Phil Yates & The Affiliates

Phil Yates, not the Phil Yates of Midnight Guitar Moods fame, is a Chicago based singer-songwriter who used to call Burlington, VT, Los Angeles, Columbia, SC, and Springfield, IL home. When not performing, he teaches in the mathematical sciences department at DePaul University, and formerly DJ-ed a show called “Spork!” on the Saint Michael's College’s radio station (WWPV 88.7 The Mike, Burlington).

Describing his sound as “too folky for the rockers and too rocky for the folkers,” Phil blends (at least what he thinks are) clever lyrics with melodies full of hooks. On his EP Tumble Stairs, digitally released on Revolution Road in May 2011 and physically released on his own in June 2011, Phil went into the studio with a band full of friends to build on his songs. Two of the tracks, “Ninjas vs. Zombies (Let’s Keep Our Heads)” and “The Bottom of an Urn”, appear in the movies Ninjas vs. Zombies and Ninjas vs. Vampires, respectively. “The Gift of Love”, a song whose verses were written by his friends in the lo-fi legends of southern California cassette culture Wckr Spgt, also appeared on the compilation Smooth Sounds: Various Artists Play the Future Hits of Wckr Spgt. This compilation was in honor of the 20th anniversary of Shrimper Records and features bands like The Mountain Goats, Sentridoh, So Many Wizards, Jad Fair, Simon Joyner, Amps For Christ and Franklin Bruno covering Wckr Spgt songs. Wckr Spgt, in turn, covered the Phil Yates penned tune “Honeycomb” for their Today I Saw Turtles EP that came out in April 2011.

In May 2012, Phil went into the studio with The Affiliates and recorded the single "Could You Be The One?" for the movie Ninjas vs. Monsters. The song was mixed and mastered by Matt Rogalsky (Memory Device, Kingston, Ontario), who worked on PS I Love You's 2012 release, Death Dreams. In February 2013, Phil Yates & The Affiliates released Oh So Sour, the follow-up full-length album to the Tumble Stairs EP. Oh So Sour was played on various college radio stations around the U.S. and Canada, even reaching #20 on the charts for Radio1190 (Boulder/Denver, CO) in April 2013 and ranked #56 on Power Pop Action!'s top 100 albums of 2013.

In May 2014, they went back into the studio to record their album No Need To Beg. The album was released by Almost Halloween Time Records in April 2015. It debuted at #4 on Lasell College's (Newton, MA) radio charts and was 1001 Records: For Music Lovers' #19 album for May 2015. In July, the lead track from No Need To Beg, "Burn It Down, Bernadette", was named the #3 favorite track of the week by Bridgeport, CT's WPKN 89.5 FM. That song also appeared on the compilation Ice Cream Power Man Pop and More: Got It Licked on Futureman Records. In August 2015, Phil was nominated for a Seven Days' Dandelion for "Best Songwriter." No Need To Beg made its way onto some year end Best of 2015 lists: #89 on Absolute Powerpop's top 100 Albums of 2015, #9 on Off Beat's (WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport CT) top albums of 2015, #13 on the Spanish radio program Plástico Elástico's top international albums of 2015, and featured on the Swedish radio program Ice Cream Man Power Pop and More's Best of 2015 show.

In early 2017, Phil released a cover of Nick Lowe's "You Make Me" that appeared on an Unread Records compilation celebrating the label's 200th release.

On April 20, 2018, Phil Yates & The Affiliates will release their album, Party Music!, on Futureman Records. This was recorded in March 2017 before in Vermont before Phil's move to Chicago. It featured on Best of 2018 lists in Spain (Plástico Elástico), the UK (I Don't Hear a Single), Belgium (Sweet Sweet Music), and Brazil (Power Pop Station).

Over the years, Phil has had the opportunity to open for a variety of acts. He has played with The Mountain Goats, The Babies, The Dead Milkmen's Joe Jack Talcum, The Cave Singers, Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs, Anderson East, Franklin Bruno, Wckr Spgt, Ann Beretta, Mary Prankster, and The Push Stars. Phil has also shared a basket of chips and salsa with The Apples in Stereo’s Robert Schneider.