Career
Previous bands
Phideaux first played with Mark Sherkus (piano), Dean Deluke (drums), and Bucky Deluke (trumpet) in ESP. He was later part of a band called the Delukes from Southern California. Next, Xavier played with Molly Ruttan (drums), Linda Ruttan-Moldawsky (bass) and Amanda Ettlinger (flute) in a progressive rock band called Mirkwood, which later morphed into a punk/pop band called Sally Dick & Jane, after the departure of Amanda Ettlinger, and the addition of vocalist/keyboardist Valerie Gracius. They played at various legendary NYC clubs, including Max's Kansas City and CBGB, during the early to mid 1980s, but failed to record anything of substance and were marginal to the scene. [3]
Friction
After Sally Dick & Jane ended, Phideaux worked on music alone as a one-man recording project. He attended school at New York University for film and television production. After graduating from college, Phideaux decided to return to the collaborative aspect of music and formed an acoustic-themed band called The SunMachine with childhood friend Ariel Farber (violin/vocals) and various other musicians. They played a mostly acoustic progressive rock style music with flutes, violin, keyboards, percussion, 12-string guitar, and electric bass. It was during this time in 1992 that the first "official" (though now deleted) album, Friction , was recorded.
Friction involved The SunMachine, but also included collaborations with other people, including the former members of Sally Dick & Jane. There were several tracks which were done by Phideaux himself, and many tracks included synthesizer and MIDI music. This album, despite lacking worldwide distribution, was met with a lukewarm response from audiences and it has since been deleted, remanded to status of "ambitious demo".
After a few aborted SunMachine recording sessions, the band ended in 1994 when Phideaux met former Live Skull drummer Rich Hutchins. They began to rehearse music together and both played in a band called Satyricon (not to be confused with the Norwegian black metal band of the same name). During that time, they started rehearsing the songs that became Ghost Story , and developed a working relationship; however, no suitable recordings of Ghost Story were made, and Phideaux left NYC for work in Los Angeles. [3]
Fiendish
In 2002, Phideaux began to work with Gabriel Moffat, Molly Ruttan's husband, on a series of new demos. He got back together with Rich Hutchins and recorded the album Fiendish . In the producer chair was Mark Kramer, known to Phideaux for his work with Bongwater, Brainville (with Daevid Allen, Pip Pyle and Hugh Hopper) and the Danielson Family. Fiendish was "progressive space folk", according to Phideaux, and contained 11 mid-length songs. The longest track, "Soundblast", took its lyrics from a leaflet dropped over Japan shortly after the detonation of the Little Boy atomic bomb at Hiroshima. [4] This album was released in 2003, despite the copyright of 2004 on the artwork.
Ghost Story
After completing Fiendish, Xavier was convinced that he was now prepared to record his songs from the aborted album Ghost Story. He and Hutchins quickly reconvened to redo that album with Gabriel Moffat producing and mixing. Ghost Story was released in 2004. The track "Beyond The Shadow of Doubt" features a keyboard solo from Mark Sherkus, who joined the project at that time. Sam Fenster, who had played bass in The SunMachine, played bass in the album. [5]
Chupacabras
While recording Fiendish in 2002, they had begun work on a 21-minute suite called "Chupacabras". This song was not completed in time for inclusion on Fiendish, so instead formed the basis for the 2005 release Chupacabras. This album includes a song from Phideaux and Hutchins' previous band, Satyricon, called "Titan". [6]
313
Phideaux decided to make an "album in a day". On March 13, 2004, Phideaux musicians converged in Los Angeles for an unrehearsed recording session. During that day, they composed and recorded 13 songs, but the sessions were shelved until after Chupacabras was released. In 2005, Phideaux and Gabriel Moffat polished up the recordings, and on March 13, 2006, released the album 313 (named for the date upon which it was recorded). The cover artwork for this album was by Margie Schnibbe, another childhood friend of Phideaux's.
