
"I approach sampling with the same sense of wonderment that Hector Berlioz had when he first heard the saxophone in the 19th century or the same kind of excitement that a post-war teenager had when holding his first electric guitar in the 1950”
I started my career as an orchestral percussionist and as such I gained valuable experience under the baton of leading conductors such as Andrew Davis, Kurt Mazur, Pierre Boulez to name but a few. In a way my life as a professional musician at home and abroad gave me an “oblique incentive” to take up composition.
Timpanophonic is, I suppose, an experiment that involve my expertise as an orchestral player/composer mixed with a contemporary sound and a more direct way of approaching music. Electro-funk of the late 70 such as George Clinton and Drum & Bass music of the late 90 had as much of an influence on me as listening to Mozart, Beethoven or the great polyphonist of the Renaissance era. I tried to reflect this by using funk rhythms mixed with totally “un-rock & roll” instruments such as timpani, tuned percussions and classical opera samples.
Phil D’Aroso (2008)
Phil also plays with The Wrong Ensemble