Nepo Baby? Yup.
Let’s set the scene: Winter 1998. Los Angeles, California. The weather is uncharacteristically dreary, with constant rain and freezing temperatures. Alex Greenwald, Sam Farrar, Darren Robinson, Jacques Brautbar and Jason Schwartzman are meeting in one of their basements to write their first album, “Phantom Planet is Missing,” hoping to contrast the terrible weather with an overly cheerful and silly selection of songs.
Naming themselves after a 1961 B-movie called “The Phantom Planet,” Phantom Planet was formed in 1994 in then sunny Los Angeles. The band featured Greenwald as the lead vocalist and guitarist, Farrar as the bassist, Robinson as the backup guitarist, Brautbar as the keyboardist and Schwartzman on the drums. The band signed with Geffen Records in 1997 and released “Phantom Planet is Missing” the next year. After Geffen Records merged with Universal, they moved to Epic Records, where they released their next album: “The Guest,” in 2002. Their single “California” propelled the band into the spotlight after it was selected as the theme song for the show “The O.C.”
Touring for over 18 months as the headliner for some shows and as the opener for others, the band decided to get serious and develop their sound to something that they identified more with. Deciding to move towards a more authentic, garage rock sound, away from their “radio-friendly pop rock,” Greenwald said that he “…especially loved bands, like The Beatles, that changed with every single record they made. That’s been our plan from the get-go. We want our records to be like experiments. We want to have fun with the music. People can hear when you’re not having fun.”
Now, let’s get to our nepo baby: Mr. Schwartzman. During the recording of their third album, he left Phantom Planet to focus on his acting career. Soon after, he made his film debut in Wes Anderson’s 1998 film, “Rushmore” (which is quite a debut if I do say so myself). He appeared in six other Wes Anderson films: “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The French Dispatch” and “Asteroid City,” as well as co-writing “Isle of Dogs.” He has had roles in many other films too: “Marie Antoinette,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse” and more.
In 2007, he created his own solo music act, called Coconut Records, and released his first album, “Nighttiming,” which included appearances from Appearances from Zooey Deschanel and Kirsten Dunst. His second album was released in 2009 and was titled “Davy.” He also went on to perform the score for “Funny People” and the theme song for “Bored to Death,” as well as writing tracks for “Smallville” and “Slackers” and playing the drums for Phoenix’s cover of “Alone on Christmas Day” by the Beach Boys, which was featured in Bill Murray’s “A Very Murray Christmas.”
As good of an actor as Schwartzman is, you just can’t overlook that he did have his help getting into the industry. His father, Jack Schwartzman, was a film producer and his mother, Talia Shire, is an actress who played Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” Trilogy, as well as Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” series. Shire is also (notably) the sister of Francis Ford Coppola, the award-winning director of “The Godfather” trilogy, “Apocalypse Now” and “The Outsiders,” and the winner of five Academy Awards and six Golden Globes.
Now, this of course does not detract from Schwartzman’s career, but he has been provided with opportunities due to his familial connections, including his involvement in “Marie Antoinette,” which was directed by Sofia Coppola, the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola (aka his cousin). Additionally, the album cover for his album, “Nighttiming,” was made by Roman Coppola, the son of Francis Ford Coppola (aka his other cousin).
After Schwartzman left Phantom Planet, he was replaced by Jeff Conrad. The band went on to sign with Fueled by Ramen and released “Raise the Dead,” soon after going on hiatus from 2008-2019. Their first show was at “Hop Jam” Music and Beer Festival in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 19, 2019, and they released their first album after hiatus, “Devastator,” in 2020.
Essential Listens: “California,” “Somebody’s Baby,” “Do The Panic,” “Dropped”
