The band 'Phil Gardner' was formed from a collection of cells and regressive genes which burst forth from my mother's womb in 1973. I didn't pick up a guitar until almost 18 years later, by which time I was already playing drums in a couple of bands, both of which sank without trace, despite having that most important of qualities - a cool name. I turned to singing and songwriting, only to discover I couldn't get a tune out of my drums to accompany myself. Hence the shift towards guitar. I started seriously writing songs in 1993. Ten years later I find myself in the inexplicable position of not being a worldwide music phenomenon. By day I'm a writer of plays, films and comedy scripts. By night I'm asleep. But somewhere in the middle I still find time to write the occasional song, which I insist on recording in my living room with a battered old microphone, in an attempt to keep it real.