Today we said a formal farewell to beloved long time friend, Phil K who sadly passed away last weekend. It’s been a difficult, mournful week. Even though we knew it was coming, it still didn’t make it any easier when the day finally came, but the outpouring of love on social media has been a great source of comfort to all his family and friends.

It seems it wasn’t just me, he really did leave a positive impression on everyone he met. It shouldn’t be a surprise. He was a shining light to us all. Not one to suffer any bullshit, he pulled no punches, told it as he saw it but always with words of inspiration and encouragement. He had time for everyone, generous to a fault and a joy to be around.

I met Phil and Anthony Pappa on my first trip to Australia back in 1993 and we connected instantly. His enthusiasm, forward thinking outlook and thirst for knowledge was infectious. He had an uncanny knack of making you feel better about life just by spending time in his company.

I was lucky enough to share so many good times with him. None more so than a North American adventure together in 2004 where we toured to promote our Therapy Sessions Compilation and found ourselves in several sticky situations, most notably in Juarez, Mexico when an almighty fight broke out on the dance floor and we had to hide under the decks with a Police guard. Naturally, Phil took it all in his stride, chatting away inquisitively with the Police officer about the city’s drug problems whilst the chaos prevailed around us.

Throughout the 90s, whilst he worked / held court at the DMC Record Shop in Melbourne, it was always my first port of call in the city where I’d be greeted by his mischievous cheeky grin, a guaranteed instant cure for my jet lag, as he then proceeded to passionately wax lyrical on everything from humanity’s latest technological advances to the fluctuating status of our English/Australian cricket rivalry.

Of course, he was most widely known for his extraordinary talent as a DJ. His technical skills were legendary, enough to leave even the likes of James Zabiela in awe. He was instrumental in the development of Pioneer’s digital DJ equipment where he regularly pointed out features the equipment could do that the developers in Japan had not even realised themselves! Along with Pappa, he also played the music at my own wedding, taking over from the venue’s in-house DJ who spent the rest of the evening with his jaw on the floor. I’m don’t think the poor guy could quite believe what he was witnessing!

To put it simply, Phil was one-of-a-kind, he never followed the crowd, he thought differently. He could put a spring in your step like no other and his passion and positivity should be a lesson to us all.

Goodbye my friend. Thanks for all the memories. I will treasure them forever x