BradPhillips.org

It took a few years, but I have officially joined YouTube’s esteemed “1 Million Views” club!

Watching this video slowly grow in popularity (and hatred) over the course of it’s web life has taught me so much about viral campaigns over the internet & about the composition, itself. I hope to build off the success of this video & help translate it to my original music!

In honor of this momentous occasion, I’m going to finalize the edit for this animation (as this was only a pre-render playblast), fix the sound (which is definitely annoying, in places), and give this animation the proper treatment it deserves!

Do you have any ideas for the final version of this piece? The animation itself can’t be altered at this point (I’ve lost the source files but do still have the final completed render), but cuts can be made & certainly sound can be re-worked.

Let me know via the video or hit me with a comment below! ..and, yes, I’m aware that Mario’s sideburns look like a certain portion of the male anatomy

One of my primary goals of 2010 was to get the process of music making started. My recent move to Nashville has been a catalyst for such desires. I feel like now is my time, and I’m ready to put out some truly meaningful content.

A few months ago, my ideas were organized, through a conversation with a longtime friend, into a very distinct direction. We came up with this notion of a Road and how each person’s life is linked by this journey. I’ve spent much of my creative life trying to reconcile my childhood and adolescence, and this felt like the perfect idea to finally speak truthfully on this subject.

Since that conversation, song snippets have begun flooding my mind! I’ve started sketching them out & posting them on my YouTube channel as song sketchbook entries.

I’ve added a new demo to the ever-increasing list of potentials, and this one is going to end up as the title track for the record. Please have a listen, and let me know what you think of the beginnings of “The Road”!

I’ve recorded a new song in the ‘Cover’ series, in the form of “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins! I discovered how easy this song was to figure out during an improv at a live show. As is the case with many of my covers, it started off as a joke to get keep people interested in the original set. This song is so effective, yet so simple, and I found myself really getting into it, during the shows.

At my last show, I decided I would go all out and generate a full band track to play alongside. The next obvious step, of course, is to lay down a lead vocal track & put it out there for everyone to enjoy!

This passed weekend, I had a chance to record the first bit of an idea that had been playing, on repeat, in my mind for nearly 2 weeks. The song, tentatively titled “The First Dance,” is about a child’s first contact with another being that sends sparks their way. It’s not meant to be gender specific, only to comment on the first glimpses of lust/love & how exciting and confusing the whole things is. Check it out below:

This song is a part of a larger project, one I’m calling “The Road.” I want to write & record a record that describes the journey we all take, from childhood, through adolescence, and into young adulthood. It’s a walk we all share. Each song in “The Road” will be about a very specific & personal moment in my life that I feel is representative of the journey, as a whole. I’ve got roughly 5 songs sketched out & will be bringing you more updates as they are recorded. Wish me luck. The 2nd half of 2010 will see me working on some very exciting content! Please check back for more updates as I take my walk along The Road.

Among his contemporaries, Elton John is widely considered the hardest working man in show business. While he’s been touring relentlessly, with the likes of Billy Joel and percussionist, Ray Cooper, on top of doing his full band shows & wrapping up the Red Piano gigs in Europe, new pop music from Elton has been strangely absent.

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Over the weekend (Friday, March 19th, 2010), I performed a 2-hour solo acoustic set at Joe Sippers Cafe (Effingham, IL).

The performance was broadcast to the world Live, through Facebook. That very performance is now available to view online, at your convenience! Follow this link to view the show, in it’s entirety!

I have another Joe Sippers Show lined up on April 23rd. Check back often, for details about how you can catch this next show live!

I never expected a few innocent comments Elton John made, during an interview, could make me reevaluate what my thoughts on the state of our modern world are, but that very thing has happened.

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I’ve been thinking about this lately. With 3D visual technology being pushed further and further into public consciousness with gigantic media forces like Avatar (and into living rooms now, yes?), I wonder what’s on the horizon for audio.

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“House” is a final project completed in the Fall semester of 2006 at the University of Illinois: Chicago for the AD405 ‘Smart Art’ class.  Performing music, for me, is about the connection I have to the people around me.  This project is my first step in trying to blur the boundaries of audience and performer.  I utilized PD-Gem to create a program that would manipulate audio based on the movement of an audience.

The program utilizes a digital camera to manipulate audio based on changes in pixel colors.

“Music and Memory” is a flash-based project completed during my undergraduate studies at UIC. In the project I was investigating my ties to the past and how they made me whoI am today. I am generally fearful of the present wondering if I will look back at today years from now regretting decisions I made or how I acted. When I was heavy into undergraduate work in Chicago, I found myself commenting on experiences I had during high school. I found it amazing that I was in this incredible city, and the past seemed to have the most impact on my work.

I consider this project an emotional culmination of all of that thought. During the last week of finals, I took a train back to my home town, and I brought a video camera with me. I went back to places I remembered that meant something to me, and I made note of songs I listen to that reminded me of those places.

“Music and Memory” shaped up into a collection of memories laid out like a set of piano keys. Once you click on the link, you can move your mouse to the left or right of the keys to pan in either direction. You’ll see little sections of videos playing, and when you click on a key, the memory will expand, revealing the full video and the song I associate with that place.

Each song and each place hold very special places in my past, and it’s still emotional for me to look at. Much is left to interpretation, so, while this is a very personal project for me, I hope others can interact and find meaning from their own experiences. Click the link below, allowing a few moments for the content to load, and interact with “Music and Memory.”

Music and Memory

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