Phil Madeley
Words by Antonella Madrid Photographs by Willow Shields
We sat down with Phil Madeley on a park hill in Peckham, happening to catch the glimpse of sun before the inevitable, umbrella-bending downpour that happened shortly after. Phil is a singer-songwriter from Birmingham, and currently based in South London. His EP ‘21st Century Witch Hunt,’ was recorded at RAK Studios and released under Nice Swan Records in September 2020.
His most recent single, ‘This Time,’ was released in August this year. When asked to compare it to his other tracks, Phil says, “I’d say it’s slightly more upbeat, not to say that the other stuff wasn’t upbeat, but I feel that it’s more direct, it’s punchier…” As the single was written over a year ago, its release now was fully intentional. “We just decided to wait until we could tour really, because this song is a great song live. To be able to play it live was very important,” he explains. The topics mentioned in this track are reoccurring throughout Phil’s discography. “It’s very self-critical. It’s about the idea of having everything now. It’s about being self-obsessed and instant gratification. It’s about the perils of consumerism and patriarchy essentially, which is, you know, it’s a lot of problems,” he acknowledges.
We delve into the production aspect of the track and his relationship with the process. “I’m very involved (with production). I’ve obviously got a very keen interest on the sound, so I work closely with the sound of the musicians that we’re playing with, with everybody’s sound. I’m heavily involved with the mixing process. The track (This Time) was produced by Ali Chant, he was amazing.” When asked about his personal mixing style, he states, “I like to focus a lot on how I sound and my voice. I’m keen on that to be very prominent and defined… The vocals are a very defined part of what I do.”
It’s Phil’s first time performing live in a year and half, and in the same way artists grow and change, so can their performance styles. “I feel that it’s going to be relatively similar. Obviously, we’re going to be performing a lot of new songs. There’s the new single that we’ll be playing, the EP, and then there’s a lot of new material that we’ll be playing as well. So that’s quite varied in its style I’d say. But overall, it is largely, I’d say sort of indie, rock, but there’s definitely a country influence in the newer stuff,” he explains. Like many, Phil has widened his sonic palette over the past year, alluding to names such as Laura Marling and Big Thief as his recent songwriting inspirations. If you happen to catch Phil on tour, you’ll notice the band is the same as his last shows. “I met the band through previous management about two years ago, and we started working on some songs together. They were based up in Leeds, so I was having to travel up to Leeds and they were having to travel down to London. We just got on really well, and then we carried on working together.”
“It is largely where it takes you. Which sounds conceited, but it really is just that,”
While most of his songs are written on acoustic guitar, at times, his songwriting inspiration can be a bit unusual. “A lot of stuff that I pick up can be from people’s conversations. I guess that’s pretty strange, listening in on people’s conversations,” he admits. Considering Phil’s tracks are lyrically and thematically complex, it would be assumed that a strategy would be in place for each writing session. This however, is rarely the case for Madeley. “I mean, everyone says this, but it is just what comes. I guess if you just went into a song-writing session and you were like ‘right, we’re going to try and write a song to this brief that sounds sad’, then okay, there’s your starting point. But it is largely almost where it takes you. Which sounds conceited, but it really is just that,” he nods.
I question him on how he knows when a song is truly finished. “I don’t know, because a song is never finished. It’s hard to part ways with that, really. Often, I’ll have a song that’ll be like three quarters finished, and then I’ll put it to the band, and then that’s when I’ll sort of be like, ‘right yeah this is finished,’ and I’ll listen back to it with the band. The ‘this is finished’ feeling is a compromise that happens when you’ve had three rounds of mixing and the track’s been mastered. Then you’re like, ‘right, this has to be finished because we’ve spent a grand on it.’ So that’s when it’s finished. It’s that last leg really because until it’s been given away, I find it very difficult to sort of be happy with it,” he explains.
Phil has opened for acclaimed bands in the past including FUR, Do Nothing, and Feet. I ask him if he performs differently as an opener compared to as a headliner. “I’d say there’s a certain degree of status that comes with headlining and the difference between doing that and supporting. But largely, no. You perform the same show. I guess you just have to play the set you’re going to play regardless, whether it’s a support, or whether it’s a headline. I guess the only difference with it being a headline is that people have come to see you, you know. So, I guess it’s a degree of confidence that stems from that. You know you’re not having to prove yourself so much. But, I think you can’t get into the business of compromising a set because it’s a support show. You have to play the best you can play regardless,” he notes.
