Shorncliffe’s Harry Phillips moving up in the music world
When a childhood dream fell apart singer songwriter Harry Phillips found his true calling. Now he’s putting his name and the blue Moreton Bay waters on the international music map.
North
Don't miss out on the headlines from North. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Award-winning Shorncliffe singer/songwriter Harry Phillips has been treading the music boards since he could walk, following his music industry parents around the country supporting some of the biggest names in Australian music.
But since the independent artist branched out on his own last year he’s been creating headlines of his own and hitting the local charts in a big way.
Following on from the success of his homegrown hit Emma, Harry’s latest single Unexpected, produced by Aria award winner Govinda Doyle, hit the No. 2 spot on Triple J Unearthed and was also added to The A List with Kyle & Jackie O.
With his own music now taking centre stage and an album coming out later this year, the little boy who rocked his pink plastic guitar on stage with Jimmy Barnes is well and truly ready to step out of his parents’ shadow.
Both Australian music veterans, Nik Phillips and Angie Whiteley have supported some of the country’s biggest stars over the past 30 years. Now they are backing their son, who is already turning heads with his indie folk sound.
“Mum and Dad have really been a huge influence on me,” Harry said.
“They would take me everywhere they were performing and I would just be there on stage pretending to play along with the band.”
YOUNG CHORISTER TO SING IN MEMORY OF GRANDFATHER
SANDGATE TEENS GROOVES FOR FESTIVAL AND FILM
BRISBANE SINGER WOWS VOICE CROWD
Bitten by the soccer ‘sport bug’ when he was a teenager, it was only a serious injury that brought him back to music — at first as a way of dealing with not being able to play his beloved sport anymore.
“I had obsessed over becoming a soccer player and that was very jarring when I realised that dream was over … it was then I started busking and I thought I might be able to start working playing music,” he said.
“And I started to write songs.”
Mum Angie says watching Harry lose his dream of playing professional soccer was “really hard”.
“He was obsessive. He has so much self discipline. He would be outside juggling the ball for two hours and when he couldn’t play we really wondered what was going to bring him out of that sadness,” Angie said.
“When he started getting in to music again he really started to find another level.”
SUBSCRIPTION DEAL: $1 A WEEK FOR THE FIRST 12 WEEKS
The musical family (Harry’s sister also studies music at JMC Academy) sometimes sings together, drawn in by a love of musicians such as Crowded House, the Beatles and Ed Sheeran.
But right now Harry has his sights firmly set on recording tracks that are true to how he sees the world.
With one EP out in the world, the next he hopes will show a new outlook.
“The first EP was about an episode of unrequited love — which was really hard — but I have moved past all that stuff and I’m moving into a lot of new songs that are really about embracing light, high energy and a lot of fun,” he said.
“There’s a lot of cheekiness I think. Before I was quite sombre but now it’s about embracing life and new experiences.”
High on his list of ideas inspiring his music is the friendship he has struck up with a young man detained on Manus Island.
“He is a musician and he and I have been messaging back and forth.
“This is a guy who is trying to keep himself alive playing music in the laundry of the detention centre. So we talk about how things are for him.
“Sometimes I feel very helpless — there is such a story that needs to be told and I want to be a part of helping him out.”
He said the mental health of refugees was now something he felt very passionate about.
“Music is a great way to celebrate and share stories and if I can write something and be a voice for people who don’t have a voice … that would be good,” Harry said.
And when he’s not focusing on how to support refugees in detention he’s working hard on plans to release two new songs in the coming months and arranging an East Coast tour.
Facts
- first single Emma reached No 1. on the AMRAP Airit regional charts
- won 2 national songwriting competitions via JMC Academy
- competed in APRA’s Fifty Songs in 50 days and won
- selected as one of four finalists in Q Music’s Billy Thorpe Scholarship
- Unexpected added to Apple’s ‘Best of the Week’ official playlist
- First single Emma played on Hit 105 - Brisbane
SEQ housing shake-up as new property giant rises
A property giant is emerging after its latest takeover was approved, paving the way for the conglomerate to become the largest housing developer in southeast Queensland.
Man sought psych help in hours before deadly hammer attack on own mum
A mentally ill man who killed his mother in a violent attack in her own home will be eligible for parole in 2.5 years, a court hearing he was preoccupied with ‘end of days perceptions’.