The bar and lounge at Mahe in Dana Point is packed to the gills on a Friday night in February. Loud voices are met with louder laughter, but when the opening chords of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” begins, the crowd becomes as quiet as a tipsy Friday night audience can be.
Guitarist Philip Vandermost is the leader of the trio that plays Mahe twice a month. Along with Jim Moreland (drums) and Chris DeJesus (bass), Vandermost performs everything from Oasis tunes to Elton John classics. He’s also been known to inspire impromptu dance floors when he plays other people’s songs, but it’s his original music that’s receiving a warm response in Orange County.
Vandermost’s career as a musician has been a lifetime in the making. Inspired by The Beatles albums his mother was constantly spinning and AM radio rock, he picked up the guitar at age 11.
“In high school, I wanted to be a rock star,” says Vandermost. But since “rock star” isn’t a job title you’re likely to find on career day, Vandermost went off to college, taking a 10-year hiatus from music. That is, until he answered an ad for a lead guitar player.
“I felt like I had been playing guitar on a high level for a long time and had nothing to show for it,” Vandermost says. “My main goal is to share.”
And sharing he is, by nearly single-handedly writing, performing and producing a solo album titled Automatic August. The album is a labor of love in many aspects. Heavily laden with the melodic rock Vandermost grew up on, the album was born in Vandermost’s Laguna Niguel home studio. Vandermost clearly has an ear for good pop and his three big influences – The Byrds, The Beatles and The Beach Boys – are easily detected, which is not to say his work isn’t original.
“You know Bruce Springsteen was inspired by Bob Dylan and The Killers are influenced by Springsteen. There is this whole lineage that you can just trace,” Vandermost says.
Vandermost pairs his ’60s-tinged wailing guitar riffs with poetic lyrics, reminiscent of his more recent influences, including Snow Patrol, My Morning Jacket and Coldplay. He also enlisted the help of poet Robert Fulton for lyrics, though Vandermost wrote or co-wrote all the tracks on Automatic August. “Some of the themes I like are love and redemption. I think those are universal in a way.”
But writing is only part of it. “I played all the instruments myself and called in somebody for drums,” he says.
Vandermost has plans for a second release later this year, following roughly the same pattern, though he may do some things differently. “I might actually work with a producer this time,” he says. “When you write and produce everything yourself, you become pretty close to it. I like the idea of an outside perspective.”
For now, Vandermost is enjoying the good response Automatic August has received and the long way he has come since his AM radio days.
“I’m kind of making up for lost time.”
Philip Vandermost’s album Automatic August is available on iTunes. You can catch Philip Vandermost performing live at Mahe in Dana Point May 7, May 30, June 6, and June 11. Go to philvandermost.com for details.
