Ph2 was created in 1998 by two Philippe (hence, Ph2!): Philippe Mercier (drums, percussions) and Philippe Moati (guitars, bass, and keyboards). They met at school in the Paris area when they were 14. They were members of two bands, Equinox, and then Jouvence, with whom they recorded a single and gave many concerts. From the beginning, they played progressive rock, strongly influenced by the prog music of that time: Genesis, Yes, Van der Graff Generator, Kansas, Mike Oldfield, Peter Gabriel, and so on. As their music became more complex, they felt limited by the band configuration. They decided to exploit the rich potential of the studio work. They were reached by new influences, both from the classical music of the first half of the 20th century (Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Ravel…) and from the new generation of prog bands (Flower Kings, Kaïpa, Ritual, Karmakanics…). But their music is often unclassifiable. Faithful to the spirit of progressive rock, the two Philippe try to avoid the easy way out, explore new possibilities and are particularly attentive to the orchestration. Their music seeks to both surprise and move. Some pieces are written according to the principle of automatic writing (the basic line results from an improvisation on which the orchestration is built).
Ph2 has recorded 5 albums: Portraits de Famille (1996), Une vie (2002), Empreintes (2011), 20 years after (2016), and Season 5 (2021). Philippe Moati wrote most of the songs, some of them following the principle of automatic writing (the baseline comes from an improvisation on which the orchestration is then built). The first and second albums are entirely instrumental. The others mix instrumental and sung tracks with contributions from guest artists. Discography
Portraits de famille (CD, 1996)
Une vie (CD, 2002)
Empreintes (CD, 2011)
20 years after (CD, 2016)
Season 5 - Epictronic (CD, 2022-2023)
Line Up:
Philippe Moati: Keyboards, Guitars, Bass
Philippe Mercier: Drums, Percussions |
