6qs for Phideaux Xavier of Phideaux

Phideaux was a revelation at last years Summer’s End. And I am very excited to get the chance to see them again this year at RosFest. Phideaux Xavier answers my 6qs.

Who are your musical influences?

The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues

What has Phideaux been up to lately?

Lately- Phideaux, the band, has been rehearsing new repertoire for our appearance at Rosfest in May 2011. We are going back a little further for some of the songs. We are also finishing up our new album Snowtorch, which will be our first album to also appear in vinyl edition.

What’s your favorite song to perform live?

Probably what we call The Doom Suite, which is the first four songs from our album Doomsday Afternoon, although lately we’ve been rehearsing some other songs which I quite like – Railyard (from 313) and a hybrid of Darkness At Noon/Formaldehyde.

How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?

The “band” emerged out of a few albums I made which included contributions from dear friends. When we had the opportunity to perform live at Festival Crescendo in 2007, we had to form the live band. It has really gelled into a band and I can enjoy the more substantial contributions from the other members, which I think pushes the music further into territories that I couldn’t get on my own.

If you could play a concert with a band of your choice, who would it be?

We would love to open up for Jethro Tull! We would like to play on a double bill with a lot of current bands – IQ, Discipline, Edensong, Manning. There are a lot of great bands out there!

What’s your favorite board game?

It used to be a game called Candyland. It looks so bright and delicious. However, that has been supplanted by backgammon. I quite like that!