Simon Phillips (drummer)

For other people named Simon Phillips (drummer), see Simon Phillips (drummer) (disambiguation).

Simon Phillips

Simon Phillips (born February 6 1957, in London, England) is a prolific English jazz and rock drummer.

Career

He gained early prominence as the drummer on the acclaimed 1976 LP 801 Live with Phil Manzanera and Eno. He went on to play with a wide array of musicians including The Who, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Big Country, Toto, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce, Brian Eno, Duncan Browne, Toyah, Mike Oldfield, Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Gary Moore, 10cc, Mick Jagger, Ph.D., Mike Rutherford, Phil Manzanera, John Wetton, Asia, Stanley Clarke, Derek Sherinian, Nik Kershaw, and Jordan Rudess.

He was the drummer for The Who in their 1989 American reunion tour, and appeared on solo recordings by band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend. He has also worked with heavy metal act Judas Priest on Sin After Sin (1977) and Michael Schenker's debut album The Michael Schenker Group.

Phillips has played on, co-produced, and mixed four Derek Sherinian solo records - Inertia (2001), Black Utopia (2003), Mythology (2004) and Blood of the Snake (2006). He also co-produced and mixed two albums by Mike Oldfield. Phillips also appeared with Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and others in the video for the 1983 A.R.M.S. concert benefit for Ronnie Lane. In the late 1980s, Phillips formed part of RMS with fellow session musicians, Mo Foster and Ray Russell.

Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He quickly became a sought-after session player and in 1992, he released two instructional videos displaying some of his best work.

He has released four studio albums of varying styles.

In 2006, Phillips released a DVD with his jazz band, Vantage Point, called Resolution with writer and pianist Jeff Babko, trumpeter Walt Fowler, saxophonist Brandon Fields and bassist Alphonso Johnson.

Joining Toto

In 1992, Phillips joined American group Toto, replacing Jeff Porcaro after his sudden death. He was the first and only drummer that the band contacted to replace Porcaro.

Nicknamed "Si-Phi" or "Si" by his bandmates in Toto, Simon is noted to be the group's 'technical' guru; handling the engineering duties on both the 2002 Through the Looking Glass and 2006 Falling In Between albums. He also engineered the 1999 Livefields album, and the Live in Amsterdam DVD from 2003.

Style

Phillips' trademark is his precise, creative and very dramatic style. His fills often begin earlier than is expected, often beginning on the "2-and" and continuing to build until "1" of the next bar. His use of metric modulation is notable, and he often uses it to build tension in sections of songs with repeated chord progressions. He often uses double bass drums in the context of a fill.

Phillips has been an endorser of Tama drums for many years. His carefully tuned and dynamic drum sound is highly identifiable, and he uses large drums and incorporates octobans and a gong drum in his kit.

Noted for his versatility, Phillips plays diverse styles, including rock, fusion, metal, prog, and jazz. He also plays open-handed, meaning that he plays the hi-hat with his left hand and the snare with the right, not crossing his hands. The ride cymbal is also played left instead of right. However, when playing jazz music, he switches to playing the traditional method with the hi-hat and ride.

Discography

Solo albums

• Protocol (1988)
• Force Majeure (1992)
• Symbiosis (1995)
• Another Lifetime (1997)
• Out of the Blue (1999)
• Vantage Point (2000)

Drum Equipment

Phillips is not known for changing his drum set-up too often but in 2006, he did in fact change it for the Toto Falling In Between Tour:

• ProMark "Simon Phillips" Drum Sticks
• Tama "Monarch" Signature Snare Drum
• Tama 12" Signature Wooden Snare Drum
• 2 Iron Cobra Kick Pedals
• Iron Cobra Hi-hat Stand
• Tama Drum Rack System
• Tama Starclassic Tom 7 x 10"
• Tama Starclassic Tom 9 x 12"
• Tama Starclassic Tom 10 x 13"
• Tama Starclassic Tom 11 x 14"
• Tama Starclassic Tom 12 x 15"
• Tama Starclassic Tom 13 x 16"
• Tama Starclassic Gong Drum 20"
• 4 Tama Octobans, Low Set
• Tama Drum Throne
• Zildjan A 14" Custom Hi-hats
• Zildjian 12" Special Recording Hi-hats
• Zildjan A 19" Custom Crash
• Zildjan A 18" Custom Crash
• Zildjan A 17" Custom Crash
• Zildjan A 22" Oriental China "Trash"
• Zildjan A 20" Oriental Classic China
• Zildjan A Custom 22" Ride
• Zildjan A Custom 12" Splash
• Zildjan Proto Type Sound Lab 19"
• Zildjan Proto Type Sound Lab 18"
• Zildjan Proto Type Sound Lab 17"
• Zildjan Proto Type Sound Lab 14"
• 2 Tama Starclassic Bass drum 16 x 24" with 2 Beta 52 microphones
• Plywood Custom Drum Plinth

External links

• Simon Phillips official website
• Simon Phillips Chronology & Releasography Site