Phideaux Xavier (born Scott Riggs; January 14, 1963) is an American television director, and composer of modern technological music that he describes as 'psychedelic progressive gothic rock', who grew up near

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

but now lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life

Phideaux was born Scott Riggs on January 14, 1963 in

Hastings-on-Hudson Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manha ...

, one of three children. He started composing music in high school.

Career

Previous bands

Phideaux first played with Mark Sherkus (piano), Dean Deluke (drums), and Bucky Deluke (trumpet) in ESP. He was later part of a band called the Delukes from Southern California. Next, Xavier played with Molly Ruttan (drums), Linda Ruttan-Moldawsky (bass) and Amanda Ettlinger (flute) in a progressive rock band called Mirkwood, which later morphed into a punk/pop band called Sally Dick & Jane, after the departure of Amanda Ettlinger, and the addition of vocalist/keyboardist Valerie Gracius. They played at various legendary NYC clubs, including

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...

and

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, during the early to mid 1980s, but failed to record anything of substance and were marginal to the scene.

Friction

After Sally Dick & Jane ended, Phideaux worked on music alone as a one-man recording project. He attended school at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

for film and television production. After graduating from college, Phideaux decided to return to the collaborative aspect of music and formed an acoustic-themed band called The SunMachine with childhood friend Ariel Farber (violin/vocals) and various other musicians. They played a mostly acoustic

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

style music with flutes, violin, keyboards, percussion, 12-string guitar, and electric bass. It was during this time in 1992 that the first "official" (though now deleted) album, ''

Friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of t ...

'', was recorded. ''Friction'' involved The SunMachine, but also included collaborations with other people, including the former members of Sally Dick & Jane. There were several tracks which were done by Phideaux himself, and many tracks included

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

and

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

music. This album, despite lacking worldwide distribution, was met with a lukewarm response from audiences and it has since been deleted, remanded to status of "ambitious demo". After a few aborted SunMachine recording sessions, the band ended in 1994 when Phideaux met former

Live Skull Live Skull is a post-punk/experimental rock band from New York City, formed in 1982. In an overview of their abrasive no wave-influenced music, ''Trouser Press'' said, "As part of the same New York avant-noisy scene that spawned Sonic Youth, Lyd ...

drummer Rich Hutchins. They began to rehearse music together and both played in a band called Satyricon (not to be confused with the Norwegian black metal band of the same name). During that time, they started rehearsing the songs that became ''

Ghost Story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...

'', and developed a working relationship; however, no suitable recordings of ''Ghost Story'' were made, and Phideaux left NYC for work in Los Angeles.

Fiendish

In 2002, Phideaux began to work with Gabriel Moffat, Molly Ruttan's husband, on a series of new demos. He got back together with Rich Hutchins and recorded the album ''

Fiendish ''Fiendish'' is the first album (previous album ''Friction'' isn't considered official by the band) released by composer Phideaux Xavier. In 2002, Phideaux began to work with Gabriel Moffat, on a series of new demos. He got back together with dr ...

''. In the producer chair was

Mark Kramer Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

, known to Phideaux for his work with Bongwater, Brainville (with

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966 ...

Pip Pyle Phillip "Pip" Pyle (4 April 1950 – 28 August 2006) was an English-born drummer from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who later resided in France. He is best known for his work in the progressive rock Canterbury scene bands Gong, Hatfield an ...

and

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting in ...

) and the

Danielson Family Danielson is an American rock band from Clarksboro, New Jersey, that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates. Smith has also released solo work as Bro ...

. ''Fiendish'' was "progressive space folk", according to Phideaux, and contained 11 mid-length songs. The longest track, "Soundblast", took its lyrics from a leaflet dropped over Japan shortly after the detonation of the

Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...

atomic bomb at

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

. This album was released in 2003, despite the copyright of 2004 on the artwork.

Ghost Story

After completing ''Fiendish'', Xavier was convinced that he was now prepared to record his songs from the aborted album ''Ghost Story''. He and Hutchins quickly reconvened to redo that album with Gabriel Moffat producing and mixing. ''Ghost Story'' was released in 2004. The track "Beyond The Shadow of Doubt" features a keyboard solo from Mark Sherkus, who joined the project at that time. Sam Fenster, who had played bass in The SunMachine, played bass in the album.

Chupacabras

While recording ''Fiendish'' in 2002, they had begun work on a 21-minute suite called "Chupacabras". This song was not completed in time for inclusion on ''Fiendish'', so instead formed the basis for the 2005 release ''Chupacabras''. This album includes a song from Phideaux and Hutchins' previous band, Satyricon, called "Titan".

