Philipp Weigl has a widespread commitment to music. From an early age on he has, as a classically trained pianist, played many recitals in his hometown Freising, Germany. Also, working together with other musicians (for example playing chamber music) has always been a source of joy and inspiration for him.
During his teen-years, Philipp developed a strong affection for independent pop and rock music as well as for electronic and ambient music. Playing in various pop/rock bands as a guitarist, keyboarder and bass player has been an inspiring experience for Philipp, helping him to develop a distinct sense of sound and how to use it in music productions. Artists such as Nick Cave, Massive Attack, Portishead, Radiohead and Björk have been a major inspiration for Philipp at that time.
Profiting from the fast (and now affordable) personal computer development in the 1990's, Philipp could now realize his own ideas and songs by producing them without a whole band. But it took several more years before his debut-EP came out in 2005. What began as a hobby has then become serious.
In 2005 the Austrian netlabel Comatronic put faith in Philipp's music and released a five track EP with his individual style of ambient and idm music, combined with vocals. The EP gained many fans and a lot of lovely reviews in the netlabel-scene.
Encouraged by the success, Philipp kept on working very hard on new songs and was given the opportunity, later that year, of releasing a second EP on the German netlabel Legoego. Again many positive reactions and reviews in important netlabel magazines and many plays in podcasts and songs being featured on compilations.
Then in early 2006 the big German netlabel Thinner showed interest in releasing a full lenght album with Philipp. Delighted and a little astonished, for Thinner was widely know as a dub label, Philipp agreed. The success of that (risky) decision proved all critics wrong and lead to thousands of downloads until today. The british newspaper The Guardian wrote:
"For some rather calmer online fare, head to www.thinner.cc. The German-based Thinner is one of a number of "netlabels" specializing in electronic music, in Thinner's case of the downbeat, minimal variety. Unlike ye olde worlde record labels, netlabels positively encourage you to take their music for free, with every release on Thinner available to download, in full, for nothing (though they do accept PayPal donations to the artists). Their most recent release is Monsters, the marvellous eight-track album by Philipp Weigl. A graduate of classical piano from Munich's University of Music and Performing Arts, Weigl lays his whispered, English-language vocals over lush, dreamlike compositions that drip with yearning melancholy. The results sound something like William Orbit and the Beloved snuggling under the duvet on a particularly dreary winter's morning. Sometimes, it seems, the best things do still come for free." - Chris Salmon (Friday January 26, 2007)
Looking for new goals, Philipp started in early 2007 a project with veteran Jazz and e-Jazz drummer Michael Hoffmann. This highly productive collaboration lead to two releases. Their first EP has been released on the Thinner sisterlabel Autoplate, the second on the well-known id.eology netlabel in Cologne, Germany. A Remix by Stefan 'Gate Zero' Biermann and lyrics by Charlie Scott contributed to the success of the EP's.
In Autumn 2008 the next full length album, called Land & Water (this time solo again), came out on Magnatune.com.
10 new songs of introspection, chill and passion for "advanced" listeners found their home here.
Besides composing and producing music, Philipp loves to play the piano. His special interest applies to the music of the Baroque (esp. Bach), the Romantic (Chopin, Schumann) and Modern Jazz (Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea).
Thanks so much for connecting me Philipp and I am thankful to have discovered your sounds!Have to say that"Cynosure"and"Underwater Dancer"were my personal favs and I really look forward to more in the future.Hope things are going well for you and I wish you greater inspiration than you have known. Sending peace and good vibes your way)))
A lil hello :) Been listening to your album these past few days, soo soothing - a real pleasure to the ear and to the mind. Hope you are well xxx Krizia
Philipp, thanks for adding me, and along with what i already wrote to you i'd like to add that i'm definitely the one in a million who likes your piano music very much!!! :) of course i can bet the percent of people who also like it is actually orders higher :)))! cheers and warmest regards from russia!
Online!
