Phantom High is a Horror Alternative/Glam Metal band based in Toronto, Canada. The band, fronted by vocalist Peril Erinyes, has recently released a new single ‘Black Divine’, with a music video that was initially premiered on Metal Injection and is now available on YouTube.
We interviewed Peril Erinyes, vocalist of Phantom High, and asked her about her music, band news, and plans for the future among other usual fun stuff.
Interview
Hello Peril! How are you and the other members of Phantom High doing during this annoying pandemic?
We are holding it down, just trying to figure out what being in a band means in 2021! Overall we are doing well, we are all introverts for the most part, so the “I Am Legend” lifestyle is fine. Lot’s of time to self loathe and turn it into cathartic anthems LOL.
You released a music video for Black Divine a few weeks ago. How are you feeling about the reaction of the fans to your song and video?
It’s great! It’s a weird time for music, there is a dynamic disconnection from music right now in some ways, lots of world events, and a critical derailment of the way bands were going about doing what they do. With that in mind, it’s not too shabby for our first video effort! Many people like the theatrics and the ironic pop aspects, and of course there are a few who see a mask and swipe left. Haha.
You have a very interesting approach to Metal. How would you describe your approach to someone who hasn’t heard your music yet?
I loved all the pop covers done by heavy bands in the 00’s, I thought hey instead of blowing out pop songs written by pop artists, what if we wrote our own pop songs and blew them out ourselves? So that’s kind of what we do!
We have a tradition to play a game with our interviewees to get our readers to see their imaginative and fun side. I will give you a situation in an alternate universe and you have to use your imagination and react. Ready?
LET’S GO!!
In a universe where you’re the vocalist of a Jazz band, what would be your band’s name?
Chick Corea? Hahaha -Felonious Monk, Defiles Davis, I’ve got a bunch, I’m here all week- literally!
That’s brilliant 😂 In a universe where the currency is the person’s sense of humor, how rich would you be?
Wow, I’d be wealthy, Baroness status for sure, Amazon money! I read that the angry people are often funny, I guess that makes sense, I’ve no shortage of sarcasm, I’m kind of like K-2SO from Rogue One.
In a universe where a zombie apocalypse occurred, which fellow Phantom High member would you take with you to hunt zombies down and what weapon would you take with you?
Seven is my bff and we work well together, so I would team up with her. Well, guns run out of bullets, so I think I’ll take Michonne’s lead from Walking Dead, and carry a big Samurai sword or machete! Chop chop!
That sound epic! In a universe where the senses of taste and hearing are mixed up, what would Phantom High’s music taste like?
A coke float! I don’t know why exactly, but that was so quick to jump in my head.
In a universe where music is illegal, and anyone caught listening to music would be sent to jail for a number of years equal to the number of hard copy albums they possess, how many years would you be sentenced?
So at one point in my late teens, I had two full garbage bags of CDs, I partied a lot, and they had a tendency to wind up rolling around on the floor of my car along with gods know what else! So I would have done consecutive life sentences for sure- now I have a few CD books, but my music is mostly on hard drives.
Thank you for playing!
My Pleasure!!
Have you ever been treated with sexism?
There is a lot of misogyny in music, metal is thick with it, the world is thick with it. (That is not to say that there isn’t way more good than bad, I believe that there is more good than bad, it’s just the bad that sticks out.) You can see it rampant in comment sections where there are women subjectively featured. I get the frustration with sex over substance, it’s a thing, but like every single other thing in the world, it’s not a Boolean binary “1 or 0”. Lazy minds don’t like to think, they want everything “yes or no”, and so you get a lot of people who see someone is attractive, and immediately they are targeted as a hack, because “if they were good they wouldn’t need to be attractive” I guess? That seems to be the rationalization if there is one, OR it’s just blatant misogyny. Again, because the new era is all about disclaimers, I don’t believe these people are the majority, they are the minority, but the negativity they emit resonates in our consciousness.
How would you react to discrimination and what advice do you give our young readers who face any form of discrimination due to their gender, race, sexuality or anything else?
Well, we get that from all sides a lot of it hinges on the current politicization of issues unrelated to politics like gender, women’s rights, racial equality, you name it! You have to realize you don’t deserve to be addressed or treated in a discriminatory fashion for how you look, your gender, your identity, or your sexuality. There are unfortunately people who lack critical thinking and empathy in this world, they will come for you, but you must realize they are projecting their ignorance and ugliness onto you. Be aware, be vigilant, be proactive, but don’t feel you need to bear that burden, do not let that negativity drag you under. That’s how they win.
These are great words. After releasing this single, are you planning for a bigger release like an album or an EP soon?
I think we would very much like to! Likely an EP or series of singles. Full length albums are something I would love to do one day, with a producer and all of that, but at this current time, I think the way music is best consumed is in small bites!
Thank you for the interview Peril! It was an honour!
The honour was all mine! Thank you for having me in!!
