01Profile
A Phil Bridges Photo
Phil Bridges
Editor — Liverpool
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Phil Bridges, Liverpool.
Describe your style in three words?
Not that bad.
Which new British bands are you listening to at the moment?
We’ve recently interviewed The Big Moon and The Orielles on The Mind Map, who are good. I also really like The Rhythm Method and a Liverpool band called FUSS.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Seeing The Coral in the Cavern as unsigned 16-year-olds was pretty exciting. But the best gig I’ve ever been to is probably Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci at the Liverpool Philharmonic in 2004, or maybe the Super Furry Animals in Bangor a few years ago.
A British icon that inspires you?
In terms of musical icons, I’d say maybe Paul McCartney as he’s written loads of my favourite songs.
Phil Bridges is editor of online mental health magazine The Mind Map. @themindmapmag.
02Playlist
04Playlist Notes
The first song you played on repeat?
'Out of Space' by The Prodigy. I used to dance to this at these mini raves when I was about eleven, playing it on repeat in my bedroom to fine tune my rave skip.
A song you wish you’d written?
'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side' by The Smiths. This is perfect both lyrically and melodically, nailing that feeling of being young and misunderstood.
The last piece of music you bought?
I love going to those pound shops where they sell re-furbished landfill indie CDs. Every now and again, they’ll have wrongly categorised 'The Hour of Bewilderbeast' or some other noughties classic as landfill and I’ll buy loads for my family to listen to in their cars. That urge to turn people onto things you like never goes away. I miss making CD’s for people so that’s the next best thing I suppose.
A song from your favourite album?
All my favourite Beatles songs are on 'A Hard Day’s Night'. Choosing between 'If I Fell' and 'I’ll Be Back' is literally impossible for me.
The best love song of all time?
There was a guy playing ‘You Saw The Whole Of The Moon’ on my first date with Maria. We were engaged a year later and have a three-year-old boy now so that one has meaning for me.
A song you like that people wouldn’t expect?
I’d love people to hear that I like Take That monsters and exclaim, “not a chance, not Phil!, he’s way too cool”. But I know for a fact it would just be accepted and that saddens me. To be fair I was eight when they came out. It’s funny with music, I think sometimes things stay with you as a sort of comforting nostalgia. I find it odd when people totally whitewash their previous tastes. That’s why I still like stuff like Blink 182 or Bananarama, you can't undo those feelings, no matter how ill-judged they were.
A song that defines the teenage you?
‘Ultimate High’ by The Time Frequency. More rave, this time Scottish rave. I loved rave, then happy hardcore then hard trance. I then went to the other extreme and got obsessed with Neil Young. I’ll never forget aged 19 popping my head into my Mum and Dad’s front room while they were having a drink one night and hearing 'Harvest' for the first time. It instantly grabbed me. I later learned my Mum had travelled to Spain in the '70s aged just 16 and stayed there for eleven years, and that Neil Young had soundtracked her time there. Way cooler than my Australian gap year.
Most meaningful lyrics to inspire change?
“I won't back down,
No, I won't back down,
You can stand me up at the gates of hell,
But I won't back down”
From 'I Won't Back Down' by Tom Petty.
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Phil Bridges, Liverpool.
Describe your style in three words?
Not that bad.
Which new British bands are you listening to at the moment?
We’ve recently interviewed The Big Moon and The Orielles on The Mind Map, who are good. I also really like The Rhythm Method and a Liverpool band called FUSS.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Seeing The Coral in the Cavern as unsigned 16-year-olds was pretty exciting. But the best gig I’ve ever been to is probably Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci at the Liverpool Philharmonic in 2004, or maybe the Super Furry Animals in Bangor a few years ago.
A British icon that inspires you?
In terms of musical icons, I’d say maybe Paul McCartney as he’s written loads of my favourite songs.
Phil Bridges is editor of online mental health magazine The Mind Map. @themindmapmag.
04Playlist Notes
The first song you played on repeat?
'Out of Space' by The Prodigy. I used to dance to this at these mini raves when I was about eleven, playing it on repeat in my bedroom to fine tune my rave skip.
A song you wish you’d written?
'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side' by The Smiths. This is perfect both lyrically and melodically, nailing that feeling of being young and misunderstood.
The last piece of music you bought?
I love going to those pound shops where they sell re-furbished landfill indie CDs. Every now and again, they’ll have wrongly categorised 'The Hour of Bewilderbeast' or some other noughties classic as landfill and I’ll buy loads for my family to listen to in their cars. That urge to turn people onto things you like never goes away. I miss making CD’s for people so that’s the next best thing I suppose.
A song from your favourite album?
All my favourite Beatles songs are on 'A Hard Day’s Night'. Choosing between 'If I Fell' and 'I’ll Be Back' is literally impossible for me.
The best love song of all time?
There was a guy playing ‘You Saw The Whole Of The Moon’ on my first date with Maria. We were engaged a year later and have a three-year-old boy now so that one has meaning for me.
A song you like that people wouldn’t expect?
I’d love people to hear that I like Take That monsters and exclaim, “not a chance, not Phil!, he’s way too cool”. But I know for a fact it would just be accepted and that saddens me. To be fair I was eight when they came out. It’s funny with music, I think sometimes things stay with you as a sort of comforting nostalgia. I find it odd when people totally whitewash their previous tastes. That’s why I still like stuff like Blink 182 or Bananarama, you can't undo those feelings, no matter how ill-judged they were.
A song that defines the teenage you?
‘Ultimate High’ by The Time Frequency. More rave, this time Scottish rave. I loved rave, then happy hardcore then hard trance. I then went to the other extreme and got obsessed with Neil Young. I’ll never forget aged 19 popping my head into my Mum and Dad’s front room while they were having a drink one night and hearing 'Harvest' for the first time. It instantly grabbed me. I later learned my Mum had travelled to Spain in the '70s aged just 16 and stayed there for eleven years, and that Neil Young had soundtracked her time there. Way cooler than my Australian gap year.
Most meaningful lyrics to inspire change?
“I won't back down,
No, I won't back down,
You can stand me up at the gates of hell,
But I won't back down”
From 'I Won't Back Down' by Tom Petty.