For over 40 years, Phil Scott has distinguished himself as a committed volunteer for local television, as well as, being a respected musician and background actor.
While Scott took on various types of work throughout the years, he has remained active in the arts community in Brantford, with a passion for music, and joined his first bands while he was in high school.
“I started in a band called Mandarin [and] when I got a little older, I was in a heavier band called Subterranean Explosion; and that was one of the first times I actually got on stage in public with some friends of mine,” said Scott. “We were bar hopping in Toronto and found a place called the Young Street Station right on Young Street. Back then the last call was about one, but this one stayed open for musicians to jam. I got up on the stage and that was actually my first time I’ve actually played in front of an audience. And I thought that was pretty cool…we also did local events in Brantford like grade eight church dances and the grade eight graduations.”
Scott would then form Desert Fox with a friend, and got a chance to record a single.
“We toured a little bit and went through a number of transitions. We ended up as a trio [and] recorded a single called ‘High School Rock and Roll’. We went into Mercy Brothers studio in Elmira, Ontario [and I believe] Larry Mercy did the engineering for the single. We went on to promote it across Ontario…getting it on jukeboxes and doing radio interviews,” he noted.
That would then lead to recording an album on the Thunderbird records label, which was based out of Burford.
“We were the only rock bands that they had [as] all of their other acts were country. We recorded our album in 1976 with Steve Beach. He did the session with us at Thunder Sound in Toronto…[and] we recorded all original music [and] named the album ‘Mystic Man’,” Scott recalled.
Despite the band doing heavy promotion, Desert Fox didn’t get the record contract they wanted.
“We didn’t really get the breaks we needed. We were sending out the album to many people including Bruce Allen, who was managing BTO [Bach-Turner Overdrive] at the time…we were looking for a record distributor and for management which was geared more towards rock acts because Jim Allison, who owned Thunderbird records; was more focused on country,” explained Scott. “[Ultimately], the album didn’t get released because of a few problems we ran into…[and] the band disbanded soon after.”
Scott would continue to do some studio work as well as touring with multiple bands throughout the 1970s.
“I did a little bit of session work with some of the country acts that were with Thunderbird…I also traveled with other bands too, including one based out of Hamilton, called Smokey. It was a trio, and we did a lot of 50s, rock ‘n’ roll, and some country. We did a lot of traveling across the province and made stops at many country bars,” he recalled. “I would then get a chance to play with a band called Nightlife with Fred Newton and Gary Munn, who were both based out of Brantford….one of our first jobs was out in Nipigon, Ontario. It’s about 60 miles from Thunder Bay, and we were there for six nights. We found out that…the Platters would be playing around there for three nights. They had a few original members still with the band; and we hung out with them at a 24-hour restaurant; which was a lot of fun.”
Scott also worked with a bizarre performer during this time.
“I played with a band called The Charlie Eckstein Show. Charlie used to be a Chicago cop and became an entertainer; singing and doing comedy too. We played songs by Frank Sinatra, Kenny Rogers and Fats Domino…some nights, we would play for an hour and then Charlie would spend the rest of the time telling jokes. Other times we would play for an hour and a half straight without stopping. It was very unpredictable, but it was fun,” he said.
After some time off touring, Scott spent some time figuring out his next move. He soon became intrigued by a volunteer opportunity.
“Rogers was advertising for volunteers [and] they were hosting a workshop. So, I went and checked it out. I then decided to become a volunteer with them. Whenever anything came up that they were taping in the studio, I would go in and I would do camera work and eventually I did audio…and now I’m a community producer. I doing bookings for Brantlife with Dave Carrol hosting,” explained Scott. “I had a chance to do a lot of shooting, reporting and editing and I interviewed many people like Walter Gretzky, Dave Newman (a past mayor of Brantford), Premier Kathleen Wynne, singer Suzie McNeil, and many years ago before he was Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. I also interviewed numerous acts when they played the Sanderson Center and also did a lot of general election coverage.”
In more recent years, Scott would team up with Doc Johnson, another respected musician in the local scene.
“The last few years I’ve been a part of Twin Spin, with Doc [who] unfortunately passed away at the end of December [2024]. We did mostly fundraisers. We got paid the odd time, and we played Harmony Square several times. Our last gig for Doc was at Addi Fest at the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead. And so that was the last time Twin Spin played and the last time Doc played. Right now, we’re looking at putting together a video montage in his memory,” he said.
However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, along with his community and musical work, Scott would also do background acting.
“People usually start out in community theater before doing movies, but I did it the other way around. I got into background work when I answered a few ads in the Toronto Sun and the Toronto Star newspapers. I ended up getting an agent and trying to get some work in movies or TV,” said Scott. “Basically, you’re paid to walk across the stage and you’re out of focus and that type of thing. I’ve been in a few things, and you can actually sometimes see me in the background…and there’s also been times I’ve been in the foreground, where I’ve walked up to a table to grab something like a glass of wine, and then the shot changed to something else.”
Scott also had a chance to be in a scene with an academy award-winning actress.
“I started out doing projects around Toronto, but I’ve done quite a bit around the Hamilton area as well. I was in a movie called ‘Amelia’ about Amelia Earhart. There’s a scene with me [and] Hillary Swank [where] I played the mayor, but the scene was cut from the movie. So, people have just to take my word that I was in a scene with her! And there’s another notable movie I was in called ‘You Lucky Dog,’ which aired on TV a few times,” Scott described.
Most recently, Scott has become a music instructor with an after-school program for kids in the city.
“It’s a program that teaches kids guitar, bass guitar, and drums. Before he passed, Doc was in the program as a guitar instructor, and he got me involved because they were looking for a drum instructor. The idea of the program is that we get kids that have never played these instruments before…teach them…and by the end of the season…they would perform on stage in front of people,” he explained. “I have about four students right now. Some have social or medical issues [and] they are also at-risk youth. All of them have been dedicated to playing the drummers well [and] working as hard as they can despite some of the challenges they face, and have been doing very well.”
