In his free time, Mortimer Skarsgaard enjoys taking solitary drives into the night to listen to music.  The late 70's post-punk of Magazine provided the soundtrack for one particular moonlight drive, one in which Mortimer remembers seeing a nondescript... shape? figure? apparition? illusion? - out of the corner of his eye.  As Howard Devoto sang "I used to make phantoms I could later chase," he seemed to be speaking directly to Mortimer's eerie vision, and Make Phantoms was solidified as the name of his latest musical endeavor.

Indeed, this name seems most appropriate for the project (especially considering the names that didn't make the cut, such as Ergo the Magnificent Fire), as there is something inherently mysterious floating around somewhere in between this band and the ether.  Upon arriving at the address I had been given, I am met in the front yard by Barth Wooster, another Phantom.  He leads me by penlight around to the side of the house and through a rickety gate.  The backyard is half-flooded, and there is a very specific path we must take through this quasi-bog in order to avoid the mud and reach the recording space, located inside a shed behind the main house.  Between the lack of lighting and the swamp-like terrain, I half-expect to see a specter lurking somewhere in the night's mist.  I recall Pet Sematary and keep my eyes on Barth's heels.

Upon reaching the recording space, I am introduced to Mortimer and the band's third member Alisander Borealis.  The room is spartan, to say the least, and clearly functions as a storage space along with its studio duties.  Boxes, stacked chairs, an exercise machine and a Razor scooter are dispersed throughout the space in between the microphone stands and a slew of tangled cords and power strips in the middle of the floor.  An ancient, out-of-tune, upright piano sits against a back wall, a busted TV on top of that.  Old carpets hang from every wall and holiday lights are strung across the ceiling.  Just inside the door and past the first mass of cobwebs sits an old couch and a desk with a computer through which all of the recording and producing takes place.  Mortimer, the band's resident ProTools guru, sits at his command center in front of the Mac.  The goal for tonight's session is to nail down the lead vocal track for the near-complete "Come-Around Kids".

Make Phantoms' recording project began around August.  Prior to forming, Barth had been playing in an acid-folk group called the Johnny Tremain Ultras, while Mortimer was in an Elvis-screamo cover band called the Rock Me Tenders.  Through someone's twisted idea of a show, these bands were scheduled to play on the same bill, and after finding a shared affinity for the Moog synthesizer, Barth and Mortimer decided to begin their own group.  While enjoying the First Friday festivities in downtown Richmond one evening, they were drawn to the sound of "thunder from the alleyway."  There they found Alisander - busking as a street drummer in his spare time while completing his Masters in Prosthetics - and immediately recruited him for the band.

The members of Make Phantoms were tired of the confines of being in a typical, streamlined, gig-playing "band-band".  Seeking the freedom to write music in any style or mood that they happened to be channeling at the moment, they devoted their energy to being a recording group as opposed to a live one.  The band's focus would be on publishing songs, online releases, and the occasional show around town.  This way, they are liberated to compose in a wide range of styles without having to worry about whether the songs fit in with the band's live sound or image.  Make Phantoms' "image" is purely auditory and can appear in any number of forms depending on the listener.  While this concept creates the potential for aimless style-jumping, Make Phantoms' sound remains fairly cohesive.  Throughout the handful of completed songs that are available at the moment, one consistently finds shimmering synth arrangements, melancholy piano lines, and beautifully soaring vocal harmonies, as made evident in "Come-Around Kids". 

The atmosphere in the recording session is simultaneously relaxed and enthusiastic.  The members clearly believe in their craft, and there seems to be an almost conscious effort on behalf of the band to suppress their giddy excitement for the project in front of outsiders like myself, though at times I can see it bubble over.  The final chorus has to be re-done at one point.  Barth chuckles, "I got excited at hearing the bass come in and my voice cracked."  He lays down his lead vocal track while conversing in between verses, throwing out a compliment of the photographer's shoes before punching back in for the chorus.  On this particular performance, his vocal quality reminds me of M. Ward while the harmonies that open the song evoke classic Simon and Garfunkel sung over a dynamic, distorted guitar riff.  The band has dozens of songs either half-written or in progress, but a completed "Come-Around Kids" will mark about the fifth or sixth song that is ready for mixing.  The finished project will most likely contain about fourteen songs and has a self-imposed deadline for the end of March to prevent over-indulgence in the mesmerizing world of ProTools.  Mortimer explains, "I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, so I could be tweaking knobs until the end of time."

Luckily for all of the eager listeners out there, this deadline also means a rare live performance for a CD release event, which will be covered in a future issue of Magazine33.  Stay tuned for more updates on what promises to be one of the year's most exciting and ambitious local records.

 

 

Make Phantoms Links:

Make Phantoms on MySpace

Make Phantoms on Facebook

By Editing Department, Editor-In-Chief and Author: Andrew Lutwin

Andrew is originally from Boston, but has spent equal time in Richmond and considers both home.  He recently graduated VCU with a B.A. in English and looks forward to seeing if his degree will be worth a damn.  While attending Northeastern University, Andrew began covering music for the Zig-Zag Live website and tour campaign, which won him the undying affection of Bostonians because of his access to free rolling papers.  He is fortunate enough to have parents with great taste in music and owes much of his musical sensibilities to them.  Some of his favorites include the Beatles, the Clash, My Morning Jacket, Mastodon, Mission of Burma, all 70's R&B, and anything that can be considered "outlaw."  Other hobbies include food, guitar, whiskey, hiking, Boston sports, and maintaining his beginner-level fish tank.     

 

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