Phil K

2004 was an extremely fruitful and rewarding year for the DJ's DJ, Phil K . Mind you, one could just as easily suggest that Phil K was equally fruitful and rewarding for 2004 … well for the quality of it's dance music he was, that's for sure … Initially embarking on a mission of solo audio assault, Phil 's sonic arsenal grew during the course of the year when Pioneer developed the planet's first prototype visual weapon – the DVJ-X1.

But while the DVJ-X1 was only a bunch of coded lines on a hard drive, Phil was kicking off '04 in sheer class with a double mix CD release with Dave Seaman, 'Renaissance Presents Therapy Sessions', which saw him throw beats on European, UK, American, Asian, New Zealand and Australian tour dates to ever-increasingly dedicated and appreciative floors. The very same dedicated and appreciative main room floors that were greeting with hands in the air Phil across the nation also let their feelings known publicly, heading online in their droves to snare him a #5 ranking in one of Australia's premier DJ Media Awards, The Technics Inthemix.com 2004 Top 50 Australian DJ's , in June. Shortly after this announcement, Phil headed for the PALA conference in Singapore , to globally showcase and pre-demonstrate his new weapon (and best mate), the DVJ-X1.

By the close of August, Phil had played gigs right across Asia, including standouts in Hong Kong, Bali and Thailand (and had even squeezed in a coveted mix for BB Radio One's 'Annie Nightingale' show). Consistently soaking up as much musical inspiration as he was pouring out on tour, Phil also began experimenting with the production of his own MPEG movies for manipulation live-in-the-mix with the DVJ-X1 during this time. With a simple mid-range digital camera and a basic editing software package, Phil set about filming snippets from his travels for future use and then began archiving them to disc for use back in Australia . Always pushing the envelope of what a piece of equipment can do, always thinking of how mess shit up better … always being Phil K ! For Phil , this was seemingly no different to how he would normally treat music in his head - see it, catch it, remember it … and drop it.

Speaking of music in his head, many of Phil's productions (both solo and team efforts) launched themselves into the stratosphere during 2004 … only to be last seen orbiting the Earth! “Burma” (with Luke Chable as ‘LoStep') went straight onto Sasha's ‘Involver' release, while Phil's “ Din Da Da” bootleg (with Andy Page), “They Just Won't Let Me Be With Be” with PQM (on US label, Institution Recordings), “Furball” by the operators (Phil, Dave Preston , Habersham on Lobotomy US) and “Cloudbrake” with Habersham (on Therapy UK) all rocked breaks planets in galaxies far, far away … and appear set to do so for a few million light years yet.

Phil's daily catalogue of MPEG's came in especially handy when he fine-tuned, demonstrated and launched the DVJ-X1 during the months of September and October. The success of these domestic launches (coupled with Phil 's status as an official global ambassador for Pioneer ProDJ) saw him showcase to awestruck workshops and dancefloors in China ( Shanghai and Beijing ) and Sri Lanka ( Colombo ), before ripping it up on the Pioneer Asian Tour ( Malaysia , Thailand , Singapore , India and Japan ). His time and sets in Beijing and Shanghai provided Phil with his favourite accomplishments and experiences for the year – “Playing in Beijing and Shanghai for the first time and making it really work was a standout. And also meeting and becoming friends with the most famous radio DJ ( DJ Yudai ) in China was also amazing. Yudai was the first DJ to be allowed to play western music on Chinese radio - his audience every week would make most western pop star DJs pale into insignificance!!”, he says. Concluding in November, this tour gave Phil a further insight into the capabilities, and more importantly (as always), the outer limits of his audio-visual imagination – yep, his wildest dreams. And so, by the time the domestic launches in Melbourne and Sydney rocked around, he had already started to show the DVJ's more than a little about who their Daddy was!

In December, while kids were threatening to sue Santa unless their was a Phil K mix CD under their tree, Phil headed offshore to blow some more minds upon request – this time in Singapore and dance music's up n' coming clubbing Mecca, Dubai. Returning home in time to put the final touches to his inaugural Y4K mix release with global heavyweights, Distinctive , he eventually wound up an enviable 2004 in front of 6,000 of his closest friends on New Year's Eve, at Sydney's Luna Park – as the man himself would say … “ Heavy!!! ”

In amongst the manic flights, both within local borders and abroad; in amongst the myriad of long, dark main room booth … Phil and old comrade, Luke Chable , managed to squeeze in some studio time together (under the moniker, LoStep ) in preparation for their first long play release with progressive dance music's answer to Jesus, Global Underground UK – due to hit ears worldwide soon after half-time in 005'.

Speaking of 005' … guess what? 004' might be a case of ‘Operation Sound Assault: Mission Accomplished', but things show no sign of calming the f*ck down for Phil K .

It's a nice problem to have, though, particularly for one who can rarely sleep for the new choons and ideas continually throbbing and zipping in his perpetually inexplicable head. Already teaming up with Renaissance wonder child (and fellow Star Wars nut), James Zabiela, for a Red Cross Tsunami Charity Appeal ‘one-on-one' set at Room680, Phil has mixed his successes of last year with the opportunities of this, the next one, the way he mixes anything and everything … seamlessly. It hasn't gone unnoticed, either. Just have a look at fellow Rebel Spy, James Zabiela 's thoughts on Phil K 's Force after they blew 1500 minds: “You're without a doubt my favourite DJ - someone who's not afraid to take risks and try new things, and someone who executes techniques in a unique way”.

With comprehensive tours of Asia and America confirmed for April and May, the Phil K beat ship looks set to be launching to galaxies far, far away with even greater regularity in 005'. In fact, it's set to lift off on January 28, when he launches his Y4K mix for international VIP's at Earth's heaven of breaks, Fabric ( London ). And when he touches down again, expect Phil to be busy in the ship's science bay conjuring up and tweaking more weapons for the future … “ I am starting to see all my proposals and crazy ideas become real products that will be affecting how DJs worldwide perform - my biggest top secret product is at development stage and will be hitting the streets in the future!” he says.

T-Minus five and counting … Three … Two … One …send us a postcard from the moon, Phil .