Phildel

Phildel singing at her gig on Friday 6th December 2012 at St Giles in the Fields Church, London

Phildel is a British singer-songwriter from London. Her name is a composite of her Chinese father and Irish mother's names - Philip and Della.

Biography

At the age of 9, Phildel's mother married a strictly religious Muslim, Phildel's name/religion/lifestyle/dress-code were changed by force, all of her personal possessions were seized and music became a forbidden evil within the household. This meant no radio, no CD player, and no piano. She was renamed Zara.^[3] For the next decade Phildel was treated as a servant within her home. However, Phildel spent lunchtimes with sympathetic music teachers and the school piano, at the girls' day school in Barnet (Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls).^[3] It was a refuge creating and playing her own compositions relentlessly. She ran away from home, at 17 to escape her home-life and to finally follow her dreams.

She got together a second-hand computer and some music demo software packages and began putting together her first home-demo. Within a short while, it attracted the attention of Roger Watson (a former Chrysalis Music MD) and his support of her lead to collaborations with Spike MaClaren at Massive Attack’s studio and Sam Dixon (known for his collaborations with many artists including KT Tunstall and Duffy’s 'Rockferry' album).^[4]

In 2007, she wrote the piano piece "The Kiss" that was used for a worldwide TV advertising campaign for Apple iPad 3^[1] and it was also used for Marks & Spencer's advert. Her music has also been used on Persil and Omo washing powder (the one featuring a little girl and the slogan "Dirt is good").^[3] Another of her tracks "Piano B" was used for an Expedia commercial ^[5] followed by two more high profile filmic campaigns in France in 2008/2009.^[4] In 2008, another track "Everyone Memory This is Snow" renamed "A Better World", was used for the commercial for an insurance company, which Zizou praised.^[6]

She said "Four of my tracks have been used in commercials around the world, two of them in the UK. They all came about in different ways, through different individuals, agencies or publishers. But my publisher Warner Chappell have been very proactive in the realm of pitching my music for advertising. I re-invest whatever I income I make into top-of-the-range studio equipment and cameras for documenting everything and creating visuals. So, it all goes back into my music."^[5] She was complimented on her "sonic soundscapes" by Trevor Horn. Her music has been cited as an inspiration by Mariah Huehner, author of the True Blood and Angel comic books.^[3] They have also been used in theatre productions and by celebrity fashion designer Henrietta Ludgate’s live shows. She soon returned the favor by wearing Henrietta's dress at a performance at St Pancras Old Church.^[7]

During December 2008, Phildel joined the bands Radiohead and Goldfrapp to become a Warner Chappell Music Publishing artist. She worked at the world-famous Metropolis Recording Studio, to complete her neo-classical album. Called "Qi" Chinese for Energy. This was then followed by the recording of her artist album (for Decca). Her debut album for Decca The Disappearance of the Girl, was released on 4 March 2013.

She appeared on BBC Breakfast show on Thu 21 Mar 2013, to promote the album.^[8]

She was invited on 23 May 2013 by BBC Radio Merseyside's Dave Monks to his 'BBC Introducing' show after a recommendation from Stevo, she performed acoustic renditions of 'Storm Song' and 'Nails In Your Coffin'.

In the summer of 2013, she collaborated with Sleepthief in America, on his new album "Mortal Longing". The two tracks in which she will appear are named "Dust & Cloud" and "Where The Heart Is".^[9]

She then performed at Vancouver Folk Music Festival on 20 July, as part of her USA and Canada tour.^[10]

In Nov, she collaborated with Peter S. Beagle (author of The Last Unicorn) on a new track 'Dark Water Down', mixing poetry and music. They then appeared together at a gig at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco, USA.^[11]

She was interviewed by Gareth Lloyd on BBC Three Counties Radio as part of 'BBC Introducing'.^[12]

She currently lives in the Chilterns. Where some of her videos are filmed.^[2][13]

Discography

Studio albums

10 May 2012 (2012-05-10)^[15]

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook page
• http://uk.myspace.com/phildel Phildel's Official Myspace page