Simon Phillips

Hey guy's I play in a band called SAGA and we just did a co-bill with TOTO in Puerto Rico!
It was amazing, the promotor put both bands up at a 5 star resort right on the beach for a week!
Anyway I got to meet and hang with Simon and Lukather, Porcaro...
Simon is a super cool dude and I got to stand right behind him during his drum solo and it was brilliant!!!!
It was interesting because that band used to be all A list studio guy's but have to live on the road now because there's no studio work anymore.
Mike Porcaro said he used to do 2 or 3 sessions a day but now might do that a month.
He also told me over 250 studios in LA have closed in the last few years.
Anyway I have some great pic's of Simons green monster kit but don't no how to add them to this post!
If anybody want's to see them and can tell me how to add photos i'll post them.
Later.

C

Saga? Damn! You guys played my high school back in 1980! I jammed with Jim Gilmour a few times too. I love that first record especially.

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Originally posted by gluelegg:
Hey guy's I play in a band called SAGA and we just did a co-bill with TOTO in Puerto Rico!
It was amazing, the promotor put both bands up at a 5 star resort right on the beach for a week!
Anyway I got to meet and hang with Simon and Lukather, Porcaro...
Simon is a super cool dude and I got to stand right behind him during his drum solo and it was brilliant!!!!
It was interesting because that band used to be all A list studio guy's but have to live on the road now because there's no studio work anymore.
Mike Porcaro said he used to do 2 or 3 sessions a day but now might do that a month.
He also told me over 250 studios in LA have closed in the last few years.
Anyway I have some great pic's of Simons green monster kit but don't no how to add them to this post!
If anybody want's to see them and can tell me how to add photos i'll post them.
Later.

C

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Simon is a 'MONSTER', it's so cool that you got to hang with him, Luke and Mike Porcaro! I met 'Simon' at NAMM and man, what a nice person he is on top of being a World Class Player and one of my favorte drummers.
BTW are you Christian? I saw you guys about a month ago and really enjoyed the show ! I've been a 'SAGA' fan for 20 some years. [img]smile.gif[/img]

ya, i'm Christian.
What show were u at?
I forgot to add I was also talking with Simon's drum tech who has teched Vinnie for years and said he was very demanding and could be quite intimidating!
Anyway he did say it was pretty ridiculous to be able to watch Vinie every night!!!!!

I've been framed! I've been framed again!

Hey, I have to say that Chick Corea Electric band ripped off your guitar/keys unison sound, among other things.

Worlds Apart is one of my favorite albums.

Great Si/Toto story.

Yeah, I still have Worlds Apart [on VINYL] AW...dig it. [img]cool.gif[/img]

Those 16th gtr/keyb unison lines made the hits On the Loose [AWA Wind Him Up, to a lesser degree] extremely memorable & were instantly recognizable. The band had a unique sound for the time period, no doubt. And still, I would imagine. Compared to some of the so-called pop-rock music out today, I would imagine it would be a fresh sound NOW [?]...

Need to eventually get it on disc tho... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

How are the audiences for those gigs? Cool, I bet...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 10, 2005 04:57 PM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

The audiences are amazing!
A lot of people have been following this band for 27 years and they have I think 20 plus albums which is extraodinary.
The band hasn't been in the US for years and years but still has a very strong fanbase in Europe.
The crowds expect a good show and they respond with much love!!!
I'm having a blast playing with these guy's.
We do soft seaters on our own from 2000 to 5000 and do a lot of festival dates.
We did one last summer in Holland for about 25,000 with YES, the G3 tour(Vai, Satriani, Fripp)Judas Priest etc....

Gluelegg........
What happened to Steve Negus?
lol.........you and I have both been doin the dino ock gigs.........lol
I have some great shots and mpgs form hangin with Deen Ccastronovo while i was playing with Rough Trade in winnipeg.......
Very cool.......
any To dates or is it mainly Germany?

Worlds Apart is a great album, on the last tour we played the whole album in it's entirety.
I've only been in the band for a couple of years so I had to learn the whole album and I had forgotten how much I used to like it. It was easy to learn because I knew so much of it from 20 years ago!

Glueleg,

Wow, I'm a HUGE Saga fan. I can't remember the original drummers name, but wasn't he a lefty? Do you pull out any electric drums for some of the old hits? Are most of the band members still original, or has the group changed?

