Last weekend, the French masterminds that form Phoenix headlined the final day of  Lollapalooza 2013. Rolling Stones’ Dan Hyman wrote that Phoenix “delivered the best performance of the entire weekend” and that the band is “undeniably worthy of the massive stages ““ and dollars ““ they now command.”

Phoenix became a household name after their release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix in 2009. The band was propelled into the brightest spotlight with their irresistible hits “1901” and “Lisztomania.” They graced the stages of the world’s biggest music festivals. They won a Grammy. Wolfgang went certified gold. Read any interview with the band (starting with this one) and you can tell how deserving this talented group of lifelong friends is.

Now four years later, Phoenix has returned with Bankrupt! and more festival appearances.

Before their Chitown performance, we had the pleasure of speaking with bassist Deck d’Arcy. The heavily accented musician spoke about the band’s wildest purchase to date, being selfish in the studio, and how they still have a [healthy] fear of failure.

You headlined Glastonbury and Coachella this year. You’re gearing up for Lollapalooza, and a slew of other festivals including Austin City Limits, Leeds, and iTunes Festival. Do you still have an opportunity to play smaller shows?

Yeah, actually yeah. It’s pretty often that we play small shows and festivals. It’s exciting, playing a very small stage when the crowd is close. The problem with a big festival is the crowd is like 20 feet away from you and you can’t really see them, you know? A small crowd is a very different thing.

There’s a different approach to [both]. When you play a festival you kind of have to win the audience in a way, because half of them don’t really know who you are.