Phoebe Rings are in the middle of a whirlwind tour across America, bringing their blend of dream pop, disco-leaning basslines, and Kiwi humor to venues across the country. Before playing two nights at The Fillmore with The Beths, they hopped on air with Marcus Rosario for a lively chat about tour life, their musical superpowers, and why these shows have felt so special.
Transcript:
MARCUS: We are joined by two members of the awesome band Phoebe Rings here at KALW. Welcome. Can you introduce yourselves and share a little bit about who you are?
SIMEON: Hello. My name is Simeon. I play guitar and synth in the band. We are missing Crystal today because she is a little under the weather. She is our lead singer and the main keys player. And Alex is on drums. And in front of me I have...
BEN: I am Ben. I play the bass and do a little bit of singing from time to time.
MARCUS: Nice. You have been on tour with The Beths, opening for them. How has the tour been so far?
BEN: It has been excellent. Every show has been beautiful. I have been falling asleep with a Beths song in my head every night and waking up with one too. I cannot complain about that.
MARCUS: What cities have you hit so far?
SIMEON: Oh my God. Excuse me, I am still waking up. We got off the tour bus less than an hour ago. Let me think. We have had Asheville, Atlanta which was a Halloween show and really fun, then Nashville, Dallas, Austin...
BEN: Then Phoenix, Arizona.
SIMEON: Yes, Phoenix. Beautiful place. And last night we played in LA.
MARCUS: And now you are here with two nights at The Fillmore, tonight and tomorrow. How has it felt stepping into this tour with The Beths?
SIMEON: This is definitely the biggest scale thing we have done. It is the longest tour I have personally been on. And we have played with The Beths before. Our second ever gig was opening for them. So this feels like a real full circle moment. They have been big champions of ours and good friends. A lot of us even went to the same high school. It feels like a long time coming and every show has been lovely. I cannot see myself ever getting bored of doing this.
MARCUS: How about you, Ben?
BEN: Same as what Sim said. It has been super easy to get into the swing of things because we have such a great crew of lovely people. And getting to see so much of America, especially through the southern states, has been a real whirlwind.
MARCUS: What is the origin story behind Phoebe Rings? How did the band come together?
SIMEON: We have been together since 2020 and, like many bands, we had the whole COVID thing in the middle. We are all former university students. Crystal and Alex studied jazz and Ben and I studied songwriting. We had all been in each other’s circles for a long time. Crystal played in one of Alex’s solo projects. I got into the band by pestering Crystal. I went to one of her jazz gigs and told her, “Whenever you do something that is not jazz, I want to be involved.”
BEN: I similarly pestered Crystal. I was hanging out with Jon from The Beths and he described her demos as Cocteau Twins meets bossa nova with Gal Costa singing. I thought, those are words I like. So I reached out and we started chatting.
MARCUS: It sounds like things just developed naturally.
SIMEON: Pretty much. The Auckland music scene is not huge but it is very dense. Everyone plays in each other’s bands and everyone goes to each other’s gigs. There is basically one short street where all the venues are, so you are always bumping into someone.
MARCUS: Sounds like San Francisco.
SIMEON: Yes, I can imagine that.
MARCUS: Your music often gets described as dream pop with Korean influences. What shapes the band’s sound?
SIMEON: Speaking on behalf of Crystal, early on there was a big Stereolab influence and you can definitely hear that in the EP. Personally I love Beach House and Melody’s Echo Chamber, and those sounds seep into what we are doing.
BEN: We were all listening to a lot of city pop around the same time too. Going into the album, I was listening to a lot of disco like Chic, which inspired some basslines. And yes, Stereolab is definitely the meeting point for all of us.
MARCUS: I know you have all written songs for the album. What surprises you about each other’s songwriting?
SIMEON: There are fewer surprises now because we know each other so well, but at the same time the surprise is that there is still more to discover. We are starting to think about album two and sharing demos, and it feels like there is still so much further we can go. It does not end with one album or five years together. I am still surprised, and that is a lovely feeling.
BEN: Through the album process we identified different flavors or strengths. Someone might gravitate toward more abstract and textural songs, and someone else might lean toward a more structured pop approach. Going into the next album, figuring out how to blend those more intentionally is going to be really fun.
MARCUS: What would you say each of your musical superpowers are?
SIMEON: I am willing to take a song right up to the point of ruining it just to try something that has not been done. I love to experiment.
BEN: Sim is really great at arrangements and unique production ideas. They take things into really interesting territory and that pushes all of us in good ways.
SIMEON: We have a bit of a Power Rangers thing going on.
MARCUS: Maybe you will figure out which ranger you are by the end of tour.
SIMEON: Yes, that is the plan.
MARCUS: Since you are performing tonight and tomorrow, what is one thing you hope the crowd takes away from your set?
BEN: A t-shirt.
SIMEON: Matching ones. But honestly, there has been a theme of new parents bringing their kids to these shows. Beths shows are very kid friendly. The parents bring ear protection and they are always very cool. Out of seven shows, at five of them someone has told us it is their kid’s first ever gig. It is really sweet to see that passion for music passed to a new generation.
MARCUS: That is a beautiful energy.
MARCUS: Where can people find you online?
SIMEON: Instagram is easiest. That is the one I run, although I am not great at it. But yes,
BEN: And phoeberings.com.
SIMEON: Yes. Aside from being a fantastic lyricist, Ben is like a Swiss Army knife of tech. He built our website, made a video game that is on the site, and created music videos. You can go to our website and play the game he made.
MARCUS: I need to check that out. Anything you want to share with the Bay Area before we play the title track from your album?
SIMEON: If you do not have a ticket, even aside from us, The Beths put on one of the best shows you will see this year. You should absolutely come.
BEN: It is a truly heartwarming experience.
SIMEON: You will be beaming the whole time. I am smiling every night backstage.
MARCUS: Amazing. I will be there tomorrow night. Thank you both for coming to KALW and wishing you all the best on the rest of the tour.
SIMEON: Thank you. Thanks so much for having us.
MARCUS: And that was Simeon and Ben of Phoebe Rings here on KALW. We are going to hop into some music. Stay with us. This is KALW.
