Simon Phillips talks about Hiromi Uehara, replacing legendary drummers, and recording - Cosmo Music

Simon Phillips talks to Neil Shukla about working with Hiromi Uehara, his outlook on replacing legendary drummers such as Keith Moon and Jeff Porcaro, and his approach to recording drums.
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[@WarhawkBeyond2040]

I saw Simon Philips twice with the Hiromi Trio Project, they were unbelievable shows and his drumming just blew me away, to me he is one of the true legends of the drum kit and one of the greatest drummers on the planet. An unbelievable player and i love everything he does

[@wurstfinger3289]

hiromi sounds better with martin valihora and if i would say this historic trio had a weakness, it would be simon phillips. but of course, he s a great drummer. a vey great one.

[@55rhplus]

Simon is the best drummer who played with Hiromi. They understand each other very well. I love Hiromi

[@meadowshorerecords8138]

Her with Simon and Anthony is just absolute top tier music. Honestly one of the few things to make me be proud to be a human being.

[@jon87583]

I've had the pleasure of seeing the 2 of them along w/Anthony a couple of times - it was a totally blissful and emotionally exhausting experience, if you can relate.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

Simon, Martin Valihora, and Steve Smith are such different drummers it's difficult to compare them, but they're all absolutely world class. Simon definitely brings the prog/rock background more than Martin and Steve, though.

[@jon87583]

@@jonathanhenderson9422 I can't give a critical, technical comparison but I will say that Steve Smith was damn good and complemented Hiromi and Anthony wonderfully. He played with the Trio at my first of 4 Hiromi concerts a few yrs ago.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

@@jon87583 Steve Smith is basically a legend in the drum community, kinda like what Guthrie Govan is for the guitar community. I don't know many (maybe any) drummer that is as universally respected as he is. I'd say he's something of a mix between Valihora's more traditional jazz approach and Simon's prog/rock approach, and he does both aspects extremely well.

[@magickriver]

You haver to have extraordinarily good karma to be incarnated as a Simon Phillips or a Hiromi. They are both fully conscious & absolutely gifted musicians who somehow always manage to keep body-mind-&-soul perfectly aligned, thus expressing what perfection, passion & pure freedom grounded in total discipline are about.

[@billpeart]

I would love to see a copy of the chart Simon was given.

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

Phillips's drumming was a PERFECT fit for the Trio Project: the hard, driving rhythms in odd times signatures that always manage to groove. Three masters of their respective instruments playing so tight (relative to each other) yet never stiff.

[@SophieAlloway]

Thanks for posting this. I absolutely love Hiromi's trio with Simon and Anthony. I had the pleasure of seeing them live and it completely blew me away. Always a pleasure to hear Simon interviewed as well.

Simon is a class act. A model in perfection.

[@godbluffvdgg]

Simon is a beast...One of the few drummers in the world that could fill in for Keith Moon, and keep up with Hiromi...I had found Hiromi on youtube when she first came on here, when she formed Trio, It was so great to see Simon in the band...Saw him with Jeff Beck 10th row Spectrum in Philly, didn't know who he was back then, but it didn't take long to find out...:)

[@davidsherley2652]

Simon Phillips is totally amazing!!

[@user-xe6gx6wh4g]

Great interview. I was very fortunate to be at Simon's clinic. He's a living legend, a gentleman and one of the greatest drummers ever!

[@mariozamprogno1654]

That was a great interview

[@mix-cat]

Right !

[@pederlong1784]

He is a tremendous drummer with hiromi

[@thecorporatelawgroup7093]

Simon; love your T-Shirts!!

[@funklover24]

Complex rhythms can be great, but sometimes it's better not to exaggerate. I totally agree with Simon. And of course he is right focusing on the groove. I like his relaxed approach.

[@jah9253]

Simon Phillips and Gavin Harrison are the best at this IMO.

[@jimlassen9422]

Simon Phillips is such a great drummer and a really nice chap from what I have seen on uTube videos. I have been following him for many years and he is full on. To hear him speak recently on several uTube videos is great and I would love to work with him as I am involved in the recording studio industry designing and wiring hi end recording studios. Maybe I should and contact him. Meanwhile, I am enjoying this interview, even without him playing. Big thumbs up from me.

[@YaoEspirito]

Very satisfying interview.

