I don't really know where to begin. I don't think my life is very exciting, but this is my space so here I go…
I was born April 23, 1970 in the small dusty town of Wichita Falls, Texas. But honestly other than being there for a few days, I know nothing more of that town. I drove through Wichita Falls once about ten years ago just to take a look at it and it was nothing more than a gas station along the highway. When I was just a few months old, my young mother, staying only long enough to wrap me in a traveling blanket, made the long journey up the Alaskan Highway which stretches over 2000 miles of dirt road leading the weary traveler to either the Yukon or Alaska, which are both located in the far, far, north. Thats far away from Texas.
As a result of her decision to move so far away, I spent the first 20 years of my life roaming in and out of small native villages and small wilderness towns, learning to survive the best way that I knew how growing up alone in the wilds of Canada's rugged Yukon Territories and Northwest Alaska. My mother pumped gas in 40 below to see I had a meal and a warm place to sleep.
As a teenager, I once lived n a small 220 SF cabin which is still there today at KM 540 off the Alaskan Highway.
At 13, I quit school. It was the 8th grade.
Not the best decision I ever made but I just felt that I never fit in there. I was alone almost all of the time and I never got into the whole hockey/cheerleader thing. I thought it would be cool to work on a boat so I hitchhiked to Bristol Bay to begin a career working as a deck hand on fishing boats off the coast of Alaska. The work was hard and often times lasted 14 hours per day in sub below temperatures further riddled by hard seas. By 16, I had earned my way into the position of first mate on some of Bristol Bay's most successful crabbing crews, long before this career was dramatized by Discovery channel's "Deadly Catch". Sometimes when I watch that show, I got to laugh. I think to myself, "Wow, they have boots and gloves".
Sometime in my early twenties I moved to Seattle and threw myself into my music selling many of my songs to top Record Labels of the 90's not foolishly thinking that the 1000.00 bucks a song I was getting paid was top dollar. Little did I know that some of those songs would spin on the radio forever. I tried allot of things and careers stretching from California to Alaska during my 20's but none of them ever brought me any sort of happiness. I made fortunes and lost them. I decided when I turned 30 that it was time for me to record an album.
"Wounded Soul" was never released in the United States but still managed to sell almost 1.3 million copies world-wide in Asia, India, and South America. I was never able to get a record label interested here in the states and I was never able to get radio play for the album so I went overseas where you don't have to pay for radio play. Overseas and around the world it's much different than it is here. If they DJ likes the song, its on the radio. There are many stories floating on Google about my exploits with my first album, but the truth of the matter is that I really don't care how many copies it sold or the fact that I was never paid. What I care about is that I wasted my life on seeking the world. I wasted all of my gifts on serving the wrong team.
My life has been riddled with many trials of all kinds and you would be hard-pressed to get me to tell you about my childhood. It was crumby and sad in many ways but without it I would not be the person I am today. All of that seemed to change in the spring of 2001 when I met a beautiful young woman from Bellevue, Washington who brought me to Christ in November of 2001. Since then my life has changed in so many ways. I can write a small book to describe how my life has changed, but I won't use up all of my space here and bore you with it. People are often fascinated by my story but its no different than anyone else's story.
On Friday's I run a small care-group located in downtown Seattle that we call Amazing Grace Ministries that reaches out to the homeless. It's a small group smack dab in the worst part of town but many times miracles have happened and it's a good place for those seeking Christ in the impoverished area to come and feed. When I first was invited to that caregroup six years ago before I know who Christ was I hated being there. Partially because every demon I had in me at the time wanted out of that place but Mostly because Seattle is not an easy place to get to at 5 pm with traffic and in many cases the people at the care-group are difficult to deal with. Over the years however it's done more for my spiritual growth that anything. Humbling experiences are what really teach us many things. I have been humbled so many times. I am nothing.
I attend a small international church called New Hope which is located on Mercer Island, Washington and is dedicated to building discipleship and leadership. Our Pastor's name is Pastor Lao. On occasion I get to lead worship for our church. As a matter of fact, it took me six years to become a worship leader there so I really enjoy serving that way.
People say to me all of the time "Dude, your like in the top ten on Myspace, why don't you have a deal?" I think that its because I feel that God's word is not something that should be for sale. In addition, I think it's my blatant honesty and or my fight against the religious spirit that has cost me quite allot with people in the industry. I'm not a faker and I don't wear a mask to church. I hate church politics.
I'm a Christian Soldier fighting an enemy here on Earth and I don't have time for the scene. Sometimes I feel like I am walking into a 16 century English drama when I walk into churches. All the actors are in place, they all have their hairdos, everyone in position. Why cant we just kill the spirit of religion?
As you can tell, I am not very popular with the religious status quo Christian music system in the United States at all so you won't see me at any Christian summits. Instead I choose to concentrate my music ministry overseas where my fan base is large and people are in desperate need the word of God. I love performing and doing shows overseas and do not really spend much time here in the United States promoting my music. I feel that the whole Christian music scene here in America in many ways is not what it should be and does not concentrate on the most important aspect of Christianity. BRINGING PEOPLE TO CHRIST. The labels are purchasing up retail outlets and forget about getting on the radio. Unless you sign with one of these labels, your not getting on.
MY gig is to spread the word of God in a rock style format to places of the globe where no one goes such as the Middle East, India, Thailand, and many other areas that are hungry for the word. I don't care what people say about my concerts. Oh they are too loud is common. I am trying to reach an audience that is hard to reach. The enemy has total control and I feel we as musicians should be BETTER than the enemy.
I just completed "New Believer" in the spring of 2008 which is a ballad of songs I specifically wrote for New Believers and real Christians about the trials and tribulations of being a son of light in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Its way toned down from my usual stuff and I thank Norm Stockton and Rod Lincoln for tracking with me on that album.
While the concerts are rock style and loud, we end the shows in worship and prayer for people that have never heard the word before.
Your brother Phil
In the trials and tribulations of our Lord, Jesus Christ
Join Phil in spreading the word of God world wide.