Phil the Tremolo King - ProfilesArchive

About Me

What if Steinbeck and Kerouac were drinking buddies? What if Lou Reed and Jacques Brel wrote songs together? What if the pop genius of the Beatles met the social activism of Woody Guthrie? My first guitar was a Yamaha nylon string my parents bought me. I remember just plucking the open strings, marvelling at the vibrations . Then came my first electric guitar, a Hondo, and my first band, the Dogz, Belgian punk at its finest. Bands like The wicked witch is Dead, and the fabulous but short-lived Psycho Sye and the Bombers. Days spent living off the dole, hanging out with friends, and listening to the Wipers, Husker Du, Government Issue, GBH, the Stooges, Joy Division, Muta Baruka, Third World... Born in Belgium, home of the nosedip, I flew the coockoo's nest as soon as I could, landing with a thud in the mean streets of New York City. Became a squatter in the Lower East Side. I lived in the infamous 13th street squats. Future moviestar Rosario Dawson grew up in a squat across the street. Worked as a recycler, day laborer, sculptor assistant, construction worker, mover, sold books on Astor Place, played music in the subway, etc etc Took a Greyhound bus down south to escape freezing New york winters, hobo'ing through Atlanta, Mobile, the Florida panhandle, Austin, but spent most of my time in New Orleans, eking out a living as street musician. Released my first cassette, Songs from Planet B, a lo fi mix of surf, sci fi and lounge. Played in clubs all over the Lower East side in a variety of bands and musical styles, with names like Railroad Jerk, the East Side Bandits, Gunshot Head and Lake. Got evicted with fellow squatters by an army of cops in riot gear in a three hour long stand off. Married beautiful wife Victoria and raised a son Joshua. Released an EP of Christmas songs called Christmas Day. Played guitar with punk-lounge outfit Piker Ryan's Folly with whom I released an EP Lowlife and a live CD Bowery Blues, recorded live at famous CBGB's Left NYC for New Orleans, to escape the two headed monster of gentrification and mayor Adolph Giuliani ( don't vote for him!) Before leaving recorded my first full length, A Man...A Mood...A Guitar. Recorded an EP with Tremoflex9000, with whom a full length CD is in the works (see below!) In august '05 hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The shitty levees built by the Army Corps of Engineers failed, flooding New Orleans and scattering neworleanians all over the country. For two years I commuted betweenAustin, TX and the Big Easy untill finally settling in Austin. Working on a movie script about post-K New Orleans, tentatively called After the Storm. Finishing up a new CD called 11. Who knows what the future will bring?

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/5/2005
Band Website: home.earthlink.net/~vanderyken
Band Members: phil: the kitchen sink occasionally, friends like flex unger and vic ruggiero of the slackers fame
Influences: Miles Davis Tom Waits the Peco Seco Singers
the Moody Blues, esp. Days of Future Passed
the Small Faces, esp. Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Phil Spector Joe Meek
The Ramones
Velvet Underground
the Beastie Boys
Muddy Waters
Psycho Sye and the Bombers
Einstuerzende Neubauten
the Modern Jazz Quartet
the Wipers
Howlin' Wolf
Ry Cooder
Iggy Pop
the Free Design
Astrud Gilberto
The Gun Club
The Stooges
Brian Eno
Fred Frith
Robert Fripp
Television
Os Mutantes
Kahimi Karie
Tom Verlaine
Wreckless Eric
the Beatles Quincy Jones
Richard Hell and the Voidoids
The Birthday Party
Robert Quine

Marc Ribot
Keith Richards
Brian Jones
Alan Lomax vintage punkrock (Damned, Clash, Buzzcocks, et all ) Al Caiola
Living Guitars
Tom Jones GBH
Herp Albert surfmusic Momus
Enoch Light's Command label Tony Mottola
Wes Montgomery
Django Rheinhardt
Lacho Drom(great documentary about gypsy music)
Johnny Cash Raymond Van't Groenewoud
Government Issue
the Kids( groundbreaking Belgian punk band!!)

Jacques Brel
Leonard Cohen
Jeff Buckley
Portishead Cornelius Beck Francoise Hardy
Brigitte Bardot
the Kinks
Duke Ellington
Sonic Youth
the Partridge Family
Sydney Bechet

Nick Cave
Ennio Morricone
Nini Rota
Chet Baker
Muta Baruka
old obscure records 60s easy listening bossa nova
cheesy plastic keyboards instant rhythms pawnshops thriftstores anything homemade
toy instruments
four tracks

old cassette recorders obsolete pre-MIDI 80ies drum machines
open tunings
anything with strings on it
wooden side panels
VUmeters
any piece of equipment costing less than $100!
Sounds Like: a globetrotting musician with a bunch of obsolete recording equipment and pawnshop instruments
Record Label: Planet B
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

mike true gig at the neutral ground

banging away on that ol' out of tune honky tonk piano in the neutral ground...still, i had a blast...needed to let off some steam find my little oasis of music amidst the ocean of work that i'm trying...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:55:00 PST

my gig at the Hi Ho Lounge

thanks to all who came out...well ok, i know nobody came out to see ME play but still...you guys and gals seemed to like it and a heartfelt thank you for appreciating my quirky weirdo songs...and than...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:35:00 PST

played WTUL

so i ran into eric martinez on st.charles avenue, and next thing i know i'm playing live on WTUL! just me and my acoustic, for an audience of one in the studio and whoever was listening to the radio.....
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Fri, 30 May 2008 06:59:00 PST

i am not a sexist pig

but lately i've come to the unfortunate realization that some male friends of mine are. or at least act like they are. which i guess is the same thing.and i'm left wondering: WHY?it's NEVER ok to harr...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Thu, 15 May 2008 06:30:00 PST

my VERY FIRST gig!

kind of like my first time having sex...anywaythe name of the band was THE DOGZ. me on guitar and vocals . my brother stephan on bass. my cousin ben on drums. a family affair! we were 17, 14 and 16 re...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Thu, 01 May 2008 01:55:00 PST

vignettes from NOLA

ok fine, i'm a softie. maybe. or maybe i'm just somebody who gives a shit. you decide.first 'vignette'. chase bank on prytania. two kids, girl and boy, both about six, are hanging out together in the ...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:28:00 PST

nola

back in good ol’ nola for a few...might even sell my house to a very nice couple...the sights, the sounds, the smells...the humidity hanging thickly in the iar...the majestic oak trees...the bea...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:16:00 PST

public transportation in austin- a nightmarish ride through a concrete nomans land...

what does one see? concrete stretching all the way to the horizon. concrete roads, concrete apartment complexes, concrete shopping malls, concrete office buildings...with cars, trucks and SUV's ...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:00:00 PST

the Brotherhood of Musicians

I was at a gig of some old NYC friends of mine here in Austin. It was a great gig; they had the audience in the palms of their hand. But I was kind of saddened to see how little excitement they had fo...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:53:00 PST

JAZZ

duke ellingtonmiles davisquincy joneschet bakerthelonious monkthe modern jazz quartetdjango rheinhardtwes montgomerydizzy gillespiemilt jacksonmingusgil evansbillie holidaygerry mulligannat king colel...
Posted by Phil the Tremolo King on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:30:00 PST