The first thing you should know about Kyle Kaplan and Vinnie Pergola, the LA-based EDM duo collectively known as Phantoms, is that they know their way around Las Vegas. Artists and DJs with residencies on the Strip tend to move so fast from gig to gig, they rarely see much between the airport and their hotel.
But during our brief chat ahead of the duo’s Labor Day weekend show supporting Louis the Child at Resorts World’s Ayu Dayclub, Kaplan and Pergola drop a list of favored destinations that’ll scratch locals right where they itch.
There’s Chinatown’s Golden Tiki (“We’re into dive bars,” Kaplan says); Area15’s Oddwood bar (“We drink a lot,” Pergola cracks); Downtown fave Esther’s Kitchen (“Some of the best Italian food in Vegas,” Kaplan proclaims); and appropriately, Resorts World’s 66th floor Allē Lounge, previously Starlight on 66.
That last one, Pergola adds, might be high on the to-do list when Phantoms swings through town this weekend. But fans will get more from seeing the dance-music duo in its natural habitat, feeding the dayclub party with a curated set of personal favorites alongside recognizable Phantoms hits.
If the Ayu crowd is lucky, it’ll get a taste of Phantoms’ August sophomore album, This Can’t Be Everything, an LP conceived during the peak of the pandemic, when Kaplan and Pergola—much like the rest of us—were spending their days and nights isolated at home.
“We started right before [the pandemic] and wrote and finished it throughout,” Kaplan explains. “The ability to just be home and not know where things were going in the world freed us up to make something we want to make.”
Lockdown wasn’t the only thing fueling that creativity. For This Can’t Be Everything, Phantoms changed labels and teamed with Foreign Family Collective, the outlet formed by Odesza duo Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight.
Going independent put Phantoms in a “supportive ecosystem” surrounded by friends the pair had known for years and upon which they could rely for honest advice. It also gave Kaplan and Pergola an opportunity to co-write a lot of songs, strengthening their “personal attachment” to the material, Kaplan says, though the record also includes contributions from English singer Jem Cooke and producer Big Wild.
“We wanted to tell broad stories and not be too specific, so this is really unique and tells a story that flows together,” Pergola adds. “We also wanted [the record] to feel eclectic but have a unifying sound, with live instrumentation—more so than our previous stuff—so it’s not just a collection of beats.”
PHANTOMS With Louis the Child, Charly Jordan, September 4, 11 a.m., $30-$100+. Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.
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