yorkshire…
Credit: Shoot J Moore
How inspired are you by Hull’s scene right now?
Rowan] Inspiration for Hull’s music scene comes in ebbs and flows. We seem to have moments where it really feels like there is some energy that nucleates around a few artists, and then at other times it feels very disparate. Right now I think we’ve got a few outlying interesting artists still finding their feet, such as Maftin, Evil Will Prevail, and Strange Pink, and their development seems promising. I just hope these artists continue to push their craft and capture these efforts in some really great releases and gigs that help establish them as regional and national names.
How different is working with O’Phantom compared to your previous bands or projects?
Dan] O’Phantom feels like when I first started bands seventeen years ago! It’s a relaxed environment where everyone supports each other, and where the project is taken seriously enough that we have ambitions to play festivals like we did with Truck Festival this year, and tour. Whilst also being happy jumping on a show last minute somewhere not on the general gig circuit because we think it’ll be a fun day out.
When I started O’Phantom I was suffering from a lot of chronic fatigue, even playing guitar was difficult. It’s taken a special bunch of people, both past and present, in this project to get where I am today, happy and healthy and ready to make lots more music (Thankyou you lot!)’
No Remorse is an excellent start to the EP – can you talk me through its lyrical inspirations? You have a way of matching calm vocal delivery with some quite challenging themes?
Dan] ’Thanks so much for saying that! I’ve still got so much to learn as a songwriter which is so exciting after decades of making music, I write so subconsciously that sometimes it takes years to look back and understand what I was going through.
Outside of music, what inspires you most – think art, movies or places – and why?
Rose] I’ve been a pretty heavy video game player and book reader since I was a kid, and I’ve always been drawn towards fantasy and sci-fi in particular. More than anything I think it’s good storytelling that inspires me, whether that’s through a book, game or film
I quite often find myself placing our music alongside characters or worlds that I already have an emotional connection with. Rather than digging through my own personal experiences, apparently I’d rather project everything onto fictional people instead. I’ll imagine how a song might fit a particular character, story or world, and that helps me find my own emotional connection to it.’
How do you look back at 2024’s ‘Cold Call’ and those subsequent early singles now?
Dan] ‘I love them as a diary entry to where we were then. All of those songs were written acoustically with basic chords so I could play them without too much pain. They were songs written whilst watching Walking Dead episodes, western movies and listening to stuff like Big Thief and The Cure. It’s getting trickier to play them live now as I love where the project is going more so than where it was 2 years ago, and I think we have a better focus as to what it means to be in this band now too. But I’m still hugely fond of that time!’
Tom] It’s really interesting to look back at how much the sound of the band has changed since then and what other elements we incorporate now. I think from a guitar perspective things are a bit noisier now in a way that wouldn’t have made sense back then, but Cold Call is still one of my favourites to play live because it has such a good energy to it, always gets people going.
How do you all define success as people, and as artists – are they one and the same?
Rowan] I find that the moments in which I am truly content and fulfilled as a person are when I’m gigging, or have finished working on a song that feels like it is beyond me. When the song’s quality has exceeded what I believed I and the musicians I am with were capable of and we’ve made a genuinely great piece of art. That feeling doesn’t come often of course! So yes, I feel success on a personal and artistic level is one and the same, I am happy as a person when my artistic expression is at one with my sense of self
Rose] Success for me is just being happy, having good people around me and spending my time doing things I care about. I’m probably quite selfish with my time these days, between the band and everything we do at Polar Bear, there isn’t much of it left, so I try not to waste it doing things I don’t actually enjoy. We’ve been doing this in one form or another for a long time, and the fact that we’re still friends, still making music and probably more excited about the band than we’ve ever been feels like a success already.
You have some tour dates coming up. You’re one of the few bands currently touring from Hull. How important is it for you to get out and about, and how much do find it challenging and/or enjoy it?
Jamie] As an independent band touring is incredibly important to us, social media is great and it’s how most people find new artists, however to have the chance to actually go watch that band you’ve been following online for months on end is the goal. For us as artists, it helps us master our craft and meet new people.Don’t get me wrong, it comes with its challenges, we all work full time and it can end up costing us money to do these shows. But the truth is we love it and will keep on doing it
Is there anything you’d like to say or plug or promote that I might have missed before we finish up today?
Dan] ‘I wanted to give a shout out to every venue, promoter, radio station, and reviewer alongside Soundsphere for the constant platforms you provide us as a small northern artist. Being part of an independent grassroots scene with O’Phantom (whilst we practically live at Polar Bear in Hull) has been amazing so far. We’ve met some incredibly lovely people who care deeply about new music which has been so inspiring to be a part of. I truly believe the most exciting new music is hidden under the surface for those who really want to find it, often via publications like yourselves. My favourite artists I’ve found through the above, far more regularly than via artists we often get chucked at us via paid PR campaigns on major music platforms.