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Please don’t ask the young house producer to play Rihanna.

Not every 22-year-old can get his DIY bedroom project past the front door and out in the real world, but Philip George, a rising star of British deep house, is a good example that love can shoot you further than you could ever imagine, whether it’s the red carpet of the Brit Awards or the commercial charts. His infectious debut single “Wish You Were Mine” was an immediate success, followed by equally catchy “Alone No More” and recent release, groovy Dragonette collaboration “Feel This Way.” With a busy festival season ahead of him, here are 10 things you should know about Philip George.

George Is His Middle Name

“I didn’t want to use my last name for the social media reasons," he explains. "And I never used my middle name for anything. I kept changing my artist name and was never sure about it. So it came to a point where I had to pick one and ended up using my real one.”

He’s Not A Big City Kind of Guy

Despite being nominated for Brit Awards this year for British Single (sharing the nomination with likes of Adele, Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding), Philip is not ready to move to London just yet and still resides in Nottingham. “I do like London, but for me it’s so busy. I’m a bit more of a country-side type of person, I like the quietness”. As he later admits, he gets inspired by the “everyday life”. “I can be in my car driving home or could just be listening to the radio and get an idea. What inspires me is when I’m feeling good and confident.”

 

He Still Produces In His Bedroom

As we all know, the best DJs started out in their bedrooms. Philip is among these DIY geniuses and so far he doesn’t feel the need to leave the comfort of his own home. “I will move to a real studio eventually, in a next year or so. I’m still young, I’m just 22, so I’m still trying to figure everything out. As crazy as it sounds, when you’ve got a real work space, it motivates you a bit more to get out of your bedroom. I wake up there and I work there. As a kid it’s normal, but as an adult you have to get out of there at some point. I want to get myself a real studio because I want to motivate myself to get open. I’m on it.”

He’s Not Just About Dance Music

“I was 16 and downloaded the demo of Fruity Loops and just started messing around with it for a long time," Philip divulges. "I still use the FL Studio now actually. I’ve always been into music. I was in two bands before I started producing: one was metal and another one was more of a British indie band. When I got to college I got really interested. And now I’m here.” Is he only interested in dance music these days? “To be honest, I’m not. I can’t listen to dance music all the time, even though I’m producing it. I still listen to bands. I love pop-punk, that’s where my heart lies.”

He Got His Nose Pierced Last Year

“I wanted to do that for so long! I also want to get some tattoos. I’m thinking about sleeveless tattoos, but I’m gonna wait ‘til I’m a bit older, ‘cause I know that people regret those. So in 3-4 years I’ll get a tattoo—it will be a bit more logical then.”

He’s Not Sure If He’s a Good Dancer

A big part of the “Wish You Were Mine” video’s appeal was its triumphant dancer. Can Philip follow his footsteps? “I do dance when I’m drunk, but I’m not sure how good I actually am. I never fully tried!” But he’s got to act quite a lot in the video, playing a bus driver, a shopkeeper and a cop. “I’ve always been doing a little bit of acting in school. With 'Wish You Were Mine' it worked out well and I really enjoyed it. Maybe I’ll do more acting in the future.”

He’s Got a New Single Out with Dragonette

Philip’s latest release is a collaboration with Canadian electropop band Dragonette called “Feel This Way.” “It was such an honor to work with them. I used to have a part-time job at the golf club and I remember their song with Martin Solveig 'Hello' would be always playing there. They’re amazing and Martina’s got very unique voice. They sent me vocals about a year ago and I made the track right away. So I’m excited to finally put it out and see how it does.”



He’s Sick Of Releasing Love Songs

Pretty much all of his releases were about love: “Wish You Were Mine,” “Alone No More,” “Love Inside.” So it’s a no-brainer that Philip had to address the issue to his management: “I told them, 'Listen, if you send me any more vocals with the word ‘love’ in it, I will have to change it.' For me modern music is very irritating because nowadays if the song doesn’t have the affection in it, nobody cares. If you want a natural hit, talk about love. Hopefully I can change that and make it more about life instead of love.'”

He Picks Festivals Over Clubs

“Because I am new, I enjoy playing festivals more than clubs," he admits. "People go to festivals for a lot of different artists, not just me. And I find club shows quite difficult, because my music is quite mainstream and people don’t really understand what type of artist I am as all they hear from me is chart music. While at the festivals people are into the same music as I am. I played lots of festivals last year and could really express myself and push my style. I’m into a lot of underground stuff like techno and tech house. And that’s what I play live, but can’t play at the clubs, where people are expecting chart songs. Someone came up to me the other week and requested 'Work' by Rihanna. I was literally shocked." Well, maybe he should just make a techno remix of “Work”? “Maybe I should, that’s the idea.”

 

He Almost Shut Down Amnesia Club Once

“It was in Ibiza at Amnesia club," he begins. "I can only recall this story from what people told me afterwards. I was absolutely gone. Apparently they had to pull me away as I was trying to mess with the lighting desk. And that’s one of the biggest clubs in the world. The guard didn’t look after me apparently. So yes, I do love to party. Sometime I’m gone missing for days. And then I come back with inspiration.”

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  1. calka40
    calka40 I'm loving it :D!

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