THE PHOSPHENES

Plastic Dream tackles themes of the suburbs, unrequited love, and bringing back the old school garage rock vibe. Can you dive deeper into the personal experiences and emotions that inspired these lyrics?

I can’t say that the fictional relationship presented in Plastic Dream is really from any personal experience, but more so other people I had observed throughout high school. I really noticed that teenagers, and more notably young women, seem to be so set on becoming these internet idols, sharing details of their life to thousands of faceless strangers, acting like famous movie stars. And they’re nowhere near that, they’re just people doing the daily grind, but they try to mask it like it’s something to hide. Like there’s something wrong with just being yourself. Too many people seem to be consumed by the want for fame or trying to prove that they're better than others, often at the cost of their friends and people around them. I wrote Plastic Dream from a bystander’s point of view in this situation, watching someone go down this empty rabbit hole of vanity, and just tagging along with them for the ride. 

How does 'Plastic Dream' reflect the overall sound and ethos of The Phosphenes? Does it mark any significant shifts in your musical direction or thematic focus compared to your previous work?

Plastic Dream, at least sound wise, reflects our basic attitude and approach to writing and recording music. What you see is what you get, just loud guitars, bass, and drums. Having recorded five other songs in two days along with Plastic Dream, we knew we had to be quick, and we knew we didn’t need any fancy bells or whistles on the track. We want our studio sound to be near identical to our live sound, as we feel that’s when we are at our best. Plastic Dream is a slight departure from our usual sound and songwriting however, noticeably a bit more relaxed than some of our other tracks. The song’s lyrics rely a lot more on world building and story telling as well, something we had yet to really dip our toes into.

What era in music history influences you the most and who are five artists we could add to a playlist of inspiration for ‘Plastic Dream’

90’s alternative rock is essentially gospel for us, and I think it comes across quite clearly as our main influence. Specifically for Plastic Dream, Britpop was a major influence. Five artists that you could add to a playlist for the inspiration of Plastic Dream would be:
-Blur
-Early Weezer
-You Am I (specifically Hi-Fi Way)
-Early Foo Fighters
-Jebediah

What were some of the challenges and highlights during the production of 'Plastic Dream'? Were there any particular moments in the studio that stand out to you?

To be honest, I can’t remember too much from recording Plastic Dream, because we did it so quickly. I think the track you’ll hear was maybe our second take of the song, so we were just in and out. I do remember however, after hearing the first mix of the track and hearing Reece’s doubled vocals on the chorus, we were shocked by how well it turned out. Going into the studio, Plastic Dream wasn’t really standing out as a single for us, but after, we were all so hooked on it. It came together in a way we didn’t expect, and we were all pleasantly surprised.

You’ve shared the stage with some impressive artists. In your circle of musical friends, who are two artists you believe are on the cusp of achieving great things, and what makes them stand out to you?

Man, there are so many incredible bands we’ve played with over the last 18 months, and its so hard to choose just two.

Although we haven’t played with them just yet, we’ve got some shows lined up with The Melancholiac, and they’re definitely ones to watch. They recently supported DZ Deathrays at the Triffid for their Black Rat 10th Anniversary Tour, and it looks like things are really moving up for them.

Sweet Nuthin’ has to be another band that really has some promise. We recently played with them in Brisbane, and they blew us away. Just awesome, tight, bare-bones punk music, but played with incredible musicianship. They put on an amazing show, and I think they have to be someone on the radar for best upcoming bands.

Looking ahead, what are some goals or milestones The Phosphenes hope to achieve by the end of 2024? Are there any collaborations or new directions you're particularly excited about exploring?

Our goal for the end of 2024 is to just build our profile and presence on the scene as much as we can. We’ve been attacking the local circuit pretty hard for 18 months now, so we’re just going to keep grinding our way through the ranks. It would be awesome to expand our reach to a national basis as well, maybe playing some shows out of Brisbane and even Queensland. And I mean, it would be nice to have a record contract waiting for us, but for the time being, we just love to play and put on a good show. As teenagers, playing is what we love, and we getting to live out our dreams every weekend.