Simon Phillips joins Preston Frazier for a Something Else! Sitdown to discuss the new album Protocol V, key contributors from his new band, and how it felt to get back on the road:
PRESTON FRAZIER: Why did you decide to jump back into Protocol? You had released four projects and the box set.
SIMON PHILLIPS: It had been five years since Protocol IV, so I felt it was time. Plus, I wanted to showcase the new band. We played a tour called “Protocol 30,” and we expanded the band to a five-piece. I brought a horn back. I used to have horns in the band during the Out of the Blue and Symbiosis era, and I love having a horn player in the band. I met an outstanding sax player [Jacob Scesney] in Ojai, who I played with, who introduced me to a wonderful guitar player [Alex Sill].
Alex has a very different style than what I had before. He’s a player in the mode of Alex Holdsworth. I started writing a little more in the Holdsworth-ian style on Protocol IV, which Greg Howe played on. Even though it’s a significant change for me, both Alex and Jacob fit in well. My arrangements are suited to alto or tenor saxophone, and I’ve always loved the sound of electric guitar and alto. It’s a very powerful sound. I’m writing more for tenor than alto, but it’s a very powerful sound.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Bassist Ernest Tibbs has been the anchor of your band.
SIMON PHILLIPS: Ernest joined in 2013, when I recorded Protocol, which also features Steve Weingart on keys. Ernest has been a solid foundation of the band. He’s so wonderful. I approach playing fusion from a rock view and I’m groove-oriented. Some players, especially bass players, think, “oh, jazz, I can play lots of notes.” My bass parts are very orchestrated. When I send demos to the band, which I play on keyboards, the band has a very good idea about the approach. Ernest is all about the groove. He was a lovely sound and is always locked in. He’s a mainstay of the band.
PRESTON FRAZIER: This is keyboardist Otmaro Ruiz’s second album with you?
SIMON PHILLIPS: No, it’s his first. Dennis Hamm played keyboards on Protocol IV, but has an engagement with Thundercat and couldn’t tour with us. He recommended Otmaro, who I played with a few times, and it was a great fit. The feel and the way he views harmony is different than Steve Weingart. Musicians of that calibre have their own voice. Otmaro is fluid and has a Latin feel. We play a lots of songs in 6/8 and 12. He’s perfect for that. They are both phenomenal yet different players.
PRESTON FRAZIER: You wrote “When the Cat’s Away” with keyboardist Jeff Babko?
SIMON PHILLIPS: We wrote that about 12 years ago for a direct to two-track recording with Bill Schnee. There were no overdubs. This is one of the songs we had partially written. I needed one more track for Protocol V, and it was a groove track, so I went through my catalog of unfinished songs. Sometimes the gap in time between when you start a song and return to it gives perspective. That song was in a different time signature, and I also redid the melody. My Vantage Point album [from 2000] was a straight-ahead bebop album, unlike this song.
PRESTON FRAZIER: How about “The Long Road Home”?
SIMON PHILLIPS: I co-wrote that with Alex Sill. I was on tour with Hiromi in Japan around 2016, and I worked in my hotel room on Protools and my keyboard. I came up with the acoustic guitar track which was different than what I was writing for Protocol IV. I saved it and in 2020, Alex and Jacob came over. I played it to Alex, who loved it. I asked him how it would fit into Protocol and he asked me to send him the MIDI file. He played around with it, and it turned into a 10-minute arrangement. Once the demo was done, Otmaro came up with a fantastic piano solo.
PRESTON FRAZIER: How did you develop “Jagannath”?
SIMON PHILLIPS: I had written most of the album. That one was written just before recording, after my new studio was up and running. I needed an uptempo track for the album; that was what I had in mind. I started early one morning on the keyboard, and I had the feel. I incorporated another part from another song in my library and it fit. I use Protools MIDI sequencer, and a couple of keyboards – and I have a new Moog. I use all plugins with a template of the band – bass, Rhodes, drums and horns. That template is what I usually start with for the demos. Sometimes a sound will lead to a new song.
A lot of them start with melody. “Undeviginti” was actually melody first. I just sang the tune, which came into my head. I had no idea what the time signature was; it just felt right. I then put it into Protools just to get it down. I found the tempo then got the notes down. It’s based on a Bulgarian folk theme – not the music, but the theme. I like to have something challenging on every album to play. Protocol V is a departure from its predecessors. I’m very proud of the compositions, and it was great to record with a new band. We recorded the entire band live in the studio. Jason Mariani, the engineer, was very much part of the recording process and I mixed the album. We are very proud of it. Hopefully we will tour for it.
PRESTON FRAZIER: How did your recent gig at Catalina go? It’s been a long time since the band was on stage.
SIMON PHILLIPS: It was absolutely amazing. The band was fantastic and it was great playing to an audience. Our last gig was about two years ago at the same place, Jan. 18, 2020. I went to Japan after that to support another artist, and then everything was cancelled March 4.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Did you gig songs for Protocol V before COVID?
SIMON PHILLIPS: No, Protocol V hadn’t been invented yet. I started writing primarily in 2020. I was living in a rental house, since my home was destroyed by the fires in California. I had time, even though I was busy with other productions. I started in March, April 2020.
PRESTON FRAZIER: Finally, what are your five favorite albums?
SIMON PHILLIPS: That’s tough, because they change every time I’m asked this question – Chicago’s Chicago Transit Authority, Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick, John McLaughlin’s Is That So?, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and Eddie Palmieri’s Palmas.
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