E.G. Phillips
... is a San Francisco based songwriter who creates lyric driven songs with his own special blend of whimsy and cinematic imagery which he uses to give a wry take on dealing with the longings of the heart and the madness of existence.
In possession of a degree in Geography, he comes from a country called the Midwest and his favorites include Bob Dylan and The Kinks as well as Duke Ellington...and that crowd. When it comes to his stage presence, there's a touch of satirist Tom Lehrer in the mix. As for the inspiration for his lyrics, he readily admits an unusually outsized influence by long running British sci-fi show "Doctor Who."
E.G. Phillips is..?
I’m a songwriter — I come from a country called the Midwest but I’ve been residing in San Francisco since the turn of the millennium. While I myself am more of a “folk” artist, I’m a big jazz fan and that’s seeped its way into my own musical lexicon. You could call my music “Bob Dylan with flatted fifths” — I’ve also heard “lounge music somewhere between Tom Waits and They Might be Giants.”
Other artists who have covered my songs have remarked that I “use a lot of words” — which is really not me trying to impress anybody, I’m just having fun. Speaking of fun, a game you can play with my lyrics is “spot the Doctor Who reference.”
Do you remember the first artist/band who really impressed you?
Different artists have made impressions on me in different ways. I mean if you really wanted to go back to the very beginning, it would be Sergei Prokofiev and his composition “Peter and the Wolf” — I wore out the grooves of at least one record playing that on repeat as a kid. My parents had a vinyl collection that included the Beatles — they were a first musical love of sorts. But also in that collection was satirist Tom Lehrer, who I also greatly admire, but for different reasons. The Beattles and those great harmonies whereas Lehrer had that acerbic wit. Getting introduced to Bob Dylan in college also had a profound impact.
"Mental Maps" sounds great , what's the story behind it?
The idea of a “mental map” — how we create our own understanding about the relationship between places and what’s there of importance, has long been a fascination. Give two people from the same town a sheet of paper and ask them to draw their own understanding of where they live and while there might be overlap (or intersection, if you would), they might also come across as two completely different places. And one’s perception of one’s environment and what’s possible can have a profound impact on how we approach the world — think of all those people sailing off into the unknown during the so-called “age of discovery” because they wanted to find a way to get some spices.
Though really this is a story about two people who aren’t connecting. There’s an attempt, but it fails, and one goes off elsewhere, leaving the other feeling… well I guess that’s up to interpretation.
There are of course the usual Doctor Who influences starting with the phrase "the roof of the world" which was a chapter title to the Target novelization of the early William Hartnell adventure "Marco Polo" — something that's stuck with me for many moons. And of course it's hard to not have that staple of British sci-fi come to mind when talking about the collapse of time and space (a not infrequent problem in the course of events of the series).
From a songwriting perspective, mainly I was trying to avoid using some of the jazzier tensions that I sometimes make a habit of using and stick to more plain vanilla chords — a lot of the songs on this EP are like that, though major sevenths worked their way into some of them. I also focused on doing more with the baseline, giving that much more of a lead role in the composition, as well as trying to do different things with the harmonic rhythm.
For this project I’m once again working with Kenny Schick of Basement 3 Productions. He’s based in East Nashville and produced my previous EP “Nashville Recordings, Vol. 1” — this is effectively volume 2, though I’ve not branded it as such. Kenny’s a one man band — really creative when it comes to instrumentation and arrangements. We’ve also got Peter Colclasure on piano for this track — he’s a composer based in San Jose who plays with the New Ballet School down that way. He came up with a great ascending line that works as counterpoint and builds to a crescendo in the final verse — it’s worth listening to the track just for that.
What can our readers expect from your upcoming EP?
Well, as is the fashion these days, one ends up releasing most of the EP as singles in the run up to the full release in order to keep the content hungry beast that is the Internet fed a steady diet — but there are a couple more tracks in this folk-rock vein.
I describe them as “true stories that will probably get me into trouble one of these days.” In point of fact “Party in the Sunset” which I released back in August got one person fretting I was referring to one of her soirees… honestly not the case, but it is the risk one runs when writing from experience.
There’s also a bonus track coming in November that’s an alternate version of “Chained to the Sun” which I originally released back in June — it has a much different vibe.
How would you describe the Indie Scene in your Hometown?
San Francisco is kind of a mixed bag — it’s certainly not a "music town” like Austin or Nashville and the scene is still clawing its way back from the pandemic. The Lost Church, a quirky little listening room, did just re-open after moving from the Mission to North Beach, so I’m excited about that and venerable venues like the Hotel Utah are still kicking.
The one thing it’s got going for it is the community that’s here. Aside from the open mic scene where you see a lot of familiar faces, there’s the musician meetup group Balanced Breakfast — they have chapters in cities across the country, but this is where it started, with the simple premise that local musicians could get together and share a meal. It’s definitely helped me meet and connect with other artists.
I have read one of your favorites are the Beatles ... right now,,in this second... what are your Top 3 Beatles songs?
In this second? I’m fascinated by the outtake of “Helter Skelter” that first appeared on Anthology… a much slower, groovier, sort of drugged out feel then the official version released on the white album. It would be cool to do an album that somehow captured that feel.
I have a soft spot for “I’m Only Sleeping” which is one of those tracks that was left off the American edition of Revolver so it felt like a radical discovery when I first heard it.
I guess “Get Back” is a bit top of mind owing to the recent Peter Jackson documentary. In general though it’s dangerous territory to get me talking about the Beatles.
What's next for you?
Well, I've got the release of the full EP for Mental Maps, which includes a release show on Friday, October 21st at Bazaar Cafe in San Francisco with some folks I know (Shawn Byron and George Cothran) from the open mic scene. A bit low key, but it feels like a good way to mark the occasion.
At the moment, I’m actually working on the next project, which is a sort of follow up to the last album “Alien from an Alternate Earth” which I recorded with Chris McGrew and Kevin Seal of Seal Party at Hyde Street Studios.
It was a good experience working with them and I figured I’d go on that ride again to keep the content beast fed. So far we’ve only laid down the basics, so it’s still early days, but once again it will have its own distinct feel. Whereas “Alien” was very jazz influenced and “Mental Maps” is best described as “folk rock,” this next one… well, you’ll just have to wait and see…
