Name: Rebecca Phillips
Nationality: British  
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, composer, media artist
Current release: Rebecca Phillips's new single “Quicksand” is out now.  
Recommendations: I love Camus’ novel The Outsider so I would recommend that but perhaps a lot of people have read it and maybe D’angelo’s album Voodoo. I believe that each track on that album was recorded as a whole take which is such a testament to his sheer talent. But don’t quote me on that, can’t remember where I heard that.

If you enjoyed this Rebecca Phillips interview and would like to keep up to date with her music, visit her on Instagram, Soundcloud, and twitter.  



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I normally see images, particular settings etc in my mind when I listen - sort of like storyscapes. Mostly with my eyes open I think.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?
 
I would say I feel that too - music is definitely a portal into another space.

It helps to shift my perspective on things when I listen and when I create it feels like I’m interacting with the world using a different sensibility or sensitivity.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

I started out by singing and some people became interested in my tone of voice.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Back then I had an iPod and would buy albums on Itunes. I discovered Nirvana and although their music is very different to mine ostensibly I must be influenced by them.

I still mainly listen to albums - or I actively seek out artists and listen to their singles etc. I think music without a context is quite barren.

How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument, tools or equipment?

Minimal. I am happy to collaborate with others who have greater technical skills to aid my creativity.

My primary instrument is my voice but I aim to be instinctual with it.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I think it just comes from a deep somatic ache to create. I am sure everything I witness influences what I make but I am not prescriptive about it.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

I think its tricky ground to delve into the relationship between the art and the artist - it’s probably something for listeners to grapple with if they choose to.

My approach is probably just working as hard as I can to try to make something that feels unique and essential to me but is still an ear worm.

If music is a language, what can we communicate with it? How do you deal with misunderstandings?

I think music is a channel into a more immediate, concentrated and visceral conversation - like something that bubbles to the surface in a particular place and time and then proceeds to evaporate - potentially leaving a trace and emerging later down the line in a new context.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches and musical forms you may be very familiar with?  

I guess it’s a mix of inspiration and perspiration and knowing when to break and when to try within the creative process.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I can’t recall anything specific although I also love the sound of the waves and animals. I guess birds are particularly musical because they communicate in sequences with repeated riffs but yes I think any sound can be used in music - I’ve recorded  and incorporated the noise coming from a deodorant can before.

I guess it all comes down to context and intent as to whether something is or becomes musical?

There seems to be an increasing trend to capture music in algorithms, and data. But already at the time of Plato, arithmetic, geometry, and music were considered closely connected. How do you see that connection yourself? What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?  

I don’t know.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I’m not sure on either accounts. I think music just helps us feel connected or embodied in an immediate and concentrated space and time.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I’m sensitive to noise and sound and I find it difficult when I hear sounds that I don’t like.

Silence can feel amazing if I’m in the mood for it although in London it’s hard to come by. Sometimes there’s a silence at night that can feel soothing to me.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I’m not a barrister so I’m not sure how to square the comparison.

It’s just something highly intentional for me, it’s not the kind of thing that I would choose to analyse otherwise I think I would stop doing it.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I would like to develop a way of directly recording sounds from my mouth exactly as I imagine them into a DAW.