In Conversation: Michael Hanser of Phantom Bay
One of the brightest lights in hardcore's future, Phantom Bay's origin story is thoroughly modern—born under lockdown and emerging online. But Michael Hanser is ready to meet you now.
When I first started putting together a list of my three favorite hardcore songs of 2023 for a year-end review I was planning with Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré, the only question I really had was which Phantom Bay song would take the number-one slot. (“Airtight” won out, but “Collective Decline” was so close.) There are any number of reasons why this was surprising to me: Phantom Bay was a band that I’d only discovered in July from random playlist-surfing, I’d not yet heard of the label that released their debut album and last year’s incredible Underground EP, and most surprising to everyone I’ve played them for since—including my German friends—they were from Germany. And yet, in the end, they earned that position. Musically, lyrically, and even…