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Source: Future
Co-founder Genesis Anthony Phillips switched from guitar to keyboards on the album Gemini – Pieces for Piano . His latest collection includes recordings made between 2022 and 2025, including a piece written for Argentine pianist Martha Argerich. In an interview with Prog, he said about his wrist injury, his contribution to Genesis's early sound, and his friendship with Steve Hackett , the man who replaced him.
«People tell me I sound like a snob,» says Anthony Phillips. «When we were touring with Genesis in the «60s, some guy from Leicester University called us »snot-nosed bastards« – but at Charterhouse [the famous alma mater of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks and others] we considered ourselves pretty neutral. We used to make fun of guys we called »hippies’. They were really aristocrats.".
As for Phillips, such digressions are commonplace. In an interview Prog He says he is a fan of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, especially «Casino Royale» . He speaks fondly of his friend and occasional collaborator Andrew Skeet, the longtime multi-instrumentalist with Neil Hannon's chamber pop band The Divine Comedy. Perhaps more surprisingly, Phillips is a co-founder of Genesis and the band's lead guitarist before Steve Hackett replaced him after Trespass album 1970 - A big fan of Jimmy Nail's work in the 90s on BBC TV, where he played the gruff Newcastle detective Spender.
«"Jimmy was really good in that role," he says. "I love the Newcastle accent; it's just mesmerizing. Although I can't do it myself!" However, he does try to imitate the correspondent's Glasgow accent. He also makes more than one thoughtless use of the word "bagpipes." He's old-fashioned, but also very charming and pleasant to talk to. Imitation, modesty, and puns are what make Phillips special.
He answers questions thoughtfully, and one gets the sense he'd happily chat all day. Now 74, neither his advanced age nor recent health problems have hindered his long and fruitful career, during which he's released 40 solo albums in a variety of genres, including progressive rock, new age, and soundtracks. A prodigious talent on both guitar and keyboards, Phillips has also excelled in the field of library music, collaborating with Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett, Camel, and others.
His latest release, Gemini – Pieces for Piano , brings together 44 new compositions that can generally be classified as ambient or contemporary classical music, and which he considers his best keyboard work since the album Private Parts & Pieces X: Soiree 1999. He recorded these new tracks between 2022 and 2025, as his ailing right wrist allowed.
«"Basically, things went awry," he says. "I made a mistake while entering data in the studio, and my wrist just hung in mid-air, swelling with fluid. Ice became my best friend, and I tried every painkiller. It was like climbing a mountain. Now I'm considering surgery, but three different specialists are giving me three completely different opinions.".
Luckily, the injury didn't affect his guitar playing. "When you play guitar, your left hand wraps around the neck—it's protected, if you think about it. If I were to do a few Pete Townshend-style windmills, I might have problems, but overall, I still play guitar well, which is just great.".
Starting with the opening composition «River of Serenity» , most of the album Gemini is distinguished by its frank melodicism and memorable motifs. It reveals Philipps's love for French impressionist composers such as Ravel and Debussy; and some of the compositions have a deeply personal character, as «Piece For CS» и «Pablo Farceur» named after deceased friends.
He admits that coming up with catchy titles for the tunes was difficult, so he sometimes turned to the album's sound engineer, James Collins, and others for help. compositions of Odyssey Of A Somnambulant и Fathomless Caverns there's a pleasant, enticing note - at least their titles seem to hint at the new-age rhythms that characterize the album Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars 1987.
Meanwhile, the title track of the album Gemini was written for the renowned Argentine pianist Martha Argerich, born under the same astrological sign. On the recording, we hear Phillips's "more modest" (but still superb) version. "I have another pianist friend, Gabriele Baldocci, who's also brilliant," he says. "When he was playing duets with Martha a while back, he said, 'Why don't you write something for her?' I said, 'You've got to be kidding!'"«
«I knew about her and remembered reading a wonderful article in the newspaper: „Martha Argerich is 75, but her fingers don’t seem to notice.“ [She is now 84.] She is still one of the greatest living concert pianists, so I was thrilled when she performed for the first time in 2018 „Gemini“ in a duet with Gabriele in Valencia.".
At the beginning of the Book of Genesis there were already too many composers, and this created some tension.
Was Phillips in the front row when they performed this piece at the Palau de la Música Catalana? "Not really. Because there was no guarantee they would perform it, and even if they did, they'd have to travel a long way! But you can watch their performance online. A friend of Marta's told me this piece perfectly captures her personality, but I've never met her—honestly, I admire her too much.".
