Electronica, IDM, Acid djmanos
Eulogy for Phillip Western

Eulogy for Phillip Western

February 9th 2019. Seattle was in the midst of a snow storm (by Seattle standards) and I was hunkered down at home tinkering about in my studio. That night I learned of the death of one of my greatests musical inspirations, whom I was fortunate enough to also know as a friend. Phil Westen’s music has been a constant in my life for almost half my life. His music is richly layered, hauntingly beautiful, deeply psychedelic, with undercurrents of both sadness and silliness that resonate with me on a profound level. Beyond just admiration of his craftsmanship, there is such a human emotional center throughout his works that speaks to my heart. In all my years as a dj and music collector, I have rarely found any other artists that sound like him. Phil was a beautiful alien synth wizard, and I have been a fanboy for a long time.

I first discovered Phil’s music, like many people, through his participation in Download, the Skinny Puppy “side-project” that formed in the early 90’s. I was obsessed with Skinny Puppy and their various offshoots. When I get obsessed with a band/artist I tend to seek out other projects that they are connected with. Much of my music collection has been built by reading liner notes and tracking down other projects that the different people are involved in.

One day in 1995, a friend brought over one of the early Download releases and I obsessively listened to it for weeks. The next year, they would release The Eyes of Stanley Pain, but it was in 1997 with the release of III that I was really hooked. Not long after that I also got wind of the PlatEAU project (another collaboration with cEvin Key) and seeing Phil’s name in the liner notes of all these releases prompted me to dig around to see if he had anything under his own name. I believe it was in late 1998 when I got my copy of his solo debut, The Escapist. At that time, I was still very much on my Industrial/goth/punk kick and the album wasn’t exactly what I had expected. However, the pervasive sense of dreamlike melancholy throughout it struck a chord, and over the next few years The Escapist continued to grow on me.

The year 2000 saw me finishing a brief stint in the army, and an enthusiastic return to rave culture. That year, I decided to try dj’ing, and since vinyl was still the dominant format, I spent many hours scouring EBay for obscure and out-of-print records (discogs didn’t exist until the end of that year, and it would be a while until it became the source for rare gems that it now is). Around this time I was also discovering Phil’s collaborative projects with Dan Handrubar (Off and Gone, and Floatpoint), as well as labels like Interchill, Exist Dance, Outersanctum, and Map Music. That year Download would release their fourth album, Effector, and the next year, Phil released his 2nd album, Dark Features (with Tim Hill). Some of the first records that began building my electronic vinyl collection were Everest by Off and Gone, the Cap’m Stargazer vs Commander Mindfuck EP, and the bonus 10” that came with the original release of Dark Features. I really can't overstate how much the dreamlike psychedelic sounds of these releases were fundamental in shaping my tastes from that point on. Of the 70+ dj mixes I’ve put online over the years, Phil appears in one of his solo or collaborative guises in at least 40 of them.

Throughout the early 2000's I would become more obsessed with Phil’s music following everything he put out either solo or collaborative. Part of what drew me to it so much was how his music was not easily classified in any category. It existed in it’s own world that I found wholly unique. In early 2005 I was doing a monthly dance music night at a small venue in Seattle, and decided to contact Phil about coming to play. So in May of that year, I finally got to meet the man whose music had become such a significant part of my life’s soundtrack.
I remember we went out for Indian food before the show, and that during our conversation over dinner we very quickly were talking like old friends. I mean that in the sense that we quickly dispensed with small talk and soon found ourselves sharing rather personal details of our lives. A couple things I remember from our talks that night was that he said he hoped to be a father someday, and he told me about his history of addiction.
I wish I could say that the show went well, but he played to a nearly empty room. I was pretty new to producing events and still relatively unknown in Seattle’s electronic music circles.

I ended up bringing Phil back to Seattle for more gigs over the years. (happily, these subsequent events were well attended), in addition to enlisting him for remixes, and releasing 2 EPs of his music on my friend’s record label, Innerflight Music. I was so happy to be bringing his music to more people, and to be building a friendship with him.
The last quality time I got to spend with him was in Spring of 2013. He had played an event for Innerflight the night before, and we went out to breakfast together before he headed back to Vancouver. We had both recently become fathers and talked at length about the shifts in our lives as we took on that role. We talked about possible future musical collaborations, and getting together just socially as friends. I loved how easy it was to talk to him about anything.

Sadly, none of that came to fruition. I was about to spend the next four years struggling financially to barely stay afloat, and navigating significant personal upheaval. Over this time my contact with Phil was much less frequent, as so much of my focus was on gaining some stability in my life. I will regret not staying in better touch with him for the rest of my days.

After I got over the initial shock of accepting Phil’s death, I felt compelled to do something. I always felt that Phil’s music was tragically underappreciated. He didn’t get nearly the attention from the music press, djs, or promoters as he should have. I decided to assemble this mix with the hope of introducing more people to his music and inspiring those who already know his music to dig even deeper into his works. Also, doing something constructive like this is part of how I handle intense emotions like grief.
I tried to include at least one track from every release that Phil put out, either solo or collaborative, as well as singles, remixes, and tracks that are exclusive to various compilations. There are a few omissions here and there, and a few albums have more than one track featured. It’s not perfect in that regard, but I think it’s a relatively comprehensive exploration of his works nonetheless.
I also want to encourage people to go to Phil’s bandcamp page where most of all his solo material in this mix can be purchased. Proceeds from his bandcamp sales go into a fund for his daughter. Below is a list of helpful links for further exploring the music of Phil Western, and below that is the tracklist for the mix in case you hear a song you particularly like and want to track down the album it’s from.

Phil’s bandcamp:
philwestern.bandcamp.com

Memorial page for Phil containing recordings of live and dj performances:
hearthis.at/phil-western-rip

Most of the Download and PlatEAU releases can be found at SubConscious Communications, as well as the Paradigm Shift and Wild Planet compilations:
subcontoy.com/cds-and-posters

Welcome to Lotus land compilation on Map Music:
mapmusic2.bandcamp.com/album/w...land-remastered

The Innerflight Music EPs
innerflightmusic.bandcamp.com/...t-in-your-boobs
innerflightmusic.bandcamp.com/...ed-stalker-ep-2

If you would like to donate directly to the fund for Phil’s daughter:
facebook.com/donate/1255844541...302071247135848

This is the addiction recovery org that Phil worked at. Groups like these often rely on donations to keep doing their important work. Please consider donating if you can.
twcrecoverylife.org