VIDEO: INTERVIEW – Phantoms Talk Acting Origins, Musical Influences

Dark pop duo Phantoms, Kyle Kaplan and Vinnie Pergola, started out working in Hollywood at an early age as child actors, working on various television shows and in commercials. Although they had some success, they grew weary of the acting scene and focused on their passions for making music, that first started out with bands inspired by the populist funk they’d grown up around—Pergola’s father and accomplished rhythm guitarist in numerous outfits and Kaplan’s uncle Rory handled keyboards for Michael Jackson during the Bad era. It wasn’t long until the two discovered electronic music and delved into the likes of Daft Punk and the Ed Banger Records crew, inspiring the duo to form Phantoms. First getting into the DJ scene where they met an unknown DJ Skrillex at the time, it didn’t take long until Phantoms started producing their own music. “We’re constantly striving to instill a sense of class back into dance music” says Pergola. “We want to craft a performance and actually make it a show. It’s more than just track after track and drop after drop. We aim high to take our audience on an elaborate journey into the night”.

Phantoms recently released an EP, which features the tracks “Voyeur” and “Broken Halo” that will be featured on their forthcoming full-length debut. B-Sides On-Air met up with the duo during their recent San Francisco tour stop to talk about their origins, working with the likes of Joe Pesci and Miley Cyrus, as well as their musical influences and charter as Phantoms.