Simon Phillips
Background information
Born	February 6, 1957 (1957-02-06) (age 50) London, England
Genre(s)	Rock Jazz
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1973–present
Associated acts	Toto The Who Whitesnake Judas Priest Far Corporation RMS (band)
Website	http://www.simon-phillips.com

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

Contents 1 Career 2 Joining Toto 3 Style 4 Drum Equipment 5 External links

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, Toto, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce, Brian Eno, Toyah, Mike Oldfield, Trevor Rabin, Gary Moore, 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 acts Judas Priest on "Sin After Sin" and Michael Schenker's debut album The Michael Schenker Group.

Phillips has played, 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, 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. There are only a few drummers who are capable of using both techniques.

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 & Quot/Trash & Quot
• 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

v • d • e Toto
Steve Lukather | Bobby Kimball | Mike Porcaro | Simon Phillips | David Paich | Greg Phillinganes
David Hungate | Jeff Porcaro | Steve Porcaro | Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen | Joseph Williams | Jean-Michel Byron
Discography
Studio Albums: Toto | Hydra | Turn Back | Toto IV | Isolation | Fahrenheit | The Seventh One | Kingdom of Desire | Tambu | Mindfields | Through the Looking Glass | Falling in Between
Compilations, live albums, & soundtracks: Dune | Past to Present 1977-1990 | Absolutely Live | Toto XX | Livefields | Live in Amsterdam | The Essential Toto
Famous singles: Hold the Line | Rosanna | Africa | I'll Be Over You | Mushanga | Bottom of Your Soul

v • d • e The Who
Personnel
Current members: Roger Daltrey - Pete Townshend John Entwistle - Keith Moon - Kenney Jones
Other personnel: John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Pino Palladino - Zak Starkey - Simon Townshend Simon Phillips - Doug Sandom - Colin Dawson - Gabby Connolly - Tim Gorman - Steve "Boltz" Bolton - Brian Kehew
Discography
Studio albums	My Generation - A Quick One - The Who Sell Out - Tommy - Who's Next - Quadrophenia - The Who by Numbers - Who Are You - Face Dances - It's Hard - Endless Wire
Live albums	Live at Leeds - Who's Last - Join Together (1990) - Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 - The BBC Sessions - Blues to the Bush - Live at the Royal Albert Hall - Encore Series 2002 - Encore Series 2004 - Encore Series 2006 - Live from Toronto
Compilations	Magic Bus - Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy - Odds & Sods - The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack) - Hooligans - Join Together (1982) - Who's Greatest Hits - Who's Missing - Two's Missing - Who's Better, Who's Best - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B - My Generation - The Ultimate Collection
Filmography
About The Who	Tommy - Quadrophenia - The Kids Are Alright - See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure
Other appearances	Monterey Pop - Rock and Roll Circus - Woodstock - McVicar - Buddy's Song
Related articles
Production	Peter Meaden - Kit Lambert - Chris Stamp - Bob Pridden - Duncan Nimmo	Other	Influence - Track Records - 2006-07 Tour - The Boy Who Heard Music - Scott Halpin

v • d • e Judas Priest
Current members
Rob Halford | K. K. Downing | Glenn Tipton | Ian Hill | Scott Travis
Former members
Dave Holland | Tim "Ripper" Owens | Al Atkins | Les Binks | Alan Moore | John Hinch | Chris Campbell | John Pattridge | John Ellis | Simon Phillips
Discography
Albums: Rocka Rolla | Sad Wings of Destiny | Sin After Sin | Stained Class | Killing Machine | Unleashed in the East | British Steel | Point of Entry | Screaming for Vengeance | Defenders of the Faith | Turbo | Priest...Live! | Ram It Down | Painkiller | Jugulator | Live Meltdown | Demolition | Live in London | Angel of Retribution
Compilations/Box Sets: The Best of Judas Priest | Hero, Hero | The Collection | Genocide | Metal Works | The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight Metalogy | The Essential Judas Priest
DVDs: Electric Eye | Rising in the East | Live Vengeance '82