Exposed Vocals Interviews Phil T
Phil T started falling in love with music way before he said his 1st word, but he started being a deejay at the age of 13. He used the name “Dj Mtamerr”. He learnt how to deejay from his brother Nkululeko Gift Ngwenya and his friends Smanga Myeni and Mabhiza who is well known as Dj Nsobo from Kalawa Jazmee.
At the age of 14 in high school he took interest in learning how to make the tracks he played at the events, tracks that inspired him to do more. Most tracks by Tortured Soul, Samantha James, Julian Jabre, Chris Lake etc, and local producers/artists Dj Clock, Dj Tira and Dj Gukwa also inspired him. He took time listening to these producers/artists, he was inspired by this new sound that they bring into the market. From then onwards he knew he had to come up with his own style/sound that will create a buzz.
Later on he met Msizi Msomi (Manager) who groomed him and taught him more on how to take his talent and turn it into a business and to see himself as a brand. They went from event to event pushing hard. The name “Dj Mtamerr” was hard to pronounce so they had to come up with a new name which is Phil T. The stage name “Phil T” was taken from both his names “Thamsanqa + Phillip”.
In 2011 Phil T met KingIce and Dj Madlisa in Durban Club 58. They formed a group called Nakedboys, Nakedboys is one of the Gqom Originators.
In 2012 Phil T was signed into a label called Outy Records that is owned by Lyle Egling aka Charly Deep. In Outy Records Phil T Started falling inlove with Deep House again. He then learnt how to be versatile.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Phil T: I grew up in South Africa, Durban City in a big township called Umlazi. I’m from a place where everybody gets into the spirit of being involved in art. In Umlazi almost every household you would find music playing during the day. I used to love toys that played music when I was a little boy so my parents knew what to get me as a toy, an instrument or a radio. Growing up my brothers found out that I know how to mix music on turntables without even knowing anything about mixing. At the age of 14 I started producing music every day. Since then I knew that I had it in me, and people told me to stick to music. Music makes happy times happier and sad times less painful. It’s my escape from reality, that’s why I became an artist.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Phil T: The name Phil T came from my birth names Thamsanqa and Phillip. My manager “Msizi Msomi” and I combined both my names and we came up with Phil T. Phil stands for Phillip and the T stands for Thamsanqa.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Phil T: I think online sharing makes things easy for us artists in terms of promoting our craft. Even when stores are closed we know that online stores are always open to sell our music. I do give some of my music away for free because I believe in sharing my music with everyone, even the people who can’t afford.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Phil T: Register your music, believe in yourself and help another person with the knowledge and experience you’ve got.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Phil T: I’m inspired by musical styles from various genres, church and sometimes my friends from Outy Records would come up with something for me to work on.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Phil T: https://soundcloud.com/phil-t-nakedboys
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Phil T: I would spend it on music, my family and give some money to a charity organization.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Phil T: There’s numerous ways to promote music these days. Platforms like twitter, facebook, soundcloud and youtube work just fine for me.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Phil T: I have five Ep’s coming up this year. I will be dropping four of them all at once before June, and I will drop my last ep for this year in November. The Ep’s I’m dropping are as follows:
- Dimensions Ep: It’s all about deep tech house music
- Re-Phil Ep: A mixture of deep house and dance tracks
- Phunk Aphrica Ep: Afro house music mixed with Electro and deep tech from various artists
- Kasi Tape Ep: This Ep will be dedicated to “Gqom” music fans.
- Unknown Ep: Music from various underground artists
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Phil T: I think I would be an I.T technician since I like computers.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Phil T: Time management is the key for me; I plan my day the day before. And my team “Outy Records” helps me out if I need to sought out anything that concerns my music when I’m not around.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Phil T: Growth and inspiration to give to all my fans, a whole new style mixed with my old style from my ep’s.