The Great Leap and Doomsday Afternoon
In August 2005, while putting the finishing touches on 313, Phideaux and mates returned to the studio to record the first two parts of a projected "Trilogy" of albums telling of a near-future dystopia. [3] Part one, The Great Leap , was released in September 2006, and part two, Doomsday Afternoon , was released in 2007. The former features shorter songs and is somewhat more of a return to the simpler song structures of Ghost Story, whereas the latter is more akin to Chupacabras in its breadth, resembling symphonic prog to a greater degree. Its overarching ecological theme of man's refusal to face up to global warming along with its recurring musical themes lend the album a symphonic prog style structure and scale. Phideaux Xavier and many fans alike consider Doomsday Afternoon to be his masterpiece. The album's regular musicians are supplemented by members of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. [7] In 2007, Phideaux's band played in the US and at the Festival Crescendo in St Palais-sur-Mer, France.
Number Seven
After almost a two-year wait, Phideaux released Number Seven . Although Number Seven is technically the follow-up to Doomsday Afternoon, it is not part three of the "Trilogy." It's a three-part concept album telling the story of a struggle between a dormouse and a crayfish. [8]
Phideaux planned to release Seven and ½ later in 2010, which the band states is an appendix to Number Seven. Phideaux has announced that he would like to release Seven and ½, remaster Doomsday Afternoon and create a live performance DVD before working on Infernal , the finale of his trilogy. [9]
Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or quasi-classical compositions of the latter.
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Theocracy is an American Christian progressive power metal band founded in 2002 by Matt Smith of Athens, Georgia. They have released five albums and multiple Christmas singles.
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Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982.
Friction is the debut album by psychedelic progressive gothic rock composer Phideaux Xavier. It was released in 1993. It is not, however, considered as an official album by him.
Fiendish is the first album released by composer Phideaux Xavier.
Ghost Story is the second album released by composer Phideaux Xavier.
313 is the fourth album released by composer Phideaux Xavier.
The Great Leap is the fifth album released by composer Phideaux Xavier.
Gazpacho are an art rock band from Norway. The original core of the band consisted of Jan-Henrik Ohme (vocals), Jon-Arne Vilbo (guitar), and Thomas Andersen. They started making music together in 1996, and the band has since expanded with Mikael Krømer, Robert R Johansen (drums), and Kristian Torp (bass).
Doomsday Afternoon is the sixth studio album by American musician Phideaux Xavier, and the second part of his projected "Trilogy" of albums dealing with "Big Brother" authoritarianism and ecological crisis, after part one, The Great Leap. It features more elaborate progressive rock song structures, similar to Chupacabras and his next two albums. To date, this is his most well known and critically acclaimed album, and Phideaux Xavier considers it to be his "masterpiece".
Guy Manning is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer, best known for his own album releases (Manning), the DAMANEK band albums and for his membership of progressive rock bands Parallel or 90 Degrees, The Tangent and The United Progressive Fraternity (UPF).
Number Seven is the seventh studio album by American musician Phideaux Xavier. It is a concept album based on its main character; a dormouse. Inside, it features 20 pages of artwork featuring the dormouse and other characters.
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Infernal is the ninth studio album by American musician Phideaux Xavier, said to be the third and final part of his projected "Trilogy" of albums dealing with "Big Brother" authoritarianism and ecological crisis, after part one, The Great Leap, and part two, Doomsday Afternoon. It was initially announced to be ready in 2013. In 2015, Phideaux published the whole lyrics on his Facebook page and announced that the whole album was in the post-production phase, expecting to release it in 2016. In May 2018, Phideaux posted on the progressive rock forum Prog Archives that the album was finished and in the process of being mastered, with the artwork ready for printing. Five days before its intended release, it was announced that the album's release had been pushed back until September 9. The album was digitally released 9 days early on August 31.
Gleb Kolyadin is a Russian pianist, composer, and arranger who mixes progressive rock and jazz fusion with neoclassical styles. He has released music both as a solo artist and as a member of the prog duo iamthemorning.