[@randyking4656]

Good interview. Always great to hear Simon talk about his thoughts on recording drums. (Most drummers cymbals are way too loud). So true.

[@henriknielsen1662]

Excellent interview, thank you.

[@driggerfireon5760]

Thank you for making a video interview on one of the best composer drummer the world has ever known.

[@TheWitchOvAgnesi]

4:35 a perfect example of what it is like to be a drummer when a pianist or a guitarist has written the piece.

[@TheDukeOfPannekoeken]

I love Simon, sucks that he left

[@3D-PHASE]

Does the first answer fit to the question? 😄. Well, doesnt matter. I love their music!

[@alonzovillarreal4666]

The man!

[@DannyELoi]

Yes! Simon is the best drummer who has played with Hiromi (and I have seen her live with another one of our great heros, but he is not Simon) I have just about all her DVDs, and she always has very fine players (no bums!) but Simon, come on. Hiromi is the most exciting musical entity to me since John McLaughlin. (ok, I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say)

[@mronlinedrumstv]

Thanks !!

[@TheAllMusicSafariUganda]

Nice interview 👌🏿

[@gringochucha]

Very insightful interview. Thanks for this!

[@ddslahsddslahs6690]

superb

[@jon87583]

I may have to get that T-Shirt. BTW: Simon is as cool and interesting as he is a killer drummer (I've had the good fortune to hear him play with Hiromi a couple of times)

[@Simonewhitesim-1music]

A Classy and super cool cat. thanks!

[@davideastlee9983]

Simon is tremendously wise

[@plummetplum]

Thsts a good lesson. Try to make odd time signatures sound as 4/4 as possible.

[@MrJdsenior]

"What's the chances of that?" ONE in one, apparently.

[@feijoada2902]

Incredible how invention and ideas get modified into goods which are ready to sell.

[@Pablo-T]

Drink a shot every time the interviewer says right.

[@Fred_P]

This is an interview, not a chat with your pal in a bar. Stop saying "right" every other word your guest speaks. I only watched the whole video because of Simon, otherwise I would have turned it off after three minutes.

[@billpeart]

Well, that's like ya know, your opinion man.

[@simaojoseph]

I had to pause the video because of that and considering if I continue or not. Wtf.

[@driggerfireon5760]

:( that's not nice.

[@tiihtu2507]

Who cares

[@dnalpuca1236]

It is what it is...

[@jplapp2862]

Very cool, but way to short.

[@L1nk2002]

So basically he was like "bruh, i gotta play with her"

[@marjolainharvey6172]

un vieux drummer qui ne peut plus jouer j ai 64 simon n aura jamais ete a son meilleur qu avec hiromi bon ok j exagare a peine

[@grantos28cars]

I always think Simon needs to wash his hair, haha! Great drummer though

[@HrSamstag]

Right, right, right.....pfffff!

[@johnknight9150]

No disrespect here, but I don't understand the mentality of making complex time signatures sound like 4/4. If you're trying to make it sound simple, why not make it 4/4 to begin with? If it's complex, I'd rather just run with it and say it loudl, like those Djent guys do, rather than hide the complexity.

[@Riddim4]

John Knight: it’s about communicating clearly so people will understand and get into what you’re trying to say. This is not the same as dumbing down. It can be difficult to express complicated ideas simply.

[@johnknight9150]

@@Riddim4 I'm not saying it's dumbing down, I'm saying it's spoiling the fun and making it less interesting. Bands like Voyager manage to strike a great balance between the two, where they have bits where your average listener probably won't know something technical is going on, and then shift into something that smacks you in the face with something proudly off-kilter

[@meadowshorerecords8138]

@@johnknight9150 Mate, making an odd time signature groove is kinda the point in the end. I think your getting caught in semantics rather than the point of the music evoking emotion and a narrative with the help of groove and harmony to boost the melodies.

[@johnknight9150]

@@meadowshorerecords8138 Are you saying perhaps the person you're working with didn't mean to write something in odd-time, it just came out that way, and they're having trouble getting it to fit? If so, I can be down with that.

[@johnknight9150]

@@meadowshorerecords8138 Hang on, there's the question, "making an odd-time groove". Why does a groove have to feel like 4/4? Have you never experienced music that didn't feel like 4/4 but grooved? You can make really interesting grooves in odd-time that don't feel like 4/4, and aren't masked to feel like 4/4. Music that feels _interesting_ to move to.