Danny

Hey guy's, Steve Negus SAGA's original drummer just decided to hang em up!
I guess the touring was to much of a grind.
Anyway the rest of the band are all the original guy's!
The show we did with G3 I hung out with Vai's drummer Jeremy Colson(not Virg but still a fine drummer)don't know who was with Satch and Fripp was solo, no band and his show was the weirdest thing ever(I love him but the guy's a freak).
The closest thing to electric drums I play is an octopad thank u very much!
Hey ntbcreative how cold is it in Winterpig!!!LOL
Anyway DINO ROCK RULES!!!

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We did one last summer in Holland for about 25,000 with YES, the G3 tour(Vai, Satriani, Fripp)Judas Priest etc....

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Now that's "righteous"...whuddup. [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Playing &/or hangin' w Alan White, & I'm guessing Jeff Campitelli w Satch...is Bob Jarzombek[?!] still w Priest? & do you know who was w Fripp, perhaps Mastelotto?
...Eh, enough w the "fan-based" questions...I'm still a fan [read: geek] AWA a player...word. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

...& then, w Toto & Si.

Anyhow, that's 2-Kewl. [img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 11, 2005 12:22 AM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

Yeah, Colson's solid in that gig [img]cool.gif[/img] ...[& Virg is a haaarrrd act to follow]... [img]wink.gif[/img]

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DINO ROCK RULES

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ha ha
2nd that! [often]... [img]cool.gif[/img]

Noooooo...Fripp, strange?! [img]wink.gif[/img]
You'd never guess by his music... [img]tongue.gif[/img]
But then [for you Carl Sagan-style philosophers], what IS "strange"?] J/K [img]wink.gif[/img]

Obviously Si is past the whole illness scenario & everything is cool now, eh? That's a good thing...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 11, 2005 03:48 PM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

My friend Bob Witzling toured with Simon Phillips recently and said that he was an amazing drummer.

I've only ever really seen his playing on the Zildjian Day Video and a small clip of some Toto gigs. He looked like he smoked!

He's was out of action for a while wasn't he?

MP

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Originally posted by Groovemeister:
He's was out of action for a while wasn't he?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yep, he was quite ill around the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. Ricky Lawson depped for him in Toto.

I first saw Simon on the Jeff Beck "There and Back" tour at the Manchester Apollo in (wait for it) 1981 or something. He was f-word extraordinary even then. He'd stand up off his throne at the end of fills around the kit, lots of excitement. Fast forward to June last at the RAH, where I caught him again after a gap of a mere 23 years.

I think he'd been playing a bit in the meantime. [img]wink.gif[/img] But now he's an old man like me [img]eek.gif[/img] , he's a little more ... measured, shall we say, in his style.

Moose,

What exactly was wrong with him matey? I'm assuming he's all fixed up now right?

MP

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Originally posted by Groovemeister:
What exactly was wrong with him matey? I'm assuming he's all fixed up now right?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It was never made clear. Yes, as far as I know he's in good fettle now.

From what i read somewhere, 'Si' was suffering from 'Chronic Fatigue'. He was probably overworked with touring and studio work. Let's not forget that he's become a great and in demand record producer and mixer as well as being one of the top drummers in the world !

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ March 11, 2005 09:50 PM: Message edited by: Blue Tav ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 11, 2005 09:50 PM: Message edited by: Blue Tav ]</font>

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'Chronic Fatigue'

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Whoah.

Well, I guess some of us just "ain't quite kids anymore, is we" [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img] ...[what with all that testosterone & whatnot...that stuff starts wars, y'know...] [img]wink.gif[/img]

Si rox. Best to him. [img]cool.gif[/img]

Pic of the Great Simon...

http://www.riffi.com/images/Simon08.jpg

Don't know when that pic was taken, but...it's good to see he packed away those octabans...

They were cool & all, but aft awhile, the sound of them got a little on my nerves [too much usage]...kind of like PMetheny w that synth-horn gtr patch, & AllanH w that synthaxe...[maybe even Futureman w those triggered drumatar sounds, even tho he's bloody fantastic at it] [img]wink.gif[/img]

...I'd rather hear T-Boz's, Scheuerell's [or Nick Mason's-Time!] rotos sound any day [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] ...JMO

- Si's 1st solo disc, "Protocol" '88 [w the title tune & "V-8"]; JBeck's There & Back; & also PTownshend's "Give Blood" from White City = [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 13, 2005 03:29 PM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

I'm wondering if I didn't hear Simon say recently that the octobans will be back, and that the timbale was just temporary.

I know what you mean, Fuse, but comparing Si's use of octobans to Metheny's use of that synth-horn-thingy almost feels like blasphemy! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
(I soo wish that instrument had never been invented!)

Btw, Simon is in the studio with Toto now, and I'm a bit excited about that (being a big fan of Luke's guitar playing). According to Luke's website, it's going to be a great record. (However, I think that's what they said about 'Through the Looking Glass' too...)

