Phillip Otto

25-year-old singer, songwriter, and producer Phillip Otto was born to an avidly music-obsessed father in Camden, New Jersey. Growing up on The Beetles and Peter Paul and Mary, he found himself singing along to the greats soon after he learned to walk. Rather than taking piano lessons in elementary school, he was gifted a zither and a lamellophone by his parents, and became interested in the dissonant harmonics the instruments created. Seeing movies like Juno and The Rocky Horror Picture Show in his childhood allowed him to find music that spoke to him in more personal ways - ways that seemed to break the rules of music he had previously heard.

After singing in his school’s talent show at age 8, he was encouraged by his friends to start a YouTube channel. Pushing the comments aside for years, he later decided to do exactly that in high school, where he began posting acoustic covers of his favorite songs. While making covers served as a fun hobby, he soon realized he wanted to make his own music - music where he could sing about what was important to him. Poetry writing gave way to songwriting, and at age 18, Phillip began teaching himself music production. Since then, his honest and personal lyrics and synth-backed indie-pop melodies have gained the attention of listeners and music blogs across the country - with features in Beach Pizza, Pikl Rose, and LEMON Radio to name a few. But it’s only just the beginning for Phillip Otto.