Phil Interview

Interview with Phil over at ExitMusic Argentina.

Q: There are rumours that you are working on a solo project, produced by John McCusker. Is that true?

It's true that I've been working on solo material over the past year or so. I'm working with Ian Davenport. We've been working in the gaps in the Radiohead schedule - it's been quite a busy few years for the band so progress has been gradual.

Q: Can you give us some sort of update about where in the development process the album is?

Well, bar a few lyrics, all the songs are written. I'm getting together with some of the musicians from the Seven Worlds Collide project, later in the year, to record them all.

...

Q: What music excites the two of you right now?

Phil: Currently listening to The Hazards of Love by The Decembrists.

Julie Fowlis gains the best phan ever

Folk singer Julie Fowlis is lucky enough to get the Phil seal of approval, reports The Sentinel.

Girl from a small island proud to show off roots

Friday, October 31, 2008

With famous fans ranging from Ian Rankin to Jools Holland, BBC Radio 2's Folk Singer of the Year Julie Fowlis is sure to be a crowd pleaser at Biddulph Town Hall, writes Tamzin Hindmarch.

GROWING up on the small Outer Hebridean island of North Uist amid a Gaelic-speaking community, it's tempting to say Julie Fowlis had music in her blood from the start.

But the 29-year-old, who can also count Björk, KT Tunstall, Ricky Gervais, Radiohead's Phil Selway and Mark Radcliffe among her diverse range of famous fans, avoids over-romanticising her Scottish roots.

"I suppose, as any child would be, I was not really aware of what was around me at the time," she says.

"It's only as an adult, looking back, that I see my incredible upbringing differently and realise how instrumental it was in what I ended up doing in my life for a job.

"I was a bilingual child, always hearing the two languages, Gaelic and English, and singing or speaking in them at school and at home. And in our community especially, there is a lot of piping, so I started to play the chanter when I was very, very small before learning to play the full bagpipes.

"I didn't really think anything of it until I was much older and moved away and realised not everybody does that."

Entering national Gaelic singing competitions as a girl and singing at a ceilidh here and an old people's home there, she soon developed her voice, later gaining national recognition with the band Dòchas at the 2004 Scots Trad Music Awards in 2004, where she was also nominated for the Best Gaelic Singer award.

These early successes were only a taster of what was to follow.

In 2005, her first solo album, Mar a Tha Mo Chridhe (As My Heart Is) soon earned her international acclaim.

Meanwhile the 2007 follow-up, Cuilidh, became a worldwide bestseller in both the traditional and world music charts, earning her a nomination at the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Folk Singer of the Year – the title which this year she won.

Among the latest music that can be downloaded from her website today is the newly-released album Dual and her cover of the Beatles's Blackbird, recorded for Mojo Magazine.

With another full-length album in the pipeline and presenting slots on BBC Scotland's Travelling Folk and Global Gathering programmes, Julie has become something of an unwitting ambassador for both the kind of music she sings and the language she sings it in.

"It's very important that the Gaelic tradition is continued," she says.

"I feel quite frustrated that I went through the whole school system knowing very little about the language, where it came from and its history, and I think it's very sad, actually.

"I hope that's something that is going to change, and I think now is a very exciting time for the language.

"We are definitely on an upward curve, albeit still quite far down it.

"So I'm really happy if I can do anything that can further the language.

"It feels like a weight on my shoulders, in a good way, knowing that each time I go to a place and perform there will be people who have never heard it before. With that comes a responsibility to do right by it by presenting it in the right way."

Anyone curious to see who Phil's been praising, check out the singer's 2007 Jools Holland appearance over on youtube.

Phil dancing during webcast

Recently Radiohead did a webcast and it didn't surprise us Phillovers that after Phil did his DJ set people were talking about it around the world. Message boards, music sites and even newspapers showered him with praises.

Here's Phil dancing to Colin's set:

Cupcakes

Deerhoof are releasing their new album, 'Friend Opportunity' next week. Drummer Greg Saunier talked to JunkMedia about their tour with Radiohead last year. You have been playing quite a few high profile shows lately. What was it like for the band to open up for Radiohead?

Greg Saunier: "Everybody knows what an uncommon live group they are, and even with years of buildup and knowing there was no way they could live up to the legend, they were so much better than even my highest expectation that my whole outlook on the world had to be immediately revised. But what people might not know is that they are so great in person. All five of them, and everyone in their enormous crew, were all so sweet to us. They really supported our music. If one of John's pedals got busted, someone from their crew would immediately offer to help. Someone from the band watched us from the side of the stage almost every night. Phil brought us cupcakes. Jonny brought us champagne and offered to play on our album, until he heard some rough mixes and said it already sounded done. Jonny did our light show in Amsterdam. He even used the strobe light which wasn't allowed. Ed asked us how we got our guitar tone, [because] he wanted to steal it. When Radiohead had a night off in Dublin, and Deerhoof had our own show in a small club, how did Thom spend his free time? He came to our show and danced like crazy. Colin kept taking our picture and posting pictures of us on Radiohead's website, and he'd imitate Satomi's dance during their show. Jim Warren, who does their sound mix, said he'd be happy to do ours as well and went and studied one of our albums to research what we wanted our mix to sound like. I do not expect this sort of treatment from any band, let alone a band on the level of Radiohead. They are disproving every truism about how famous people are supposed to act, and that taught us a beautiful lesson."

We, from 'The Phillovers', knew Phil was an expert in the field of cupcakes. He often makes them for our Phillover Fan days. Those on that picture are the ones he made for our last meeting. Phil promised to bring the cupcakes for our next Phillover Fan days in Iceland. This will be the first fan meeting where the other Radiohead band members will be present.

Birthday

Dear Phil,

You might receive this after your birthday and we apologize deeply for that.

Because we know what honey means to you and because we know that other Radiohead members steal your honey when you're not there, we want to make sure you've got your honey always with you. That's why we give you this honey Phillovers T-shirt.

And remember: no matter how many radiohead members start drumming in your songs you will always be our one, true radiohead drummer!

The Phillovers

http://www.phillovers.blogspot.com