Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriel Phillips
Hi Gabriel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up with musical grandparents and at 13 I was gifted my first squire Stratocaster in the swimming pool of a hotel in Duluth’s canal park. My parents surprised me with it on my birthday and from that moment on my journey with music began with learning new instruments, playing covers in friends’ basements and experimenting with songwriting. I never considered myself a singer until I began performing original acoustic songs like “Corridor” and a slew of covers in 2019 around Minneapolis.
Right before the pandemic struck, I secured an artist showcase in April at moto-i in Uptown. I was invited back after performing a short set for bar goers and some of my closest friends a few weeks prior. Unfortunately, I never returned for the artist showcase as things shut down marking the beginning of COVID-19 but fortunately for me that’s when the most fulfilling part of my musical journey began; the genesis of the Aftertime.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I find that the most common side effect of creating original and inspired music is imposter syndrome. The creative brilliance of your greatest inspirations can weigh heavily on your own psyche and deter confidence. Playing back your own music either in your head or in a recorded track creates space for comparison by yourself and others. On the flip side, the most salient compliment you can receive is often stated by a fellow musician. Whether that’s a nod while you’re in the middle of a jam session or a critique on composition, tone or technique from an interested and informed listener.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The Aftertime is the vehicle that reflects my fixations. I fell in love with jangle pop instrumentation and the rebellious existentialism of Brit Rock in general. At age 7, I remember loading up FIFA 98 on my family’s tan windows desktop in Champlin, MN, joystick in hand, and marveling over the resonant sound of Song 2 by Blur. This two minute song became my song number one and it shifted my mindset forever. I never stopped admiring the creation of that purposeful sound every time I loaded that game up. If The Aftertime aspires to anything it’s to echo the spirit of bands like The Smiths, Blur, and Oasis—where melody is informed by melancholy resulting in an analog timeless sonic haze.
Songs that speak to me never cease to be universal in their resolution. As far as songwriters are concerned I’m inspired by the weight of Conor Oberst’s catalog and the rich lyricism that holds it together. Same goes for the conceptual profundity fueling Claudio Sanchez’s Amory Wars and the raw theatricality of Gerard Way’s intonations and dynamism on stage.
The vocal hook in our song ‘Ambrosia’—’I can’t taste a thing and you can’t taste anything’ is a paradoxical intrusive thought that catches its subject in between the virtue of abstinence and indulgence. Is it better to hold off or risk it all? Does this matter? Those are the feelings we saturate ourselves in. Exploiting the connectedness people share with each other in the shared purpose of musical longing which overrides divisiveness and breeds excellence is the point. My end goal is to make The Aftertime a minimum viable act who performs shows but also a social group comprised of musicians in Minneapolis.
The band James once said: “sit down next to me, in love, in fear, in hate, in tears, sit down next to me”. I take that as inspiration in building this dream out. As the first verse of their forthcoming self-titled song states:
“The Aftertime’s gonna be alright
I think about it from time
Laced up shoes
Toss the die
Everything you’re looking for is right here”
Pricing:
- No pricing but would love to direct readers to my Apple Music or Spotify artist pages. I’ll include them below::
- https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gDLvuw1iQWlz8tsndkSVB?si=4qe2CVMaQDSuLYWV5CariA
- https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-aftertime/1731441734
Contact Info:
- Email: theaftertimemusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaftertime
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCCQdudJD4NDJvRv01ar8Qig?si=2YQV8gWYV5b71G73
