Legendary guitarist Phil X’s own band, Phil X & The Drills, are thrilled to unveil the official lyric video for their single, “Don’t Wake Up Dead,” featuring Korn drummer Ray Luzier, out now via Frontiers Music Srl. The video comes with a time-lapse of the production of the single’s artwork, created by Thomas Estrada.
Phil X commented on the single: “’Don’t Wake Up Dead’ is a look at how people just go through the motions of life just to get to the end of their day. I know because I, myself, have been there. To put it into impactful words, if you’re not waking up ready to conquer all obstacles, you’re waking up dead. Plus… Put to music that’s like downing a triple espresso is pretty awesome.”
In 2003, The Drills started to cause a stir in Hollywood, with their brand of punk mixed with classic and modern rock with guitar virtuosic undertones. Phil X was at the helm as the lead vocalist and guitar player. Daniel Spree on bass and backing vocals and Jeremy Spencer (Five Finger Death Punch) completed the power trio. They remained quite underground and released their first EP, Kick Your Ass In 17 Minutes in 2009. Jeremy had left to start FFDP by this time, so the constant rotation of drummers began.
Also, in that time period, Phil was becoming a groundbreaking YouTube sensation on a video channel called Fretted Americana, where he demoed vintage guitars. Actual 1959 Gibson Les Pauls (worth in the range of $250K),1954 Fender Stratocasters, and hundreds of other guitars were put through their paces in Phil’s hands. Before he knew it, Fretted Americana was sitting on millions of collective views and from a marketing standpoint, it made sense to take The Drills to another level as Phil X & The Drills.
We Bring The Rock’n’Roll was the follow-up to KYAI17M. With even more classic rock flavors stirred into the mix, this was the first endeavor to feature famed drummers that Phil had worked with on other artists’ records, including Chris Cornell, Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, and Gavin DeGraw to name a few.
Drummers like Josh Freese (Sting, Foo Fighters), Abe Laboriel Jr (Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton), and fellow Canadian Randy Cooke (Smashmouth, Five for Fighting) were all featured on this record.
Following two successful tours in the UK, the band released We Play Instruments ’N Sh!t. Musically showing vast growth in writing and production, the band was excited to unleash this heightened evolvement to their new fan base. The fan base started to grow exponentially, due to Phil filling in for Richie Sambora in Bon Jovi for thirteen shows in 2011. Phil went on to replace Sambora in 2016 and has been juggling both bands along with becoming a father since.
Multiple tours and recordings with Bon Jovi inevitably took the front seat in Phil’s career but every time he got a break, he was writing and setting up recording sessions with drummers like Tommy Lee, Tico Torres, Ray Luzier, and many more.
The first of these sessions were mixed by Chris Lord Alge and released on Stupid Good Lookings Vol 1. Taylor Hawkins, Glen Sobel, Brent Fitz, Matt Chamberlain, Abe Laboriel Jr, and Randy Cooke all participated on this drum extravaganza with more sessions in the vault.
2024 marked an exciting new landmark for the band when they opened for Mötley Crüe at Summerfest in Springfield, IL. Phil X, Daniel Spree, and Brent Fitz took the stage and left the 10,000 attendees, event coordinators, promoters, and agents (not to mention the headliner) all thrilled.
Finally, the band recently signed to Frontiers Records Srl and is excited to embark on a new journey with new music.
Lineup:
Phil X – Lead Vocals & Guitars
Daniel Spree – Bass & Background Vocals
Ray Luzier – Drums