California
Phantom Planet formed in Los Angeles in 1994, named after a 1961 science fiction B-movie of the same title. Their original drummer was Jason Schwartzman, who made his film debut in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore in 1998, the same year the band released its first album on Geffen Records. Within a few years, Geffen folded into Universal. The band signed with Epic Records and went back to writing.
Their second album, The Guest, came out in February 2002. Mitchell Froom produced it after his daughter Charlotte caught one of their shows and recommended him. The song “California” was written as a road-trip fantasy, set on U.S. Route 101 and headed to a concert. “California” carries co-writing credits for the estates of Joseph Meyer and B.G. De Sylva, whose 1921 tune “California, Here I Come” echoes through the opening line and chorus. Roman Coppola, Schwartzman’s cousin, directed the music video.
Fox selected “California” as the theme for The O.C. when the show launched in 2003. The exposure transformed the song’s profile. On a 2005 re-release, it reached No. 2 in Italy and No. 3 in Austria. In the UK it peaked at No. 9. Both the Recording Industry Association of America and the British Phonographic Industry certified it Gold. Schwartzman had left the band in May 2003 to pursue his acting career, just before “California” found the global audience it would earn through The O.C.
“A gem, with sunny three-part harmonies and songs that sound familiar in the best way.”
The band went on hiatus in 2008 and reunited in 2019 after an 11-year break. As of 2026, Phantom Planet is working on its sixth studio album. “California” still leads Phantom Planet’s Last.fm rankings more than two decades after it was written, with four of the top ten most-played spots held by different versions of the same song.