53mph
Bio
Phil Hunt Plays everything, lives in North London
"Ivory Coast" took on a life of it's own. Not only was it John Kennedy's single of the week on XFM, gaining 3 plays a day, it was eventually A-listed at the station and was subsequently played morning, noon & night! Not bad for a song that started life as a b-side. The original plan was to unleash "Things to Repair" on an unsuspecting audience, upon recording the 2 tracks however there was only one winner, and the gold medal went to the Ivory Coast. There's many likeable things about this song: the melody, the great underlying guitar riff, the handclaps at the end and the amazing solo in the middle. The track was recorded in a studio in Brixton by a lad called Tom Gillieron who specialises in Housey tracks and dub stuff, so this was a bit of a departure for him and it worked out pretty well. The drums, although sequenced, sound live and Phil's vocal sounds really relaxed and lazy.
Phil wrote both tunes, sang and played on both (putting down some particularly impressive guitar parts) and received a little help from friends James Heighway (guitar, Ivory Coast), Dan Stewart (guitar, Ivory Coast) & Dominic Murphy (bass, Ivory Coast & Things To Repair). Both tunes owe a debt to Lou Reed's "Transformer" which was on heavy rotation when they were being written, as well as Phil's lifelong appreciation of skew-wiff toons (the likes of Husker-Du, Sebadoh & Sonic Youth). The next single from 53MPH, entitled "5.30AM", is an altogether quite different affair. Think the Four Tops crossed with Neu! and you're not far away, as soaring strings and clipped guitar lines sit alongside fuzzy basslines & and an ever-changing composition.
"Ivory Coast" took on a life of it's own. Not only was it John Kennedy's single of the week on XFM, gaining 3 plays a day, it was eventually A-listed at the station and was subsequently played morning, noon & night! Not bad for a song that started life as a b-side. The original plan was to unleash "Things to Repair" on an unsuspecting audience, upon recording the 2 tracks however there was only one winner, and the gold medal went to the Ivory Coast. There's many likeable things about this song: the melody, the great underlying guitar riff, the handclaps at the end and the amazing solo in the middle. The track was recorded in a studio in Brixton by a lad called Tom Gillieron who specialises in Housey tracks and dub stuff, so this was a bit of a departure for him and it worked out pretty well. The drums, although sequenced, sound live and Phil's vocal sounds really relaxed and lazy.
Phil wrote both tunes, sang and played on both (putting down some particularly impressive guitar parts) and received a little help from friends James Heighway (guitar, Ivory Coast), Dan Stewart (guitar, Ivory Coast) & Dominic Murphy (bass, Ivory Coast & Things To Repair). Both tunes owe a debt to Lou Reed's "Transformer" which was on heavy rotation when they were being written, as well as Phil's lifelong appreciation of skew-wiff toons (the likes of Husker-Du, Sebadoh & Sonic Youth). The next single from 53MPH, entitled "5.30AM", is an altogether quite different affair. Think the Four Tops crossed with Neu! and you're not far away, as soaring strings and clipped guitar lines sit alongside fuzzy basslines & and an ever-changing composition.