Drummer Darryl Dardenne offered up a historical definition of mod: "The original definition in the '60s was based on living well in difficult times. Basically, it's a bunch of bored working class kids who wanted to dress up sharply and play aggressive music."
The Phobes' music is not the band's only aggressive aspect, though, as these laid-back rockers play double duty as competitive businessmen, an occupation all too familiar for most DIY musicians, Litts said.
"We're both musicians and businessmen, but we prefer to be musicians," Litts said. "We can do all the promotion and distribution ourselves, but we have no desire to do it."
The Phobes formed its own record label, Beat Neat-O Records, to release its 1998 debut. However, when the band was picked up by a now-defunct New York label for its second release, Litts said band members felt relief and excitement to focus on writing and touring rather than on commercial concerns. When the label folded, The Phobes returned to DIY territory, from which the band recently released its third disc.
Over the past few months, the band cut back on live shows to focus its creative efforts entirely on writing and recording, but with the release of Fine Tune, The Phobes are back on the touring circuit, hitting up the D.C. scene as well as Philly and New York City venues.
"The D.C. crowds are not too animated," bassist Chadd Ritenbaugh said. "They're more serious, which is a challenge."
Ritenbaugh described incessant touring as necessary, exhilarating and totally, completely exhausting. "The hardest part about touring is getting enough sleep and staying healthy," he said. "The only part of the day that's really good is playing that 45-minutes-to-an-hour-long set. The rest is pretty rough, but it's all worth it when we play."
