While talking about 'Darwin 2: A Frozen War,' the newest DarWin project release after 'Origin of Species' from 2018, DarWin asked Simon the most important question in their video 'The Story Behind the Album'. A deep and insightful question having super artists Billy Sheehan and Simon Phillips right next to him.

"How do we maintain the bedrock of a Simon Phillips or Billy Sheehan in music in a world that is already digitized?"

Next, Simon wonders how young musicians will get the experience of playing and recording. He understands and explains why seasoned session players like himself are hired, while at the same time the kids in the band never learn to play time, tune or even record. With that, to actually have the members of the band skilled enough to play their own music.

As a producer himself, he refers to it as an art that is getting lost in combination with engineering as part of the recording process. Watch the bold statements he makes in this first video.

Below the video on topic we added a few cool videos from the project, like the opening track Nightmare of My Dreams from the five-track counting 'Darwin 2'. We see Simon play the track as well as a drum tutorial on the song, and the official video. Plus more!

PS. in September 2020, Simon Phillips celebrated his 50th anniversary in music! That sounds like an early 50th celebration at the age of 63. Yet, Simon already played his first professional gigs at the age of 13.

"People just record it once, and then fix it. And you don't learn a thing."
- Simon Phillips

DarWin 2: A Frozen War - The Story Behind the Album


DarWin - Simon Phillips Nightmare of My Dreams Drum Solo


DarWin - Simon Phillips Nightmare of My Dreams - Drum Tutorial
Simon Phillips describes his drumming approach to Nightmare of My Dreams in this in-depth tutorial video.



DarWin Frozen War Simon Phillips Drum Master Recording
A Frozen War is an awesome showcase of Simon Phillips’ powerhouse yet sophisticated drumming.
The song covers diverse rhythmic territory, with various meters being explored; see if you can find where the 6, 4, 3, and 7 parts are.

"Art isn't perfect. We try to make it as tight as possible. The tight that makes it groove better."
- Simon Phillips

DarWin - Nightmare of My Dreams
Featuring Guthrie Govan, Simon Phillips, Billy Sheehan & Matt Bissonette on vocals. And yes, Matt Bissonette is the amazing bass player and brother of that other drum hero: Gregg Bissonette. Derek Sherinian is featured on track #4. Probably best known from his work with Dream Theater (with Mike Portnoy), he was the founder of bands like Planet X, Black Country Communion and Sons of Apollo, and recorded for artists like Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai and Joe Bonamassa.



DarWin - Simon Phillips Future History Drum Solo
Future History is track #2 on 'Darwin 2: A Frozen War'.


DarWin - A Frozen War
Featuring: Simon Phillips, Billy Sheehan, Derek Sherinian, Alex Sill and Matt Bissonette

Recommended Watching and Reading

• Simon Phillips plays Stevie Wonder at Remo Drummer Night
  
• The Simon Phillips Warm-up Exercises
  
• 15 Minutes of raw genius with Simon Phillips - full drum solo