The octabons are not gone permanently. In fact, he sometimes plays 'em with his feet these days.

what can you say about Simon one of a kind

i still remember when i heard for the first his playing on Space Boogie (Jeff Beck's There&Back) http://smilies.sofrayt.com/^/aiw/swoon1.gif

couple of videos
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers..._Phillips.html

his website is pretty informative http://www.simon-phillips.com/
From his site
"Question:
Your drum performance on Jeff Beck's "Space Boogie" I feel is one of the most intense and definitive displays of fusion drumming that exists, extremely influencial and a landmark piece of drum work. In the studio, about how many takes did you need to do before getting the keeper take for that song? How much "comping" and punching-in was done on those drum tracks?

Simon:
Thanks for the kind words. From my recollection that take was the second one we played. No fixes or drop ins. I think Mo (Bass) may have had a repair or two - it was the first time he had played that song and was reading a chart. Tony of course overdubbed the Acoustic Piano and synths. Jeff didn't play on the take as he wasn't happy with his sound at the time. We had previously recorded that song on another session with Ric Laird on bass but didn't use it - it was a slower take! "

Simon Phillips http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/u/king.gif

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ March 14, 2005 01:33 PM: Message edited by: Rotel ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 14, 2005 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Rotel ]</font>

Dude, that little bug-eyed, fainting smiley is da shedd. Darn if I can't save it as a .gif; [img]wink.gif[/img] only a bitmap [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] - wth...

Eh, the 'bans are allright...every now & then. But now, if you're talkin 'bout 'da player, weh-heh-hellll... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

When PM lays on those loud synth-axe notes, & frequently holds & sustains them like at the end of one of those tunes for what must be minutes, it's like a CGI moose on helium being slowly strangled...I know he's trying to emote some serious pain & crying, but, if it's done too much, it's just, well, too much. Ohhhh, Pat, you're such a great gtr player & all, but, please, STOP that...[nails on chalkboard]...somewhere some former soldier jumps like at the sound of revelie...

Eh, wth do i know.
[Galdurn drummers.]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 15, 2005 01:37 AM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

I opened up for Simon on his Uk tour in 2000.
I struck up a friendship with Simon and still keep in contact through email.

The time I spent with him was probably the most educational time in my drumming life, I learnt SO MUCH from Simon.

We would travel to the clinics together and we would talk drums, drums, drums.
When it came to the clinic whatever we had been talking about would appear in Simon's solo!
We had been talking about Marco Minneman one day and sure enough Simon played all this mad ostinato stuff!

One of the greats!

SP favorites:
There and Back; Jeff Beck
Touch Me There; L Shankar
Give Blood; Pete Townsend
Rocks, Pebbles and Sand; Stanley Clarke
Symbiosis; SP
Vantage Point; SP and Jeff Babko (ridiculous solo on this...)

Why is it so mind-buggeringly difficult to get hold of Simon's solo stuff in the UK? I practically had to lift a burning brazier between my forearms to get hold of Symbiosis and Out of the Blue. I can't find a copy of Vantage Point for love nor money.

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Originally posted by moosetication:
Why is it so mind-buggeringly difficult to get hold of Simon's solo stuff in the UK? I practically had to lift a burning brazier between my forearms to get hold of Symbiosis and Out of the Blue. I can't find a copy of Vantage Point for love nor money.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">LOL

...ditto on that SP - VP, awa OOTB [!]
[img]eek.gif[/img] [img]frown.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 16, 2005 12:10 AM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

FORCE MAJUERE was the Simon CD I had a problem getting but Me2 (remember him?) sent me a copy on my birthday a year or so ago. It's a great live trio fusion disk utilizing the tunes and players from Simon's teaching videos.

Doves of Fire live in Japan is what I really want! [img]cool.gif[/img]

Vantage Point is really interesting as it is a hard bop type of thing and its wierd to hear SP paying straight ahead (he plays coated heads so his sound is a bit different and he plays two rides each side of the kit.)
It was recorded I think by Simon in his living room.
Simon plays in a very Tony Williams-esque style.

I think it was done to show that fusion guys can play straight jazz which I think is an interesting point. I would rather hear vinnie or simon or weckl etc playing straight jazz than some of the guys that are supposed to be THE players in that style.
In the UK there is a real tendency in the jazz world to play in the Roy Haynes school. I class myself firstly as a jazz player but seldom get jazz gigs as I play double kick, a relatively big kit and perhaps, too loud!!! anyway, I'm wandering off topic...