Multi-instrumentalist Stephen Philips has been a musician for 30 years. He founded Dark Duck Records in the late 80's as a way to expose his musical endeavors to the general public. Music has always been a way of life for Stephen. He began his musical sojourns at the age of 8 with the Clarinet. At the age of 13 his interest moved to the guitar, ...
show full description »
Multi-instrumentalist Stephen Philips has been a musician for 30 years. He founded Dark Duck Records in the late 80's as a way to expose his musical endeavors to the general public. Music has always been a way of life for Stephen. He began his musical sojourns at the age of 8 with the Clarinet. At the age of 13 his interest moved to the guitar, bass, piano, and synthesizer which led him into several pop bands through his late teens. He recorded 3 albums for the alternative/college band Troubled Thought before exploring electronic music in the early 90's. His fascination with the vast space of ambient music and an interest in the godfathers of ambient (Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, John Cage, etc.) led him into full-on experimentation with ambient music and an indepth study of the history, roots, and methods of ambient music composition.
His music places a strong emphasis on time and place, desiring to take the listener to a virtual location and/or to create an aural postcard or an aural description of a feeling or a mood evoked by a location.
To obtain his trademark sound, Stephen Philips uses a variety of synthesizers, samplers, and effects as well as a vast array of electronic and acoustic percussion instruments.
In the past he has rarely recorded under his own name rather choosing to record along side other artists under the names of Experimental Psychology, Excelsior, and Deep Chill Network. Most of Stephen's solo releases are very ambient, deep chill, and/or experimental. Some of his recordings are live performances, experimental soundscapes, and other ambient noodling. Some of them even started out as practice sessions & jams that were so good we just had to release them.
His music has been played on many radio stations around the world and has been featured on such radio programs as Stars End and Inner Space, EMUSIC, and many others. His music has also been reviewed and well received by many respected ambient and electronic magazines, including Deep Listenings, E.E.R., and Wind and Wire.
« hide full description
