Meet Philip Silverberg

Today we’d like to introduce you to Philip Silverberg.

Hi Philip, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in New Jersey. At the age of 8, I began playing the piano. The first time I played was at a friend’s house. His mother called my parents to ask who taught me, and my mother explained that I had never played piano before. My friend’s mother told my parents that they should come see, because I was definitely playing the piano. From there, my parents nurtured my love and passion for music. Piano lead to Alto Saxophone in the elementary school band and I picked up a guitar right around the same time. Guitar lead to Bass and I’ve picked up a number of instruments since then.

When it came time to apply for college, I didn’t really think I was good enough to apply to music schools, so I didn’t. I ended up going to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where I double majored in Economics/Business and Music. The plan was to graduate and to head into the world of finance, but Music had other plans. The week of graduation, I got a call from one of my buddies back home saying that our production team was now in talks with a major record label about signing the whole team. That was the moment I decided to dive in fully. It was the first time I realized I could create music at a professional level and that people might actually like it. I took a job as a teacher at a School of Rock while the production team worked towards getting our deal. Unfortunately, the deal and the group fizzled, but my hunger to be a professional musician/producer only grew more intense.

Somewhere along the way, I picked up my first camera to document life in the studio. I knew my life looked a little different than the people I went to school with and thought it might be worth documenting. Quickly, it went from a hobby to becoming another profession. When I learn things, I like to learn them as deeply as I can. I study. I practice. I suck. Practice some more. Study some more. Eventually – I started working as a professional photographer out of a studio in Brooklyn where I shot fashion and beauty for some of the New York City’s biggest modeling agencies.

Photography seemed to go hand-in-hand with music. Musicians and artists constantly need photos and videos – why not be able to offer myself as a one-stop-shop. And so I did. For 10 years or so, I floated around the NJ/NYC area playing hundreds of gigs as a keyboard player, writing/producing songs of all genres with all sorts of artists, and photographing portraits and products for clients.

Then in 2020, Covid arrived in NYC and it was ground zero. everything shut down. For whatever reason, it seemed like the perfect time to uproot myself, to follow the music, and to move to Nashville. I arrived in July of 2021 and have done my best to be anywhere and everywhere the music is. So far, it’s been an amazing place and countless opportunities have come up. It took about 6 months for me to start feeling like this is home, and I still have plenty of moments of uncertainty, but it feels right and the future is bright.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been far from a smooth road.

I’ve taken a tremendous amount of bumps and bruises along the way.

Being a freelance musician/producer/photographer means nothing is ever guaranteed. You may not know when the next payday is coming and that alone can be terrifying at times. When you feel financial stress, it’s hard not to question yourself about what you’re doing, or whether you really have what it takes to “make it”.

After that deal fizzled with the production team – I worked towards getting myself a publishing deal. I was offered one by a smaller company that was absolutely heinous. It was the first time I was really dealing with industry snakes who were trying to sell me on a deal, by literally lying about the details. when I had my lawyer look it over, he sat me down to explain how awful it was because he knew I was a teacher and said “you have to warn your students about snakes like this”. That turned me off from publishing and I decided to dive in as hard as I could as a keyboard player.

A year after that, I was asked to go on tour backing an artist. The band was outstanding and for me it was my first time getting real touring experience. We signed a 10-page contract that I again had a lawyer (and two managers) look over. We played 2 shows in Holland as a headliner and then returned to do a month-long national tour back in the states. Within the first two weeks of that tour, we began to question where the money was. We had been promised weekly payments – one rate when on the road, and another retainer rate for when we were home – plus per diem….but when we got our first check – mine went through and everyone else’s bounced. Ultimately – we ended up going home at the end of the month, with no payment and no way to collect against the artist (believe me, we considered every option). That nearly broke me. I remember when I first got the call to go on that tour, how excited I was. My brother cried tears of joy with me. I had “made it” – the dream – a professional musician – paid for touring, and for being home. I left my job at the school of rock and gave everything else up to go on that tour. I came back with nothing but a ton of debt. I strongly considered quitting. If this is what I had worked for, I didn’t want it.

But – I came back a totally different player. That touring experience gave me the confidence I needed to really own being the keyboard player I was and so bigger and better opportunities seemed to keep falling on my lap. I couldn’t pass them up, and it kept me in the music game.

I got back into music production/songwriting after that – I realized that was where my true passion was. Being on stage was great, but I just wanted to sit and write music all day. I spent two years floating around the NYC songwriting/publishing world, but ultimately, it didn’t feel like the right place for me and I found a lot of it to be quite superficial.

Covid gave me a chance to step back and assess. Nashville made the most sense.

It’s certainly been challenging to get things going during a pandemic, but in many ways, it was the perfect time to come to Nashville to make a fresh start. I’m still getting things going, and I’m still entirely freelance, so I feel constant pressure to make something happen – but that’s what I’m here for.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a mix of a number of things, but the two primary components are Music and Photography.

In the music world: I’m a Music Producer, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist (Hammond B-3 Organ is my primary instrument), an audio/recording engineer, Music Theory teacher, Vocal Coach, and Piano teacher.

I’ve helped countless artists get their music out and have even reached over a million plays on an indie release that I co-wrote/co-produced. I’m proud of a number of accomplishments – I sang at Carnegie Hall and Toured Italy with a choir in College. I’ve played for a President of the United States while they were active as President. I’ve heard my music on the radio. I’ve been truly lucky.

As a photographer: I’m a published photographer who’s shot too many genres to count – I started in Beauty and Fashion, eventually shifted to more generalized portraiture. I then learned product photography when I was hired as the Chief Photographer for Vintage Vibe Electric Piano Company, which lead to my working for some commercial photo studios. Since moving to Nashville, I’ve almost exclusively been photographing artists/musicians. Most often shooting portraits, but also quite a bit of Concert photography and event photography.

I’ve had works published in Oprah Magazine, the Washington Post, and New York Times – I’ve helped a number of models get signed to agencies. I had my landscape photography work put in a gallery. Now, I’m working on my first portrait project that spotlights some of the amazing people I’ve met here in Nashville. I hope to either, or both, have those photos put in a gallery, or published as a book.

What sets me apart is that I have managed to successfully work as a professional in two separate fields. The combination of music, photo, and my business studies has allowed me to help package and market music/artists from the ground up. I can help write/produce your songs, record them, mix, and master them myself. Then, I can help create all of the promotional content – photos, videos, interviews, to support the release of that music. Simply put – I am a one-stop-shop. I don’t want the spotlight. I want to help others see their visions and reach their goals.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I’ll be completely candid here – I truly have very little time to sit and read or listen to podcasts. So, I don’t really have too much that I can list here, but when I read books, they are almost always Biographies of heroes of mine. I love to hear the stories of how people got to where they got in their lives. Along those lines, the only podcast that I consistently listen to is “And the Writer Is” which is hosted by Ross Golan, a top-notch songwriter. He interviews other songwriters and usually discusses how they got their careers started, and sometimes talk about their process.

As far as apps go – I use an app called Quiztones to help train my ears to better hear frequencies, changes in EQ, and Volume.

I listen to music constantly. More often than not, I’m listening for studying purposes. I either have to learn the songs for a gig, or to teach to a student, 0r I’m analyzing for songwriting/production.

Contact Info:

• Email: philip.silverberg@gmail.com
• Website: www.philsilverberg.com
• Instagram: @Phil_Silverberg | @Phil_Silverberg_Music | @Lophimusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/phil.silverberg
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/phil_silverberg
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrG0VAWn5dCWyvvHcyazaKg
• SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/philsilverberg

Image Credits:
Phil Silverberg