Reflecting on how his career unfolded, Prog magazine wonders if Phillips was always more drawn to classical music than his former Genesis bandmates? "Not at all; Tony Banks was the one who was classically trained, had already taken piano lessons, and could play pieces by Holst and Rimsky-Korsakov. The rest of us were pretty clueless, to be honest!"«
«"I was already composing on the keyboard back then, albeit in a very primitive way – as Tony was always keen to point out! Then, when I left Genesis [in July 1970], I got a wonderful piano teacher. She showed me «Moon Hole» Debussy, and I heard something of The Beatles in it – or something of Debussy in The Beatles» music.”.
Source: Future
He later experienced a "Damascus transformation" that led him to study harmony, counterpoint and orchestration at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. "When I heard Karelian Suite "When I heard Sibelius on Radio 3, I found it incredibly captivating, melodic, and full of pathos. I thought, 'This is classical music, right? I'm in!'"„
Despite his many accomplishments, Phillips says he has no interest in writing a memoir. "Some people have suggested it, but some parts of my life were quite difficult, and I'd have to navigate murky waters by telling funny stories," he explains. "I'd rather devote my time to music.".
The Byrds and the Beatles used 12-string guitars for strumming. We explored multi-timbral harmonies, forging our own path.
However, in 2008, Italian journalist and Genesis scholar Mario Giammetti published a biography of Phillips entitled «"Exile »"I thought it was pretty awkward that someone would write a book about me," the hero says, "but his book was approved because Mario is such a nice guy, and I wanted to help him.".
The biography dispels the old stereotype that Phillips was to Genesis what Pete Best was to the Beatles: a man who quit early and missed out on fame and fortune. "I think if I'd been fired or left because of musical differences, I would have felt like a complete failure," he says. "But I left for health reasons and because I couldn't handle the pressure of touring, so I think we can put the Pete Best question behind us.".
«"The comparison is certainly valid in terms of how incredibly successful The Beatles and Genesis became, and of course it would be great to be a part of that. But ultimately, it's all a bit of a theoretical question.".
«Another important point,” he adds, “is that in the early Genesis there were already too many composers, and this created some tension, especially considering that we all lived in close quarters. It’s not surprising that they ended up creating «…And then there were three of them «"But it took them a while to realize that behind the drums they had Phil Collins, the most incredibly commercially successful musician you could ever ask for.".
After a long period of introspection and personal searching, Phillips' first solo release after Genesis was the deservedly acclaimed 1977 album The Geese & The Ghost : a wonderful, progressive rock-inspired album featuring Mike Rutherford, Collins and Steve Hackett's brother, John.
As Steve and I shared our impressions of our time in Genesis, we discovered a number of significant similarities.
«The album had been in the works for years, so by the time it came out, even progressive rock fans were listening to less progressive music,» Phillips laughs. «But I remember an American magazine Goldmine included it in the list of great progressive albums, placing it between «"In The Court Of The Crimson King"» и «Crime Of The Century «"which made me very happy.".
However, by around 1977, punk's influence on British music had grown stronger, and Arista Records advised a radical rethinking of the concept for the band's next album, 1978. Wise After the Event , banning long instrumentals and adding a punk fury that Phillips didn't possess. "I wasn't an angry young man; to be honest, I struggled a bit. But I was lucky to have [producer] Rupert Hine, a phenomenally kind, patient, and inspiring man, with me.".
In such a long and varied career, it is difficult to fully appreciate Phillips's extensive and carefully curated oeuvre. His series Private Parts & Pieces , which released 12 albums between 1978 and 2024, became an important repository for some of his most diverse and experimental musical work. Additionally, some of his library/produced music work—"a nice side income"—was collected in a 2010 compilation. Ahead Of The Field: Music For TV And Film , a wonderful introduction to the field that helped finance the Steinway piano Phillips plays in Gemini album .
Ultimately, Phillips will probably be best remembered as the man who made a significant contribution to shaping Genesis's early sound. His 12-string guitar playing—and that of his friend Rutherford—was crucial. What was it about the instrument that was so appealing?
«"In 1967, during the so-called Summer of Love, there was a field called the Glade where we'd go to do our vile fumigations. One day, a little dazed, we emerged from behind a hedge and saw some guy sitting there strumming a 12-string guitar. It was such a beautiful sound. I'd heard electric 12-strings on Byrds and Beatles records and loved them. True, they usually used them for strumming, while Mike and I were exploring multi-timbral harmonies—we felt like we were plowing our own furrow.".
Does he feel his contributions to the early days of Genesis have been fully recognized? Steve Hackett certainly praised his work. "Yes, Steve was a truly wonderful man. And, paradoxically, over the years I've gotten to know my successor quite well. When we exchanged impressions of our time at Genesis, we actually discovered some striking similarities. I won't go into detail, but I remember thinking, 'I wish I'd known you earlier, Steve. I could have told you what to expect!'"«
Gemini – Pieces for Piano is already on sale.