I was actually given the name from another MC I knew in MD. I had been going by "Cause" for the longest time, since I started really. But I have to admit, it wasn't the best name. My friend mentioned he always wanted to use that name himself, but his name wasn't Phil. Philharmonic as you know is a title given to an orchestra. I think it fits me because I hope to make classic music as well as I feel my lyrics are complicated in structure as a symphony. (My name is Phil too) :)
Also I'm not your average MC, I have different interests, topics and desires. I needed a far from normal stage name to express me. Phil Harmonic IS Phil Hanson regardless.

It's been awhile since my last live show but I'm working on getting that started up again. Usually the Mason Jar and Club Freedom are the local venues I'd be interested in performing at.

Well the internet allows my music to be heard by tons of people who never would have heard of me or my music.

The answer is somewhere between a minute and a heartbeat.

I lived in South Dakota most of my young life, until the age of 12-13. There was no Hip Hop to speak of there, in fact I never even HEARD about Hip Hop until 1990 when I moved to Virginia. As soon as I heard it though I liked it, but actually doing it never entered my mind.

The first thoughts of MC'ing didn't come till MUCH later in 1994, my senior year in High School (Yeah, I'm old). My friend, Rolston Prosper had been rhyming for quite some time, I don't know till this day why we were such close friends, we were complete opposites. Anyway I saw him perform at one of the talent shows at the end of the school year, something just clicked in my head. Within a second I had went from listening to Hip Hop to saying, "That's something I could do and want to". Anyway I asked him to teach me how, and I remember, he was skeptical at first. You gotta understand I was an anomaly at school. I spoke "White" and had nothing in common with "Black" society at all. In fact the only reason I wasn't totally ridiculed in High School was because I had serious Basketball abilities.

Anyway at first I bit ALOT of his rhymes, incorporating into mine. I was REALLY on the West coast music at the time, Dre and Snoop, MC Eiht and the like. Eventually I got to understand how to structure lines and words. I was able to stop biting stuff he would say and come up with my own concepts. I remember I would talk about gunplay, drugs and other stuff I heard regularly in what I listened too. It was Rolston who said never write about things you don't do, you may get tested on it someday. It's advice I follow to this day.

If you hear me you'll notice I have a heavy East Coast Influence and I have to admit it's Because of Biggie Smalls, the first time I heard him, I was amazed. From that point on my style became more and more East Coast in structure and flow. I started getting actually good around 1998, that is where I would actually rhyme IN FRONT of other people, as you can see, I've not been doing this very long. It was only in 2002 I decided to start pursuing this seriously. I only hope I didn't wait too long to start.

Artists such as Eminem, Canibus, Nas, Jay Z, Biggie, Royce, Jada as well as others, I'm a fan of well written lyrics, not individuals per say.

If it exists, I've not been there yet.

I'm just the MC, not a producer.

My main website is at http://www.rustedtech.com

You can read my blog, find out the latest news or hear snippits from my upcoming album.