Darren Robinson of Phantom Planet Interview

The Facts

Name: Darren Michael Robinson

Birth Date: August 24, 1979

His Big Break: Is one-fourth of the rock band Phantom Planet

Did You Know: The band's hit song California was the theme for The O.C.; actor Jason Schwartzman was the lead singer, but left to continue his acting career

Jackie McClelland: Do you have any new pre-show rituals, picked up on your most recent tour that you like to do?
Darren Robinson: "New" pre-show rituals are added every time we tour. We have our basic routine to pep us up, but we always throw something extra in too. Last tour, for the thrown-in part, we quoted Ali G or James Brown and found it highly amusing every single time.

When can you tell that the hectic touring schedule has taken a toll on the band?
Have you seen our most recent DVD? If not, watch the bonus features with the video clips of us on the road. That's what happens to us when the hectic touring schedule has taken a toll on us. We turn into the ultimate creeps.

Last question about touring: how did Sting approach you to fill in the opening slot on his upcoming tour? Is this something you ever thought you'd be able to do when you started?
We never imagined we'd tour with Sting in particular. We do know Josh Freese, who will be playing drums with Sting for that tour. He's played a few shows as our drummer in the past, and we've become very good friends with him. So that may have had something to do with it. I received the news that we are going to be opening for Sting from our manager though, so I don't know exactly how we were approached about it. I think people have a hard time labelling our music, especially since our albums sound different from one another -- so to some this is a strange line up. I think it will be great, and we're all thrilled and honored to be sharing a stage with Sting.

Phantom Planet has, in the past year, been getting more and more exposure on radio and television. Did you ever imagine it would take that long when the band was created?
We never gave it all that much thought, actually. It is nice to gain some recognition though, after eleven years of playing together. We're grateful for that.

Does the band plan to release any more singles from your self-titled effort, or will you guys be heading back into the studio as soon as you finish touring?
We're currently in the studio, working on demos for our fourth studio CD. There will be no other singles off of our self-titled [third CD.] We already have fifteen new songs in the oven, and we plan to show everyone that we're the best f-----g band in the world. That's amazingly fun to say.

In the past, we've seen a recurring lyrical theme of "selling out." I think everyone wants to know is there certain acrimony between Alex and corporate America?
Well, first off, Alex is a hard person to figure out. I'm in a band with him and I've known him for about thirteen or fourteen years, yet I still usually can't tell when he is in a good mood or a bad mood. So, to answer your question, I couldn't tell you. His lifestyle is truly far removed from Corporate America, yet he's not against doing an occasional commercial or advertisement to make some rent money. And as far as his lyrics are concerned, Alex is a nut about double meanings. So I am, perhaps, just as much in the dark as you are here. Even when I ask him what a song is about, I don't always feel like I am getting the full story.

Now that a blog has been added to the website, does this allow the band to feel more connected to the fans?
Well, it does in a sense. There is no "reply" feature on the blog, so it's a very one-sided connection for us. I do have two profiles on myspace.com though. One is a Phantom Planet band profile, which I maintain and the other is a ridiculous personal account that I have to keep in touch with fans, old friends, and anyone else really. What an addictive website that is. Our fans enjoy the fact that they can contact us directly, though I get tons of messages from people asking if it's really us. Yes everyone, we're big internet dorks. Especially me.