Before Phantogram became one of the most critically acclaimed electronic rock acts of the 2010s, Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter were childhood friends from Greenwich, New York, New York. The two met in preschool, grew up together in the Spa City, and eventually began making music under the name Charlie Everywhere, performing around the Saratoga Springs area and releasing two EPs on the local Sub-Bombin Records label. Their early sound was rough-hewn but unmistakably original, and the local scene that nurtured them would prove to be the foundation of everything that followed.
From a Barn in Upstate New York to the Billboard Charts
Phantogram’s origin story is as distinctly Upstate as it gets. The duo wrote and recorded in a remote barn called Harmony Lodge in the hills outside Saratoga Springs, crafting a sound that fused trip-hop, dream pop, shoegaze, and electronic production into something entirely their own. The name Phantogram itself comes from an optical illusion in which two-dimensional images appear three-dimensional — a fitting metaphor for the layered, immersive sonic worlds they build. After signing with UK label Barely Breaking Even (BBE) in 2009, they officially adopted the Phantogram name and began their ascent.
Their debut album, Eyelid Movies (2010), earned underground buzz and critical praise, establishing their blueprint of Barthel’s ethereal vocals floating over Carter’s heavy, textured production. But it was their second record, Voices (2014), released on Republic Records, that brought mainstream attention. Singles like “Fall in Love” and “Nothing But Trouble” dominated alternative radio, and their collaboration with Big Boi of OutKast on the joint project Big Grams further expanded their reach into hip-hop and electronic audiences. The partnership demonstrated a creative fearlessness that has defined their career — a willingness to follow the music wherever it leads.
Critical Mass and Artistic Evolution
Phantogram’s third album, Three (2016), debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on Billboard Top Album Sales — numbers that would have been unthinkable for an electronic duo from Saratoga Springs just a few years earlier. The single “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” cracked the Top 10 on the US Alternative chart. The album was written during an extraordinarily difficult period, as Barthel dealt with the loss of her sister, lending the material an emotional weight that resonated with audiences and critics alike.
Subsequent releases Ceremony (2020) and Memory of a Day (2024) continued to evolve their sound while maintaining the atmospheric intensity that defined them from the start. Across five studio albums and relentless touring — including sets at Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo — Phantogram has remained rooted in the creative DNA of Upstate New York. They are proof that world-class art can emerge from a barn in the foothills of the Adirondacks, and they carry the spirit of Saratoga Springs onto every stage they command.