PHNTMS: Rock Music with a Queer Message

Philadelphia-based band PHNTMS likes to create music that is bursting with vast soundscapes and colliding instrumentation.

Sitting somewhere between arena rock and the classic sound of 1960s soul singers, Alyssa Gambino, Adam Jessamine, Mikal Smith, and Gene Murphy are bringing back rock music while putting their own, unique stamp on it. Inspired by everyday situations like relationships and growing up, PHNTMS aims to create a feeling that listeners can easily relate to. Plus, with half of the members of the band identifying as queer, they also hope their music creates a safe space for the LGBTQ community.

PHNTMS has seen success by opening for acts including Kings of Leon, Bastille, Half Noise, Pale Waves, and Fitz & The Tantrums.

OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat with Murphy, the band’s drummer, and talk about how PHNTMS came to be, the messages the band hopes send, and how they have been holding up during these difficult times of COVID.  Hi, Gene! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about PHNTMS. Can you begin by telling us how you first got started into making music, and how did the band form?
Personally, I grew up surrounded by music. My dad was a drummer; my sister started playing, and then, I finally started to play. My family has always liked music, and it was a pretty big influence on my life. Then, with PHNTMS, Alyssa and I were initially in a band together.

Adam, the guitar played, reached out to Alyssa and was like, I am trying to form this band called PHNTMS, and we need a singer. At the time, they had a drummer. So, Alyssa joined, and that was last September. In December, the drummer left, so Alyssa was like, do you want to try out for this band? You would be a great fit. I tried out, and that was it. It all went up from there.

What are some of the major themes and issues that you tackle in your music?
Definitely relationships. The ebb and flow of relationships, the good and bad, breakups, fights, and falling in love. Then more specifically, queer relationships. How lesbians and nonbinary identifying people navigate through relationships different than cis or heterosexuals. Queer relationships and how to deal with that stuff is pretty big in our music.

What message do you want to get out to the queer community, and how do you mostly want to connect with them?
We definitely want to represent them with our music. We want them to feel seen and heard. Personally, for me, that was very important while I was growing up and not out. Seeing someone, and hearing someone’s music, and knowing that I am not alone in how I feel. That is super important to us. We want to support communities in that way. Even if their family or friends do not know, or they do not feel validated by certain people, we want to hear them. We want to see them and hope we help them feel valid. We want that to translate through our music.

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Do you have any projects you are currently working on and want to promote?
We released a single called “Towers” earlier this year, so we are still pushing that right now. We hope everyone listens to it, shares it, and gives us feedback. We also released a music video a little bit before that for another single called “Back Burner,” and we released our self-titled EP that includes those two singles. Once everything settles with quarantine, hopefully we can get out and play some shows. We miss playing live so bad.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your plans as a band?
It has not hindered us in releasing stuff, but unfortunately, we have not been able to get together and see each other because Alyssa actually works at a hospital, so we want to keep everyone safe. We have not been able to get together and practice, so that has been a hit for us. We continue to talk and text constantly, and releasing stuff has not been affected, but trying to put new content together has been a struggle.

What are you most looking forward to when you can kind of get back to that sense of normalcy?
Playing together and playing for people. We really miss playing shows, seeing everyone, and interacting with our fans. Hopefully, we can tour here and there, but there is so much we are looking forward to once this is all over.What are your plans further down the line?
We will continue to write and release stuff. I don’t think we are going to do a full-length album, but we will keep doing singles and Eps. Then touring is definitely one of our biggest goals.

What message do you think is most important to share with the queer community, especially during these weird times?
So much. Besides what I was saying before, we just want to help people feel seen and heard. If you cannot be there for someone or you cannot be there for yourself, I think it is very important that we reach out and extend to other people, especially now since there is a lot of isolation going on.

People are being left to their own devices, and mental health may not be the best right now. So, that is our biggest message. If you need to reach out, reach out. If you can extend a hand and reach out, be that person. It is so important right now during isolation to make sure queer people feel like they are not alone, and they can talk to someone.

To stay up-to-date with PHNTMS, follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or visit their official website. Their music is available on all digital streaming platforms.

Photos courtesy of Facebook