Clockwork Chapel: Artist: Phobea

Phobea

Phobea, real name Spencer Lavery, is a 23 year old rapper from Bognor Regis, England.

He has been writing rhymes since the age of 13 when he discovered battling, and progressed to making songs at the age of 17. Now, 5 years into it he feels ready to throw himself into the music industry.

His songs aren’t your usual cup of hip-hop flavoured tea, due in part because his taste in music is ridiculously eclectic, and also because he doesn’t want to fit the mould, he wants to make a new one. His song topics range from a broken heart to a drunken night out, but it is evident he shines best when reflecting on the world and his situations on the verge of desperation.

He grew up in your average council estate in Bognor Regis, screwed up school like everybody else while his parents divorced, and shortly afterward spiralled down into a world of drug addictions, violence and rebellion. After he got kicked out of sixth form he started working in factories, and carried this on for another 3 years building up vast amounts of frustration at himself and the world around him, still reflected in many of his lyrics.

He has since got himself back on the straight and narrow and just finished a course in Graphic Design at Chichester College. Design has been a part of his life ever since the age of 12 when he first picked up a can of spray paint. Despite his peers refusal to acknowledge the hip-hop culture he managed to live and breathe it throughout his teens, gaining a deeper understanding of what hip-hop really is along the way.

He knows now that it isn’t the clothes, it isn’t the cars, it isn’t the ‘bitches’, it’s staying true to yourself and telling your own story. He’s lucky that his story is different enough to warrant being told.

Nowadays he doesn’t ‘look’ hip-hop, or ‘act’ it, but he likes to believe he’s living it.

His main musical influences are the obvious Tupac, Jay-Z, Nas, Aesop Rock, Slug, Louis Logic, Braintax, as well as many non hip-hoppers varying from Bowie to Jeff Buckley, the Beatles to Slipknot. When asked who his 5 favourite musicians were he answered “Craig Armstrong, Nitin Sawhney, Bjork, Faithless, and Spiritualized” but it changes every week.

The demo LP he released in 2004 is the result of 3 years of spare time spent fucking around with a £10 microphone from a market and a computer in his bedroom. Don’t be put off, he takes his music very seriously indeed, he just feels that he should perfect his skills before he takes it to the next level, and now is the time.

He has just started making his own beats but has yet to lace them with any vocals so they aren’t included on the LP. This summer he will be setting himself up with a proper home studio and aims to have an entirely self-produced album finished by the end of the year.

So give the tracks and the demo a listen, and if you like what you hear, get in contact with us because he's ready, and he's hungry.

Tracks to download:
Phobea - Disconnect The Dots (Warrior Remix)
Phobea - My Life (Mark Ronson Remix)

Click here to go back to the Artists page.