We Speak Music
Hollyoaks star Paul Danan directs ‘Follow’ video for Bristol hip hop artist Phil Mac
In the heart of Bristol’s vibrant music scene emerges Phil Mac, an artist whose journey from adversity to triumph encapsulates the spirit of the city’s influence on hip hop, trip hop, and drum ‘n’ bass. Raised amid the creative tapestry of Bristol, Phil found solace in the spoken word, realizing his talent for rhyming.
However, challenges with alcohol and drugs cast a shadow over Phil’s aspirations until a fateful encounter with a friend changed everything. Sponsored by a mentor, who happened to be Hollyoaks star Paul Danan, Phil found himself in a dry house, navigating the path to recovery alongside Paul, who was two years sober at the time.
What started as a shared love for rap music evolved into a unique friendship and partnership. Over daily coffee conversations, Paul playfully proposed managing Phil, setting the stage for a transformative collaboration.
Phil’s turning point came when he played ‘Follow,’ a track that left Paul astounded. The offer was laid on the table: Paul would manage Phil, secure a record deal, and even direct a music video. With a handshake and the playful exchange of “Twenty percent,” the deal was sealed.
As the duo embarked on their creative journey, an unexpected opportunity arose. Paul, approached by a filmmaker from the Bristol Film Institute, proposed a deal: an interview about his life in exchange for a music video shoot for ‘Follow,’ directed by Paul himself. The stars aligned, and the deal was struck.
However, just weeks before the shoot, a setback threatened to derail everything. Phil, facing the challenge of maintaining sobriety, found himself in a precarious situation. Paul, demonstrating the strength of true friendship, offered tough love and a lifeline, urging Phil to get sober within a week if he wanted to seize the opportunity.
Phil rose to the occasion, achieving sobriety and fulfilling the promise of ‘Follow.’ Today, Phil has a record deal and a music video, a testament to the unwavering support of a friend and mentor. ‘Follow’ is more than a track; it’s the chronicle of resilience, friendship, and the triumph of the human spirit. Phil Mac’s journey is a testament to the power of music to heal and inspire.
‘Follow’ is released through Stray Cat Records on December 1st 2023.
Michele Ducci has unveiled the second single, ‘Woman Like You’, from his forthcoming album and animated film ‘Snail in the Clouds’.
‘Woman Like You’ pairs bright distorted electric guitar with an electronic drumbeat, adding in Ducci’s soulful vocals and a catchy uplifting chorus with Letizia Mandoleisi’s sweet vocal harmonies. A vintage organ pedalboard operated by Ducci simultaneously generates chords, bass and rhythm, like a one-man band. Shane Kennedy (Girl in the Year Above) joins in on guitar. Simon Milner (Is Tropical, Ysing) recorded and produced the track at his 4am Studios in London.
The album and film tell the story of a planet called ‘Snail’, inhabited by hybrids – primarily a mixture between scorpions, snails and humans – who lead a life according to the style of Pythagoras, devoted to music. There is also a cloud man named Agostos, a writer of musical operettas, who together with a talking smoke machine called Doctor Subtilis, begins to kill all hybrids, targeting in particular the hybrid musician Diodoros and his band, in an effort to steal the ark of melodies, an ancient ship that allows the whole planet to survive with music and joy.
The video for the single, created and animated by Ducci and Mandoleisi, delves further into the realm of planet ‘Snail’:
Says Ducci, “The ark of melodies, after various attempts, finally starts to work and fly in the planet Snail, while the shady Doc. Sub. and Agostos, with their platoon of soldiers made of foggy smoke, spy the miracle, planning to steal the ark for their evil and tyrannical purposes.”
About the track, Michele says, “I wrote this song for my love Letizia. Love seen from the mind is the sound we make. Sound is the love of matter.
We used a Technics synthesizer organ from a flea market. I tried to find a mood that was right for the song and I started using the bass of the pedal board together with the synth and the drums, and it was magical to hear the song reveal itself all coming from a single instrument. Leti was singing with me and we recorded everything live in one shot. Then we made Shane do the guitar flight, as if he came out of the window. The idea was to maintain disproportions, guitar thrust and synth drum thinness a la Haroumi Hosono, so as to create an estrangement, but naturally: it’s about how I listen, with close up something that captures me in its nuance as element of a larger orchestra somewhere. I’m glad we decided in the studio with Simon to use the layers of arrangement as the close-ups in the cinema; they look like strange enlargements that perch on parts of a mutated orchestra. I’m happy to come back with this love song at a time when everything seems to opt, even my labor in managing the flows of selfishness that have poured out on me while doing this album, for the sound of war. I’m here happy to be able to say that the sound of love always wins as did for me. Snail in the clouds is one of the most important works in my life and I am glad to start from pure love for this album that is my son.”
The album and full-length film will be released on the 5th of June on Monotreme Records.
Michele and Letizia’s previous musical short film, ‘The Great Book of Nature’, is an official selection for the 2026 Venice Shorts Film Festival.
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