On August 30th, LA based indie–rockers Phantom Planet will perform at the Cotton Club and blast our east-coast ears with their energetic rhythms and addictive choruses. Guitarist Darren Robinson took some time to chat about life on the road for Phantom Planet ….

NH (Atlanta Music Guide): With Phantom Planet’s [3] albums progressing from exuberant and catchy indie pop to garage-fuzz college alternative, how do you find your audience reacting to the variety of styles that Phantom Planet performs?

DR (Darren from Phantom Planet): The reason our new record sounds so different is because when we toured for our second album [The Guest], we toured for 18 months straight and it kind of made us feel a little bit more aggressive. If you’re willing to [make the audience understand you], you have to be high energy and be somewhat aggressive, instead of being up there just looking down at your shoes. That’s where our new sound comes from. In my opinion, it’s where we’ve always wanted to be. You know our second album was pretty poppy ,and I really liked the music and all, but the way that we play the new record live- to me- it just feels like a rock show; it feels right. I feel like we are where we’re supposed to be.

NH: Is it tough for you as a band to forge ahead being a little more experimental every time when factors like fans or your label want to hold onto a certain sound or feel?

DR: It gets frustrating at times, and we wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t enjoy it so much. So when our next record comes out, and people are like "What the hell is this?" As long as we’re happy with it, that’s really the bottom line. We do want our fans to enjoy it as well, [but] we’re not going to start playing music just to cater to our fans.

NH: Would you say that touring really affects your growth musically and as a band?

DR: Absolutely, because when you go on tour, you kind of lose your mind. You never know what day it is ,nor what time it is. Everything just kind of blends into everything else. It all becomes surreal-l ike a dream, so when we play live together, that’s when we all really connect with each other. No matter how tired we are, we can all look at each other in the eyes while we’re playing and know we’re all on the same level

NH: Are your songs sometimes influenced by your touring environment or stimulated by bands you’ve been around?

DR: So many things can inspire what we write, but when we’re on the road, whether we’re together or separate, we’re always trying to listen to new music in an attempt to keep broadening our musical horizons, so to speak.

NH: Who have you been listening to as of late?

DR: A lot of Fugazi . I’ve also been listening to Bill Withers lately. We like listening to Blur , The Cardigans , My Bloody Valentine , Elliot Smith , Lighting Bolt and we’re really into this band called Deerhoof . I also love Miles Davis .

NH: Who have you enjoyed touring with?

DR: Before they were big, Maroon 5 . We played a bunch of shows with them. We’ve known them for 10 years or so. There’s a band called Mellowdrone we recently toured with, and they’re amazing. They put on a great show, and they’re really nice guys.

NH: Is there any band you’d want to tour with?

DR: Yes! We’d actually like to tour with The Hives . In Tokyo, we played the Summer Sonic festival and played just before The Hives . They were awesome live! I think it would be incredible to tour with them. Despite the way they are on stage, they were very friendly and really proper and polite.

NH: Are there any things you need on the road that you can’t live without?

DR: Computers. We’re all computer dorks. Especially as far as e-mail is concerned, we do our best to keep up with it.

NH: You and Alex are unusually dedicated to your blog and tour diaries (posted on Phantomplanet.com). Is it difficult to find time to always document what goes on from city to city?

DR: When we’re absolutely sleep deprived and just completely out of our minds- that’s when we write. The entry times are always pretty late. We love writing when we’re not fully there [mentally]. It makes for more interesting reading!

NH: Having come up with the name Phantom Planet at a Pizza Hut nearly 11 yrs.ago, do you find yourselves having other creative communication at the proverbial dinner table when touring, or is it every man for himself?

DR: It’s usually every man for himself. More so because everybody has such different eating habits. For example, Alex is a very strict vegan. Jeff will eat some meat but he’s pretty vegetarian. I’m a pretty finicky eater and Sam will eat just about anything. If it’s edible and it’s in front of him, he’ll eat it! We do have a brotherly kind of relationship and even if we get together more for a meeting and not so much for eating, we take advantage of the time we have and share that time together.

Stay tuned for more from Phantom Planet , as they'll be invading the Cotton Club along with female rockers The Like on August 30th! www.phantomplanet.com