In TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY style, one day Phil was working for a messenger service, selling frozen meat out of a full-size freezer tied to the back of a pickup truck and painting the garage of a hot shot record producer and the next, trading the paintbrush for a Les Paul to play on Tommy Lee’s new project, Methods of Mayhem (MCA 1999). The new kid was on the block and had the heads a spinnin’. Playing for Tommy Lee led to playing for Rob Zombie, who gave Phil’s phone number to Alice Cooper (Phil played some crazy shit on “Brutal Planet”, Spitfire Records 2000), while becoming the in-house guitar player for producer Scott Humphrey laying down some “X Magic” on Andrew W.K.’s “I Get Wet”, BT’s “Emotional Technology” and more recordings by Tommy Lee and Rob Zombie. Not only did Phil record “Brick House” with Mr. Zombie for the “House of 1,000 Corpses” movie soundtrack, he performed the Commodores’ smash hit live on The Tonight Show (Jay Leno) with Rob and Lionel Ritchie as well.

In the summer of 2003, Phil got a call from Our Lady Peace singer/songwriter Raine Maida who was producing some songs for Avril Lavigne. Raine and Phil hit it off instantly and recorded 10 songs for “Under My Skin” (Arista 2004) of which 5 actually made the cd line-up. When Raine received word from Clive Davis to produce 2 songs for Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” cd (Island 2005), he called Phil to step up to the guitar plate once again.

In the first 2 months of 2005, Phil composed, recorded and produced music for a Mattel Hot Wheels National commercial, a FOX SPORTS Baseball Brand theme and a German Mercedes Car commercial. He also wrote a song for the new Tommy Lee solo cd (to be released in May 2005) and recorded guitars for producer Howard Benson (Hoobastank, Papa Roach, POD) and producer/songwriter Holly Knight (Pat Benatar, Heart, Tina Turner) for an upcoming Fefe Dobson record on Island Def Jam (Can we drop names or what?).

During this wonderful time of achievement and notoriety, Phil co-created an incredible theatrical ROCK phenomenon known as POWDER with singer/songwriter/superhero Ninette Terhart. POWDER, an aggressive delivery of hook laden pop songs performed in a fantastic unstoppable machine of a show, amazed the “industry” only to send it cowering away confused with it’s tail between it’s legs. But… the fans kept coming so it became all about THE FANS. Without any label or outside support, POWDER was included on major international compilation releases, feature film soundtracks and major network TV shows and had a high production video produced and aired on MTV2. Their outstanding live show also started attracting a celebrity filled audience ranging from actors Gary Busey and Carmen Electra to full fledged Rock Stars C.C. Deville of Poison and Paul Stanley of KISS who reportedly expressed that POWDER was “…the best band I’ve seen in 20 years.” Since signing with indie label CONTINENTAL ENTERTAINMENT INC. in 2003, POWDER released a cd in the UK and Europe and crossed the Atlantic twice in 2004 to spread the love, the word and THE ROCK. They played the Download Festival in Donington with the likes of Linkin Park and Metallica and their comic-book-come-to-life “UP HERE” video was #1 requested video on KERRANG TV and SCUZ TV. POWDER is preparing for a JAPAN release in April 2005 and a US release late spring 2005.

If that’s not enough to keep one busy, Phil put a side project together called THE DRILLS in late 2003 so he could explore a completely different canvas to that of POWDER. THE DRILLS is a raw / in-your-face 3 piece mixing the ingredients of old KISS, Elvis Costello and the Foo Fighters with Phil screaming his brains out over top of his powerful guitar work.

“I am blessed with my talent and being surrounded by wonderful people that I can share it with.” Phil Xh.” Phil X