Phil is a unique man. I reached out to him about doing this Conversations project, and he was happy to join me for a talk. Phil has been living in the Gainesville area for about 15 years now and works at the Top doing maintenance. Most importantly, the majority of you will probably know him from when he gets on stage and screams at you as the frontman of Drosera.

Our conversation largely revolved around music, specifically his journey from a cover band to discovering that his voice was his strongest instrument after experimenting with different types of guitars.

One band that we spoke about that he was not a part of but is a huge fan of is a band called GWAR. Phil told me the first time he saw GWAR he was way too young, and since then, he has seen them eight times. He paints GWAR as a full-on spectacle, from music to visuals, an art collective that uplifts other local artists. He is still planning on making a pilgrimage to the GWAR Bar in Richmond. For Phil, they embody the DIY/hardcore spirit: wild creativity, mixing art with music, and pushing limits.

I personally consider myself a guest in the music community. There are two reasons for this. First, when I attend the show, my first thought is about the photography. Second, my musical knowledge is completely trash. I say this to let you understand why I asked him the next question. “What kind of band is Droser?” and he gave a stellar answer.

First, he did say that the band does consider themselves a hardcore band. This is something I was pretty confident in, but I also know there is a lot of nuance to genres, and I didn’t want to label something wrong. The key phrase here was “Heavy, Hard, and clean” which as someone who has been to a few of their shows, can say is pretty accurate.