The best of each of his performance roles, you ask? Easy answer. “I think that FUR show that we played, the Nice Swan night, that was really, really good. That was a great crowd all the way throughout the night. And the best headline we did was a single launch for ‘21st Century Witch Hunt’ about a year ago, at Rye Wax in Peckham. That was really, really fun,” he affirms.
He recalls the most memorable gig he’s gone to. “I saw Do Nothing at Rye Wax about a year ago, and that was unbelievable. I just think they’re amazing, they’re so refined. It’s such a refined sound, not in a derivative way, it’s just on-point, different, and super unique. And I love their lyrics. It’s just amazing and they’re just cracking, amazing live. We’ve supported them in Southampton as well and that was amazing as well, that was really cool,” he extols.
I ask Phil if the London scene become more comprehensible the longer he is involved in it. “I feel that I understand it. I’ve gotten to grips with the bands that are on the scene, but I guess it is constantly evolving. The sound is evolving, bands mature. Bands that were there a year ago are putting out more progressed work, so that’s quite an interesting thing to hear,” he notes.
After his release of ‘21st Century Witch Hunt’, the religious motif remained in his branding. Those subscribed to his mailing automatically receiving Phil Madeley church pins in the post. However, a few selected individuals were sent these pins as an invitation to join the church. These people being Boris, Trump, and Bolsonaro. “I was excited to see maybe whether Trump would somehow maybe even think it was real. I tried to write it in a real way that he could relate to. Something that was so fierce that maybe, even been taken of as serious. But, in the end, nobody replied,” he answers. When asked if any other individuals are currently being considered for recruitment, Madeley says, “I don’t know… I mean, to what point does the fallacy turn on itself and eventually, I become the one that is reaching out and persecuting these people. At the end of the day, you have to let them come to you really.”
We discuss his pursuits if music were out of the picture. “I’d write, I love journalism. I studied politics. I looked into doing music journalism because I thought that was an interesting course at UAL as well. I really enjoy stuff like that, I really enjoy writing. But journalism is brutal, and hard, and music is almost easier than that because it’s self-rewarding. Because you can just write and create, and that in itself is a large part of the reward. Whereas with journalism, it’s just brutal. You’re constantly chasing. And whether it’s music journalism or politics, I mean, these guys will do this political journalism and they’re just like twenty-four-seven. And with all types of journalism, you’re constantly having to react, but like, immediately. I’d like to write more stuff, I’ve written for people and magazines,” he asserts.
If you’re an aspiring musician in London, consider Phil’s advice to his younger self: “Do free entry gigs. It’s just a great way to get people to come when you haven’t got any music out. Free is the biggest seller of all you know, and that’s an amazing way to get people to come to gigs. And go to gigs; another thing that’s a very good thing to do. Go to gigs, see other bands, learn. I mean… I’m still starting out, so all this advice is advice that I can still apply,” he emphasises.
During the spring of 2020, or what many recall as simply peak lockdown, the first episode of Phil’s Come to Brazil series was released. Phil is half Brazilian, fully utilising his knowledge of Brazilian music culture and the Portuguese language with this project. With the theme song written none other than by the man himself, Madeley performs a total of four acoustic Bossa Nova style tracks. The songs featured include covers of ‘Vai De Leve’ and ‘As Lagrimas Do Ceu’, as well as adapted versions of his released original tracks ‘21st Century Witch Hunt’ and ‘Same Skies’. For fans of the series who were left wanting more, do not fret. “There will be more Come to Brazil. I’m planning on going to Brazil at the end of the year if things calm down. So that would be pretty amazing if I could do a Come to Brazil from Brazil.
The thing is, it was a very lockdown thing, you know what I mean, everybody was doing these things. And now, I guess you try and focus on the real aspect of it, which is playing live and recording, and stuff like that. Yeah, it was fun man, it was a very funny thing to do. It was pretty mad that we did it all within the confines of the house. I lived with my manager and he came out and videoed, and we were just like doing as much as we could front the front garden, before we could even leave the house,” he laughs.
