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His journalistic career began as a freelancer for Fly. Subsequently he wrote for various leftfield dance and jazz publications before landing a Global Beats column in Wax magazine, and contributing to cult US dance publications Urb, and XLR8R.

As his passion for international sounds grew, he began writing for specialist magazines such as fRoots and Songlines.

A chance conversation with label boss Robert Trunz led to him putting together the Sanscapes project (for M.E.L.T. 2000) in aid of the Bushmen of the Kalahari. This first dalliance into studio production kick started a sideline career as a compiler, and to date he has over fifteen compilations to his credit. These include Global Hip Hop, Indestructible Arabian Beats, The Essential Guide To Arabia, A Night In Istanbul, Zen & The Art of Chilling, and the São Paulo Connection.

As well as being a specialist Arabic beats DJ, he also DJs with Afro-Celts main man Simon Emmerson under the name The Outernationalists. Their first album Ethnomixicology received great radio support and press in the US, and has just been re-released in the UK.

He’s appeared at various festivals including Wychwood, Larmer Tree, and Les Méditerranéennes in the South of France, and has been lucky enough to DJ for the likes of Khaled, Misty In Roots, and Gotan Project.

Nowadays, he’s a regular feature writer for The Independent, and has just written a chapter on Arabesque for the new edition of The Rough Guide To World Music. He’s also contributed to the Rough Guide Book Of Playlists, and Musicians Union Magazine.

He dreams of dropping an AC/DC tune into one of his DJ sets, and one day this will happen…

Drop in on Phil at Myspace