Phillip Charles Western (August 12, 1971 – February 4, 2019) was a Canadian musician, based in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
and a founding member of the bands
Download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
,
PlatEAU
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
,
Frozen Rabbit, and
Off and Gone.
Biography
Having started his career as a drummer and eventually as a programmer, he became a remix engineer starting in the mid-1990s. His friendship with
Dwayne Goettel
Dwayne Rudolph Goettel (February 1, 1964August 23, 1995) was a Canadian electronic musician, best known for his work in the industrial music group Skinny Puppy. Starting his career playing for a variety of acts around Edmonton, he joined Skinny P ...
led to him doing a small amount of keyboard work on the
Skinny Puppy album ''
The Process'', as well as creating the Subconscious record label with Goettel in 1993.
After Goettel's death from a heroin overdose in 1995, he became partners with Cevin Key in several musical projects. As an engineer, or remix engineer, he had worked with
Skinny Puppy,
Mirror
A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...
,
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
, and
Nine Inch Nails. He also assisted in remixes of songs written by
Monster Magnet
Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf (vocals and guitar), John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin (vocals and drums); they have since gone through several lineup ...
and
Rob Halford and
Metallica among others.
Often maintaining a low visibility in his collaborative projects, it was his solo work which brought his abilities to light for fans of
Download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
- a complex approach to rhythm and programming, and a sense of melody rooted in
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
,
drones, and
space rock
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...
.
In 2001, Western became the operator behind The Record Company, which had been the imprint for several releases under his own name, as well as a reissue of the Floatpoint CD "Beam Error". He died in February 2019 at the age of 47 of
fentanyl
Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocain ...
poisoning.
Discography
Solo works
* ''Power/Touched'' (12" split w/
aDuck) (1993)
* ''The Escapist'' (1998)
* ''Dark Features'' (w/Tim Hill) (2001)
* ''Therapy'' (10", w/Tim Hill) (2001)
* ''Worlds End'' (2003)
* ''4am'' (2007)
* ''1221'' (2008)
* ''Dat Hell'' (2008)
* ''Red Eyed Stalker EP'' (2009, internet release)
* ''Treatment'' (2009, compilation)
* ''Laborandum'' (2012)
* ''Forbidden'' (2013)
* ''Melodium'' (2013)
* ''LongForm'' (2014)
* ''Corrected Idiot (1997)'' (2014)
* ''Loved and Loathed'' (2016)
* ''Neuro-Plastique'' (2017)
* ''No Love Lost'' (2018)
* Phil Western and LongWalkShortDock - ''Sick Bay - Live at Rifflandia 2013'' (2019)
* Phil Western Vs LongWalkShortDock - ''Live 2008 - The Rim Benefit'' (2019)
Beehatch (w/
Mark Spybey
Dead Voices on Air is Mark Spybey's experimental and industrial project formed after his departure from Zoviet France.Lengel, Kerry (December 2, 1999). "Dead Voices' Music Comes Alive", ''The Arizona Republic'', p. 47. Dead Voices on Air has col ...
)
* ''Beehatch'' (2008)
* ''Brood'' (2008)
Download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
* ''
Furnace
A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion.
Furnace may also refer to:
Appliances Buildings
* Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings
* Boiler, used t ...
'' (1995)
* ''
Microscopic (EP)
''Microscopic'' is a 1996 EP by industrial music group Download. It was one of the first releases with a lenticular cover. Their previous LP, ''Furnace'', also used this new type of packaging.
Track listing
Personnel
Download
*Dwayne Goett ...
'' (1996)
* ''
Charlie's Family
''Charlie's Family'' is the third LP release by the industrial music group Download. It was initially released through Download's 1996 tour in a limited run of 2,000 copies, though it was later re-issued as a digipak through Metropolis Records ...
'' (1996)
* ''
Sidewinder (EP)
''Sidewinder'' is an EP by Industrial music group Download released in 1996.
Track listing
# "Sidewinder (Remix)" – 5:52
# "Glassblower (Remix)" – 3:30
# "Base Metal (Remix)" – 4:29
# "Chalice" – 3:06
# "Shemaesin" – 5:42
# "IM5" ...
'' (1996)
* ''
The Eyes of Stanley Pain
''The Eyes of Stanley Pain'' is an album by Download.
Track listing
# "Suni C" – 5:29
# "Possession" – 4:07
# "The Turin Cloud" – 4:31
# "Glassblower" – 3:01
# "H Sien Influence" – 4:45
# "Base Metal" – 5:00
# "Collision" – 10:37
# ...
'' (1996)
* ''
III'' (1997)
* ''
Effector
Effector may refer to:
*Effector (biology), a molecule that binds to a protein and thereby alters the activity of that protein
* ''Effector'' (album), a music album by the Experimental Techno group Download
* ''EFFector'', a publication of the El ...
'' (2000)
* ''
Inception
''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infi ...
'' (2002)
* ''
III Steps Forward'' (2002)
* ''
FiXeR'' (2007)
* ''
HElicopTEr
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
'' (2009)
* ''
Lingam
A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary '' murti'' or devotional ...
'' (2013)
* ''
Unknown Room'' (2019)
KONE
Kone Oyj (; officially stylized as KONE and trading as KONE Corporation) is an elevator engineering company employing over 60,000 personnel across 60 countries worldwide. It was founded in 1910 and is now headquartered in Espoo near Helsinki, F ...
* ''Cirrhotic Psychotic'' (2008)
* ''On Daddy's Farm'' (2008)
Plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
* ''Dutch Flowers (EP)'' (1997)
* ''
Music For Grass Bars'' (1997)
* ''
Spacecake'' (1999)
* ''
Iceolator'' (2003)
* ''
Kushbush
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Gort Spacebar'' (2009)
XMT
* ''Atlantic Under Clouds'' (1993)
Cap'n Stargazer
* ''untitled EP'' (12" split w/Commander Mindfuck) (1994)
Floatpoint
* ''Beam Error'' (1994)
* ''Beam Error'' (2CD re-issue) (2008)
Off and Gone
* ''untitled EP'' (1994)
* ''Sigma Receptor'' (12") (1996)
* ''Shasta'' (12") (1996)
* ''Everest'' (1996)
Frozen Rabbit
* ''26,000'' (2005)
References
External links
Phil Westernon
Myspace
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Western, Phil
1971 births
2019 deaths
Canadian electronic musicians
Place of birth missing
Place of death missing
Canadian industrial musicians
Download (band) members
PlatEAU members