The idea for the series stemming from a well-known internet joke. “People had always joked with me about ‘Come to Brazil’, you know. My friends from Brazil would always insist on writing comments of ‘Come to Brazil’, I think they’re aware of the joke. And then I realised well, you know I can sing in Portuguese, I can speak Portuguese, I know a few Brazilian songs, and I’ve written a couple of Bossa Nova style songs,” Madeley recalls. You might get the chance to hear one of these tracks live if you’re fortunate enough to catch Phil on tour. “I’m going play them live. I don’t think I’d record them though. I feel like I’d have to be slightly more established in order to diversify to that extent,” he admits.
We ruminate on the concept of social media, his relationship to it, and its role in the future of up-and-coming artists. “I’d struggle to have a social media account had it not been for making music and intending to advertise that. A lot of my family and my friends follow my social media account, half of my followers are friends and family really. They’re seeing that but, I guess they’re in the know from me speaking to them, inviting them to shows, and stuff like that. I would say that my social media is very much professional. I’m trying to just keep it as that really. I’ve tried to diversify and make things more casual at times, but it really is an afterthought for me in terms of doing things and then posting it to social media if it’s not to do with music,” he says. He describes his feelings when away from social media. “I feel isolated not in a personal way, but in a career way and in a music way. I’d say that I feel isolated without social media. Which is obviously the peril because we owe so much to it, but it takes so much away in terms of the reality of things. It’s difficult really because it is just so important,” Phil expresses.
“at the end of the day being able to play a gig every single day of your life. That’s it, that’s all you want to do.”
I him ask if there is a way to be an up-and-coming artist without having a social media. “No. How? There’s the people who can go to the gig and you can see them play, see a banner on the wall, and you’re like, ‘right, I’m going to go see that gig.’ But it just doesn’t seem possible. That’s actually a bit of panic for a lot of artists I can imagine; I mean, it definitely still is panicking me. Because if I’m not active on this platform, then this is essentially the lens through which everybody is seeing me. It’s how I’m presenting my image; it’s how I’m presenting my music. Okay, there’s other things like Spotify, where people can find and go to the source, but even then, Spotify is turning into social media really. The idea of creating playlists, the way you have to design your page, you know, image is such a huge, important factor. I’m not sitting here being all like, ‘it’s a waste of time’, because image is hugely important, and it is part of the creative process. But it comes to a point where it’s difficult because you’re competing with algorithms and consistency of posting to achieve what you want to achieve, which at the end of the day is being able to play a gig every single day of your life. That’s it, that’s all you want to do. On the other hand, it’s a hugely rewarding thing because it works for both sides. It works for people who are fans, I’m a fan, therefore I can see things about the artist that I like. And fans can see things about stuff to do with me, so there’s like a trade-off. I guess it’s just difficult really. It’s like you owe so much to it but also you don’t want to be constrained by it, and you don’t want to be dependent on it. Nobody wants to be dependent on it,” he says defeatedly.
I question him on if he moderates his media consumption. “I try but recently with the single coming up, I have a written notice over the last week, my usage has gone through the roof. Just trying to get my eye in again. This year for about three months I didn’t post anything, rarely went on it. And then my manager was like, ‘look, we need to get back on. This tour is going to happen at some point, and we need to promote it and we need to promote the new singles.’ I guess it is a case of trying to confine the amount of usage but, it’s hard isn’t it? Because you have to use it to succeed on it,” he states.
I pose the question of how much of Phil Madeley’s artistic image is truly him and how much is for show. “It’s all me. I would never do that. I wear the clothes that I wear, I am who I am. I say social media is a professional thing, but it is still a representation of me. However, purely through that lens of Phil Madeley the Musician, it’s not anything else, any other aspect. It’s just that aspect of who I am, which is a big aspect of who I am. Music is all I want to be and all I am, that’s it. I guess it’s a no-brainer that my social media accounts would be one hundred percent music. But yeah, it’s all real.”
And perhaps the most important piece of information garnered from this chat was Madeley’s food shopping input. “My least favourite supermarket is Sainsburys in Brockley. There’s a small one and it just sucks, everything is so expensive, and there’s nothing there. And they push you into buying like really expensive stuff cause it’s a Sainsburys local, so yeah, I hate that. I’ll never ever go there ever again.”