The Phantom of the Cineplex

The Phantom of the Cineplex is an Electronica band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 2008, the band had started producing its own music in Dan Raynard’s home bedroom. According to POTC their sound “integrated its influences like Daft Punk and 80’s rock with modern day Pop.”

Their debut self titled album, The Phantom of the Cineplex, was released September 22, 2008, with the follow up special release of Sleep on January 24, 2010.

The members of Phantom of the Cineplex, Raynard and Will Cotter, don’t want people confusing them with the “Disney movie you saw as a child on TV” Phantom of the Megaplex. They want to get crowds dancing with their “catchy lyrics” and “give fans a tangible feeling of excitement and urge to dance every time they hit the stage.”

Raynard attends Johns Hopkins University while Will Cotter goes to school at Interlochen Arts Academy, creating a dependence on digital production of their music in order to work together over a long distance. Raynard has produced the bands’ two albums out of Johns Hopkins University with the help of musicians he had met on campus including Erik von Heijne.

Popularity
            On the Internet, The Phantom of the Cineplex, can be found on five major websites publicizing their music including Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Myspace, and Purevolume. They can also be found on “the occasional music blogs like hypem.com and 8tracks.com.” The band can boast thousands of plays of their music and two albums on ITunes. Fans create several videos on youtube.com about a variety of different subjects, but all including POTC’s music. The Phantom of the Cineplex is also part of an online community of up and coming bands that is growing larger every day.

Cultural Significance
            A following has been created on the Internet supporting The Phantom of the Cineplex with original music videos. Also a community has been created throughout the bands websites of people communicating their love for POTC.
            A cult following has also appeared on the JHU campus of people that play and love The Phantom of the Cineplex’s music. People will play the bands music at parties and in their dorms rocking out and dancing to their music.

 

Questions

• How easily can a band produce music with all of technologies available today?
• If there are so many ways to become popular on the Internet, how does one stand out?
• Is gaining popularity on the Internet as a band legitimate compared with the old methods of music making?
• How does this online style of making music help expand new genres of music?