313

Phideaux decided to make an "album in a day". On March 13, 2004, Phideaux musicians converged in Los Angeles for an unrehearsed recording session. During that day, they composed and recorded 13 songs, but the sessions were shelved until after ''Chupacabras'' was released. In 2005, Phideaux and Gabriel Moffat polished up the recordings, and on March 13, 2006, released the album '' 313'' (named for the date upon which it was recorded). The cover artwork for this album was by Margie Schnibbe, another childhood friend of Phideaux's.

The Great Leap and Doomsday Afternoon

In August 2005, while putting the finishing touches on ''313'', Phideaux and mates returned to the studio to record the first two parts of a projected "Trilogy" of albums telling of a near-future dystopia. Part one, '' The Great Leap'', was released in September 2006, and part two, '' Doomsday Afternoon'', was released in 2007. The former features shorter songs and is somewhat more of a return to the simpler song structures of ''Ghost Story'', whereas the latter is more akin to ''Chupacabras'' in its breadth, resembling symphonic prog to a greater degree. Its overarching ecological theme of man's refusal to face up to global warming along with its recurring musical themes lend the album a symphonic prog style structure and scale. Phideaux Xavier and many fans alike consider ''Doomsday Afternoon'' to be his masterpiece. The album's regular musicians are supplemented by members of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. In 2007, Phideaux's band played in the US and at the Festival Crescendo in St Palais-sur-Mer, France.

Number Seven

After almost a two-year wait, Phideaux released '' Number Seven''. Although ''Number Seven'' is technically the follow-up to ''Doomsday Afternoon'', it is not part three of the "Trilogy." It's a three-part concept album telling the story of a struggle between a dormouse and a crayfish. Phideaux planned to release ''Seven and ½'' later in 2010, which the band states is an appendix to ''Number Seven''. Phideaux has announced that he would like to release ''Seven and ½'', remaster ''Doomsday Afternoon'' and create a live performance DVD before working on '' Infernal'', the finale of his trilogy.

Current live band

The performers who work with Phideaux Xavier are people that he grew up with. They have played with him in many albums although the first one in which they, and only they, played all the instruments was '' Number Seven''. It is formed by: * Ariel Farber:

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Valerie Gracius: Vocals,

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Rich Hutchins:

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Mathew Kennedy:

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Gabriel Moffat:

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

* Molly Ruttan: Vocals,

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Linda Ruttan-Moldawsky: Vocals * Mark Sherkus:

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Johnny Unicorn: Vocals, Keyboards * Phideaux Xavier: Vocals, Piano, Various Guitars

Discography

* ''

'' (1993) (Not considered as such by them.) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) * ''Chupacabras'' (2005) * '' 313'' (2006) * '' The Great Leap'' (2006) * '' Doomsday Afternoon'' (2007) * '' Number Seven'' (2009) * '' Snowtorch'' (2011) * '' Infernal'' (2018) * '' Lysogenic Burnt Offerings'' (2020)

Guest appearances

* ''

01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter '' Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...

'' by

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electro ...

(2008) - guest vocals * '' Margaret's Children'' by

Guy Manning Guy Manning, born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer, best known for his own album releases ( Manning) and for his membership of progressive rock bands Parallel or 90 Degrees, The Tangent, The United P ...

(2011) - guest announcer on " A night at the Savoy"

Directing credits

* Sunset Beach (1999) *

Passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and pro ...

(2002–2008) *

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

(July 2007- May 30, 2008) *

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

(July 2007–present)

Daytime Emmys The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

Won

* 2015 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "

" * 2012 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "General Hospital" * 2010 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "General Hospital"

Nominated

* 2015 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "General Hospital" * 2011 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "General Hospital" * 2004 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "

" * 2003 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team for: "Passions" * 2002 Outstanding Special Class Directing for: "

Spyder Games ''Spyder Games'' was an American television series that was broadcast on MTV from June 18 to September 20, 2001. MTV's second and last foray into the soap opera format following the run of the anthology series ''Undressed'', the series was origi ...

Notes

Other sources

*''Prog-Resiste'' Magazine interview issue 44 *Interview The Grain Division.com April 2004 *Idioglossia.de March 2006

External links

Official Phideaux websiteOfficial Phideaux myspace profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Phideaux Living people American male composers 21st-century American composers American heavy metal singers American male singers American television directors Singers from New York City People from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York 21st-century American male musicians 1963 births