Main host and teacher: Phil Mills

Phil has been involved in hundreds of projects in more than 15 countries, covering a large range of musical styles. Originally a guitarist and vocalist, he also plays bass, keyboards and percussion. He has performed and recorded as a singer/songwriter and in various rock and alternative bands, but is also heavily involved in synthesizers and (experimental) electronic music.

Phil owns and runs Cryptic Recording, a studio in Engelum in the northern Netherlands. He works there as producer, engineer (mixing and mastering), arranger, programmer and session musician. The studio is modern, with a Pro Tools/Ableton Live setup and numerous plug-ins, but it is also equipped with a big collection of analogue hardware.

In the 1990s Phil played in the duo Nerve together with Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL), releasing 2 albums and 3 singles and achieving considerable success. The videos were aired on MTV and other international TV stations, and the band toured extensively in Europe. Since then Phil has been mostly active as a solo artist, plus a number of collaborations with other artists for various projects, including the experimental ambient group Landfall. His most recent projects include the band Tickets Go Past (https://www.youtube.com/user/Ticketsgopastmusic) and a dark electronic project under his own name (www.soundcloud.com/phil-mills).

Phil gives lessons and workshops on the subjects of studio technique, electronic composition, synthesis and sound design both in the Netherlands (Artez Conservatory, Enschede and D’Drive, Leeuwarden) and abroad. He has composed music for films, business promos, dance and theatre productions and has been called upon as composer or lyricist by a broad range of artists. He has demonstrated for Steinberg and Digidesign (Avid), and created presets for Native Instruments.