Legendary guitarist Phil X’s own band, Phil X & The Drills, are thrilled to unveil their new visualizer “Don’t Wake Up Dead”, featuring Korn drummer Ray Luzier, out now via Frontiers Music Srl. The track comes with a brand new artwork, created by Thomas Estrada.
Phil X commented on the single:
“Don’t Wake Up Dead” is a look at how people just go through the motions of life just to get to the end of their day. I know because I, myself, have been there. To put it into impactful words, if you’re not waking up ready to conquer all obstacles, you’re waking up dead. Plus… Put to music that’s like downing a triple espresso is pretty awesome”.
In 2003, The Drills started to cause a stir in Hollywood, with their own brand of punk mixed with classic and modern rock with guitar virtuosic undertones. Phil X was at the helm as the lead vocalist and guitar player. Daniel Spree on bass and backing vocals, and Jeremy Spencer (Five Finger Death Punch) completed the power trio. They remained quite underground and released their first EP, “Kick Your Ass In 17 Minutes” in 2009. Jeremey had left to start FFDP by this time, so the constant rotation of drummers began.
Also, in that time period, Phil was becoming a groundbreaking YouTube sensation on a video channel called Fretted Americana, where he demoed vintage guitars. Actual 1959 Gibson Les Pauls (worth in the range of $250K),1954 Fender Stratocasters and hundreds of other guitars were put through their paces in Phil’s hands. Before he knew it, Fretted Americana was sitting on millions of collective views and from a marketing standpoint, it made sense to take The Drills to another level as Phil X & The Drills.
“We Bring The Rock’n’Roll” was the follow up to KYAI17M. With even more classic rock flavours stirred into the mix, this was the first endeavour to feature famed drummers that Phil had worked with on other artists’ records, including Chris Cornell, Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson and Gavin DeGraw to name a few.
Drummers like Josh Freese (Sting, Foo Fighters), Abe Laboriel Jr (Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton) and fellow Canadian Randy Cooke (Smashmouth, Five for Fighting) were all featured on this record.
Following 2 successful tours in the UK, the band released “We Play Instruments ’N Sh!t”. Musically showing a vast growth in the writing and production, the band was excited to unleash this heightened evolvement to their new fan base. The fan base started to grow exponentially, due to Phil filling in for Richie Sambora in Bon Jovi for 13 shows in 2011. Phil went on to replace Sambora in 2016 and has been juggling both bands along with becoming a father since.
Multiple tours and recordings with Bon Jovi inevitably took the front seat in Phil’s career but every time he got a break, he was writing and setting up recording sessions with drummers like Tommy Lee, Tico Torres, Ray Luzier and many more.
The first of these sessions were mixed by Chris Lord Alge and released on “Stupid Good Lookings Vol 1”. Taylor Hawkins, Glen Sobel, Brent Fitz, Matt Chamberlain, Abe Laboriel Jr and Randy Cooke all participated on this drum extravaganza with more sessions in the vault.
2024 marked an exciting new landmark for the band, when they opened for Mötley Crüe at Summerfest in Springfield, IL. Phil X, Daniel Spree and Brent Fitz took the stage and left the 10,000 attendees, event coordinators, promoters and agents (not to mention the headliner) all thrilled.
Finally, the band recently signed to Frontiers Records and is excited to set forth on a new journey with new music.
Line Up:
Phil X – Lead Vocals & Guitars
Daniel Spree – Bass & Background Vocals
Ray Luzier – Drums
