Philipe been playing guitar for over 30 years. He started almost by chance when his dad presented him with a guitar he bought off a hippie, with some sound words of advice,” why don’t you do something with it!” As luck would have it, this instrument turned out to be a serious German made classical guitar. While Philipe initially started learning with a local music teacher, he soon quit to learn under his brother Mark who was then pursuing a distance learning program under the tutelage of Arlen Roth, a popular guitar instructor in the U.S.
From there on it was a long journey of 10 hour-day practice sessions, which finally culminated in their first band, “Hammersmith”, four years later.
The band played all over the country alongside other well-known acts such as with Rock Machine, Remo, Louis Banks, etc. Hammersmith had 2 of their compositions on MTV in '92 and was the only Asian act to be selected by New York based record company, Rodell Records for compilation of underground talent on a CD named "Soundz from the Underground". Philipe moved to Bangalore in '93, and has been playing with Deepak and Vinoo ever since.
EQUIPMENT USED
GUITARS:
1. Les Paul Gold Top
2. Fender 60th anniversary American Stratocaster
3. Fender Heartfield
4. Ibanez 1974 Les Paul copy hot rodded with Seymour Duncans
5. Ibanez Joe Satriani signature series JS 1200
6. Ibanez JEM Steve Vai signature series
7. Parker Fly – P44
8. ESP-LTD Jeff Hanneman signature series
9. Greg Bennet AV-6 hot rodded with Seymour Duncans
10. Yamaha Pacifica 821-D {DiMarzio loaded}
11. Takamine acoustic
AMPLIFIERS:
Marshall DFX- 100
Laney MXD-120
Line 6 Spider III- 75 watts
EFFECTS:
Boss GT 10
Boss GT 8
CABLES:
Only Monster and Whirlwind...the difference great cables make to the overall sound is unbelievable. Also swear by Fast Fret, Jim Dunlop “Big Stubby” picks,.... never hit the road without a string winder and clipper!!!!
KEY INFLUENCES :
Jimi Hendrix, Gary Moore, Steve Morse, Yngwie Malmsteen, Robben Ford, Mark Haydon, Mahesh Tinaikar.