Night Tapes

Night Tapes is the bedroom recording project of singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Ryan J. Phillips. A designer by trade, Phillips’ approach to songcraft is one of both calculated precision and frenetic impulsivity. Phillips was a founding member of the band <a href="spotify:artist:2GdgDnUG0ZMFZiu2122pGQ" data-name="Crystal Skulls">Crystal Skulls</a> , a Seattle cult supergroup whose members later joined the ranks of <a href="spotify:artist:4EVpmkEwrLYEg6jIsiPMIb" data-name="Fleet Foxes">Fleet Foxes</a> , <a href="spotify:artist:4MXUO7sVCaFgFjoTI5ox5c" data-name="Sufjan Stevens">Sufjan Stevens</a> , <a href="spotify:artist:7fSjnDr8tBO37Xbb2UXuYr" data-name="Richard Swift">Richard Swift</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4LG4Bs1Gadht7TCrMytQUO" data-name="The Shins">The Shins</a> (respectively). Phillips, however, stayed out of music for over a decade until recently.


A student of 1970s songwriting, his songs channel the playful earnestness of <a href="spotify:artist:3HQyFCFFfJO3KKBlUfZsyW" data-name="Randy Newman">Randy Newman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3RTzAwFprBqiskp550eSJX" data-name="Harry Nilsson">Harry Nilsson</a>, &amp; <a href="spotify:artist:319yZVtYM9MBGqmSQnMyY6" data-name="Carole King">Carole King</a>, while his arrangements explore a sprawling pastiche of popular music, drawing influence from <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn" data-name="Tom Petty">Tom Petty</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Lpr5wXzWLtDWm1SjNbpPb" data-name="Todd Rundgren">Todd Rundgren</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4YHtIE7FI8ITfekzzN5Jpl" data-name="Shuggie Otis">Shuggie Otis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:35y7CZMg7jbG8Q96JY7dyC" data-name="Burt Bacharach">Burt Bacharach</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6P7H3ai06vU1sGvdpBwDmE" data-name="Steely Dan">Steely Dan</a>, and Smooth-Jazz legend <a href="spotify:artist:6ryjbFyWBZho9KGXqKZdqQ" data-name="Bob James">Bob James</a>. He leverages the pop-song format as a repository for his own guilty pleasures, and a platform for scrupulous self-evaluation.


Phillips debut full length may very well be the most self deprecating album of all time. Taking almost 10 years to complete, <a href="spotify:album:0S1zK0MBzP84eoz2nqG59m" data-name="Losin' My Touch">Losin' My Touch</a> tells the first-person story of a perfectionist who, admittedly, is his own worst enemy. As the album progresses, he slowly comes to the realization that the perfection he seeks is a subjective and immaterial black hole of futility.