Today, we’d like to introduce you to Phil Hyland. Phil was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Josh Wilhelm.
Hi Phil , we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in beautiful, Richmond VA. My parents were both journalists from New York City and New Jersey in the 1960s. My father got a job at the Richmond News Leader and my folks made the move. So, my brother and I were born and raised in Richmond by two “Yankees” in the South (which proved to be an interesting upbringing!).
My parents found a great little house in the Carillon district in Byrd Park. This was a period of white flight. White families were moving to the suburbs and I believe the real estate agent was discouraging my parents from buying in this particular neighborhood. My neighborhood is now recognized as a frontrunner in racially integrated neighborhoods in the US. Here’s a link if you’re curious: https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/the-carillon-neighborhood-celebrates-its-historic-designation-for-an-uncommon-reason/Content?oid=2379860
My parents bought the house and I got to grow up in an integrated neighborhood right at the tail end of “bussing”.
Early on I got exposed to music, art, and drama and eventually became a professional actor for a period of time (starting out at what is now the Virginia Repertory Theatre). I got into the Screen Actors Guild when NBC shot “Gore Vidals: Lincoln” in Richmond and I got a bit part with one line.
I eventually moved to Hollywood and then New York City and then back to Hollywood where I worked for the majority of my career. Music became a major part of my artistic expression and I co-founded the band Girlfriend in NYC in the early 1990s (which was a great time to be in a band in Manhattan BTW).
Once I started my own family, the actor and musician life, as we all know, is not always the best for a married couple. So, I migrated to working behind the scenes in logistics at motion picture camera manufacturer, PANAVISION and then at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank CA.
Over my career I have always been involved in music and film and TV production.
Please talk to us about your music.
Sure! I am on all the streaming platforms as, Phil Hyland so go check it out! I release singles and EPS and you can also check out my band, Girlfriend, from my early days in NYC in the roaring 1990s! In Girlfriend we played Woodstock 1998: A Day in the Garden (no this was not THE Woodstock reboot where they burned the whole place down…that was the next year in 1999. We’re OK missing THAT one!) and sat down for a radio interview with the icon, Joey Ramone (from the Ramones, of course!). We had a colorful short career in NYC. Before I got serious about my band I was in the CBS Schoolbreak Special , “Sexual Considerations” (based on the Clarence Thomas vs. Anita Hill case) with Chandra Wilson (of “Grey’s Anatomy” fame) and I was in some really bad B movie work and some equally bad TV work (but you gotta start somewhere, people!!!). You can IMBD me 😉 I worked a lot behind the scenes as a photographic assistant on a lot of album cover shoots. I was a camera assistant on the last season of “X Files”. I was in the Bahamas with the fantastic Bahamen working with the photographer, Dale May (dalemayphotography.com) on the now iconic album cover for “Who Let the Dogs Out”. As you can see, I’ve had a mix of behind the scenes and in front of the camera (and mic) work. This is the path it took me on. When I was not working as an actor I was working as a stage rigger on shows with Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow to driving camera trucks to and from set. This stems from me being a particularly terrible student so…once I graduated from high school in Richmond, I hightailed it to Hollywood on a wing and a prayer.
Josh Wilhelm and JW Creates have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Josh Wilhelm and JW Creates and your experience with them.
I met Josh Wilhelm (aka JW Creates) at my church, C4, in Hixson TN. He plays acoustic guitar in the worship band and he and I trade off Sunday’s playing. So my first experience with Josh was as a musician first! He is a talented player and then I learned about his graphic design skills through Backbeat Sound Recording Studios in Chattanooga TN where I record some of my projects.
Josh started a cool podcast called “Judged by the Cover” which explores the art of graphic design in album covers. He dives into the concept art of classic albums which I find very interesting. As an artist, your album cover is one of the first impressions you make on a person. I have purchased albums solely based on the album art! I knew Josh has a love of all things music and art which led to many conversations and eventually, me hiring him to create several album cover designs for my music projects.
I like the way Josh takes time to learn about my song(s) and discover what inspired it (which, in turn, informs his design). I’m so close to the music I do not usually have a very clear idea about how I want my album art to look. Plus, I find it more fruitful to collaborate with professional creatives as the sum result is almost always better than what I was thinking of!
My first graphic design job with Josh has turned into several including him creating a new logo for my Phil Hyland brand. He captures the essence of what I am trying to communicate through my music.
Website: https://philhyland.com/home
Instagram: @philhyland
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philhyland/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilHyland/featured
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/phil-hyland
Other: https://about.me/phyland
Image Credits
Dale May and Tom Legoff
