Phantoma! A four-piece hardcore-emo band local to Stockton, debuted an EP titled “White Lies and Goodbyes” on April 20.
The band was started in 2022 by members Donny Cordova (lead and rhythm guitar/vocals), Noah Leyva (scream vocals), Malice Perez (bass guitar) and Delta student Keanu Paler (drums).
“I’ve known Donny since high school,” said Leyva. “Kiwi (Paler) and Donny have known each other since elementary school.”
Perez joked with Cordova: “Oh my God, I’ve known you for 10 years!”
According to the band, the project was created with recording-engineer, producer and close-friend of the band Josh Bernstein over the course of two years.
“He [Bernstein] really wants to see and hear the best of the band, as much as we do,” said Perez.
With a strong creative dynamic at its core, the band encourages experimentation and cross-pollination of skill sets which are shared between members.
“As a band, we’re trying to bring out the best in each other,” said Cordova. “I’ve been learning drums to better understand Kiwi’s perspective [on songwriting].”
Their song “A Body At Winco is Standard” features call and response vocals between Leyva and the band member that alternates between stomping vocal cadences and fast-paced delivery.
“We had the instrumental done [for ‘Body At Winco’] and I wrote the lyrics all in one day … sometimes I have bad writer’s block, but if I can sit down with a song on repeat I can get it done, like ‘OK, I got this!,’” said Leyva.
Tracks like “I’m Sorry Honey, You Couldn’t Have Known The Sound Of Popcorn Would Make Me Upset” balance heavy subject matter with humor, relating PTSD experiences to a military veteran character in the Stardew Valley PC game.
“The title for ‘I’m Sorry Honey …’ was actually my girlfriend’s idea,” Cordova explained. “It was a reference to a line from the game [Stardew Valley] but we also wanted to implement elements of personal experiences in a way more people could relate to.”
Hardcore and emo music embodies a broad range of genre influences ranging from black metal to pop-punk; the bread and butter of this project is the fluid blend of genres in pursuit of a dynamic listening experience that keeps the energy flowing throughout the tracklist.
“I grew up drumming pop-punk and jazz,” said Paler. “I learned how to improvise from my jazz band class [at Delta] and it makes me more creative!”
By borrowing fundamentals from jazz and theatre, Phantoma! is capable of putting on a live performance that isn’t afraid to layer elements of improvisation and dance over the structure of studio recordings.
“I think we just wanna bring out the energy in people … we choreograph and rehearse some moves for our shows,” said Perez. “We all grew up with performing arts” Cordova added, to which Perez teased him with “THEATRE KID!”
Phantoma! is playing a show at The Hatch Workshop in Stockton at 6:30 p.m. on May 10. Fans can show support by purchasing stickers and T-shirts. Listeners can find “White Lies and Goodbyes” on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube and Bandcamp where they can also find links to the band’s merch.
