Simon James Phillips
Solo Piano
Solo performance at Futurism Museum, Berlin 2019
I studied and worked as a classical pianist for over 10 years before making the transition to composition and creative/improvisatory performance. Musically, I construct an open and immersive sonic atmosphere that provides the audience with time to reflect upon and explore the sound. I have developed a number of techniques where to manipulate the overtones of the piano - creating sometimes a full and almost electronic wash of sound, at other times subtle 'shadows’ of resonance. Various audience members and critics have commented on the uniqueness of my sound world, often surprised that I use no additional electronic or other instrumental augmentation. Additionally, I maintain an interest in the temporal aspects of my work - by controlling the pace of a piece’s development over longer durations I hope to affect the perception of time through music.
My solo album Chair was released in 2013 on Room40 and received rave reviews internationally. I am currently preparing a series of solo recordings to be released from 2023 onwards.
Below you can find two recordings from my solo album CHAIR (one in the form of a videoclip) and some excerpts from a recent performance at the Meakusma Festival in Belgium as well as a number of images that capture some of the various performance contexts in which I perform.
"The pace of the music means you don't anticipate its full emotional heft until you're lost in the thick of it. The result is mesmerising, lending the impression that even the passage of time has surrendered to the wiles of the players."
The Guardian
Luke Telford
Solo installation/performance at Castelnau des Fieumarcon, France 2019
NOSTOS - in collaboration with Tok’Art, Lisbon, Portugal
Recording the album CHAIR in Berlin
From the performance/installation RINGTONE, Berlin
“The album is a truly breathtaking and overwhelming series of solo piano pieces. Using only the natural sustain (read: no pedals) of the piano and Gruenwald Church in Berlin where this was recorded, Chair sounds almost impossible in the context of its minimalist approach to making massive sounds”.