The Keyboard Warrior
After almost a decade apart, Sons Of Apollo’s keysman Derek Sherinian has regrouped with Protocol’s Simon Phillips for a new solo album. As The Phoenix takes flight, he chats to Prog about working with Phillips, playing from the heart and that time he jammed with Eddie Van Halen.
Words: Rich Wilson Portraits: Greg Vorobiov
D
erek Sherinian is a born salesman. Possessing a persuasive quick-fire patter, there’s a sense that if the mood took him, he’d offer an eloquent argument to convince you that The Beatles were abysmal or that David Bowie was merely a poor man’s Gary Numan. Predictably then, the keyboard player is effusive about the qualities of his latest solo album, The Phoenix, describing it as “the best work that I have ever recorded and I think that it’s going to be the instrumental record of the year.” It’s the type of PR guff that every artist utters when promoting a new release, but mercifully, there’s enough to suggest in the material gathered on this album that his bold assessment is right.
Sherinian’s pedigree is beyond reproach. A current member of Sons Of Apollo – he’s also enjoyed creative stints in Dream Theater and Black Country Communion, and performed with Alice Cooper, Kiss and Billy Idol – his engaging and versatile style permeates the new album. As with previous solo recordings, The Phoenix has been co-written with renowned drummer Simon Phillips. The partnership would seem to be an unlikely one – Sherinian’s ebullience mixing with the more reserved Phillips – but it’s a relationship that has blossomed over five previous albums.