Now living in Bognor Regis, Phil was originally born in South Shields in the North East of England. Phil spent several years playing in many of the social clubs and theatres around Newcastle, Durham and Teeside where he served his "apprenticeship" by regularly playing two or three nights a week in professional bands.

He comes from a family of musicians - his brother is a bass player and his father was an alto saxophonist and played in dance bands in the 40's and 50's.