I first met Phil when he was working in Quaff & I was launching Vinyl Solution. What could have been a difficult treading on toes conversation turned into a 3 hour chat over coffee & half a pack of rizla. I flatter myself by saying he was a kindred spirit, proudly individual fun loving, non conformist with a shared love of music, beat digging, standing up for the underdog & putting one over “the man”.

I think I can say that also goes for everyone Phil has introduced me to.

I’ll diverge on some of the fashion though I couldn’t rock Magnum PI or Sherlock Holmes looks with the same kind of swagger.

He didn’t care about celebrity or reputation he judged people by their heart. He put his own heart in to everything he did & it showed. You knew if you needed it he had your back. He could pull someone up & simultaneously buy a sausage sandwich for a homeless person. That was Phil.

I was in awe of his courage to musically stick to his guns. It’s not easy putting yourself out there every time. I loved his constant desire to improve and attention to detail but Phil was different from many of his peers in that he would share & spread the knowledge to anyone who showed a genuine interest. He could be generous to a fault.

You could argue he deserved more but he was true to himself every time & you can’t put a price on that. In fact that’s Phil in a nutshell he was priceless, a one-off who can’t be replaced.