PHIL
GAUDION

Hi there, thanks for taking the time to visit my site. Some of you may know me or my music through the band Paul Colman Trio

 

here's a little about me and my background - check out the 'news' page to see a list of music projects I've been involved in since 2004

I began guitar at 10 & drumming at age 12 in Melbourne Australia after being raised in a bit of a musical family - my Dad plays piano/Church organ & both my older brothers took up guitar & bass respectively. There was a fantastic drum teacher at my high school - Gordon Pendleton. I was so keen on drumming that I went to Gordon for lessons every week for 6 years at my school. 

Gordon taught me so much about drumming & life in general. I learned a lot from Gordon about posture, relaxation & hand & foot techniques on the drum set. During that time I played in the school ‘Concert band’, a church worship band & by age 16 I played my first ‘covers’ gig in a bar in Melbourne with my brother Paul on bass & some of our friends on Brass, Keyboards, Guitar & Vocals. We played music from the Blues Brothers, the Beatles, Phil Collins - basically rock & pop music with Brass in it. 

At the same time, Gordon was teaching me about Jazz Music such as Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett & Weather Report. At home I was listening to bands like Midnight Oil, AC/DC, The Police, Men at Work & INXS. 

Then in about 1986, the lead singer of the band Police, Sting, began his Solo career. I was very inspired but this music, he had combined just about all of my influences of Rock, Pop & Jazz music into one style. I’ll never forget hearing “Set them free” on the radio for the first time. 

So I started listening to more Jazz & Jazz Fusion music just because that was where my ear lead me, the radio was always on though & I still loved pop music although by this stage, ‘Synth Pop’ had really kind of taken over the airwaves & I felt that the radio had become so commercial that the musicians began to depart from real creativity in their music. 

At the age of 21 in 1992, I was so keen to join a working band in the pubs that I left behind my University qualification of Building Surveying (after successful completion) & started doing pub gigs 2, 3 & 4 nights a week. I was playing a lot of dance music including Aretha Franklin / Kylie Minogue / Madonna hits in a band called “Rhythm Method”. I had been to a few auditions for drummers that I’d found in the local newspapers but it was through recommendation & subsequent audition that I got this gig. 

Whilst in Rhythm Method I joined a band playing original music called “The Woodshedders”. This was a great band with really good songs in a 'Crowded House' esq. kind of sound. You might say though, that this parallel of sounding like Crowded House was as much the bands curse as it was a blessing. We did some great studio recordings & won 3rd place in a Yamaha music competition in Sydney in 1994 - around the same time I met Paul Colman. Paul asked me to join his band - “The LoFi’s”. I said no as I was already busy with about 3 other bands. I also told Paul his band wasn’t good enough for me!  I stuck to what I was doing (kind of funny seeing in hind sight as Paul & I ending up touring for over 5 years together). I was often getting fill-in drummers to cover my first set of Rhythm Method whilst I played another gig with The Woodshedders at another venue & then rushed to my Rhythm Method gig after the another set. It was getting a little crazy, but it was a great experience to be drumming so much. 

Around 1994, my brother Paul had joined Rhythm Method on bass, we moved to playing with sequenced backing tracks (ie recorded sequenced keyboard & percussion parts to a click track) - this really helped me improve my skills as well as polish the sound of the music.  We employed fantastic singer Janine Maunder on lead vocals - Rhythm Method was kicking. That year Janine introduced me to Tam (my wife), I started going to church, reading the bible & praying. Soon I realised there were some issues in my life that I had to deal with. I made a decision to leave my old ways behind & start again with Jesus Christ as the leader of my life. This was a huge change in my life all at once, but I was so happy.

After another 3 or so years of pub gigs, the work eventually dried up. Soon, I was on my knees begging God for direction, I prayed often that He would give me an opportunity to serve Him in music (as I felt that was my gifting). I told Him that I would go anywhere. Not long after that, Paul Colman asked me to travel with him for 7 weeks to the USA & the Philippines to play his music to churches, schools & at his own concerts - an amazing experience relationally, musically and my first overseas visits. On returning to Australia, Paul talked about adding a Bass player, & since both he & I knew Grant Norsworthy, pc3 (the PAUL COLMAN TRIO) was born. 

We toured around Australia for 3 years playing Concerts, Schools, Churches, Festivals, just about anywhere people would have us. We recorded 2 independent studio CDs (Serious Fun in 1999 & Turn in 2000). The success of the Paul Colman Trio came very easily based on Paul's previous work and our collective enthusiasm to make a living out of it - we were all 100% committed to travelling and playing wherever and whenever.

In 2000, we travelled to the USA again as a band for the first time, playing all over the country for 6 weeks. On returning to Australia, we then recorded and released (independently - ie no record deal) a double Live CD & VHS Video (pc3 Live) in 2001. 

In 2002, we were granted an opportunity to tour the USA to tour with the band Third Day. We flew to the US, moved into a tour bus & began a hectic schedule of touring the USA & eventually Europe in 2002 & 2003 - around about 200 shows a year (although that was a typical schedule to our time in Australia).  It was an amazing season, we arrived in a new city every morning as we slept in a tour bus for most of 2002.

 

PC3 signed a record deal with Essential Records & released 2 globally released CDs “New Map of the World” 2002 & “One” 2003. 

In late 2003, after 5 solid years of recording and touring, Tam (my wife) & I decided we needed to return to Australia. We felt the need to be together more with (at the time our 2 girls - now 3) & although I loved touring & playing, it was time for a change. Touring life was enjoyable, and I was thriving on playing our own music live and growing ever more confident, but it was definitely taking its toll on us all personally as individuals and for me and Tam as a couple.

So in February 2004, the Paul Colman Trio played it’s final gigs around Australia - a fitting & enjoyable ending. Paul Colman Trio has been an amazing experience for me personally on so many levels, not only has pc3 done literally thousands of gigs & some fantastic recording experiences, it has lead me to be involved with other artists, playing drums for Bebo Norman on tour & working with some of Nashville's’ top Producers & Engineers, Winning a Dove Award in 2003 & being nominated for a Grammy Award, even doing some session work in Nashville. 

It was also amazing to tour with & see Third Day play so many shows along with artists Bebo Norman, Tait & FFH. We often saw bands such as Switchfoot, Audio Adrenaline, Mercy Me, Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, Michael W Smith & Steven Curtis Chapman perform live at festivals & it was a great experience to meet some of the musicians and strike up friendships in these bands - what a privilege!

From 2004, I have been working as a Producer / Recording Engineer in Australia, working with bands & musicians to help them record their music. Also I’ve also played drums, bass, guitars on many of these recordings - checkout the news & music pages for the current and back dated details. 
 

in 2004, I also decided to put my drumming technique ideas into an instructional DVD for drummers wishing to expand their skills for playing in Church - producing this has been something that’s been on my heart for a while now. Please check it out on the order page on this site! 

 

For the last 15 years or so, in particular, the studio work has been my main thing although performing live over the last few years particularly with Scott Darlow has taken me all over Australia again which is a real privilege.  Recently to become an endorsee in 2022 for Red Cymbals is another honor that I am extremely grateful for.

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if you're keen to talk or find out more about recording with me, please hit me up with an email through the 'contact' page - I am very open minded about recording and have worked with a huge range of artists on various styles of music

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God Bless you and thanks for taking the time to visit!

Phil :)