Phil Romo is a professional bassist, multi-instrumental music teacher and author from Hacienda Heights California. Phil studied music education at Cal State Fullerton and began teaching music professionally in 2002. Over the last fourteen years Phil has successfully taught hundreds of students musical principles on the piano, guitar, bass and drums. He is a highly popular and in demand teacher at Burbank Music Academy in Burbank California. 

Phil was born into a musical family with his father also a musician.  When asked if this is how Phil got into music, he agreed that it was kind of a process, with him growing up with the sound of saxophone in the house.

Then when he became interested in music, he started listening to his father’s music collection.  He said his father always had ‘pretty hip stuff, like Frank Zappa records, The Flock, Humble Pie – music that other twelve-year-old kids weren’t listening to. 

He saw a picture of Jimmy Hendrix from his Smash Hits album and thought at first that Jimmy was a rapper! However, after listening to the album, Phil says this is what made him want to play the guitar.  Thus began his musical journey and subsequent guitar lessons.  From there his inspirations took him to Metallica and playing drums in the marching band at school, so he could get into the jazz band.  An opening came up in the jazz band for bass, so Phil jumped on it and started on bass.  As Phil says ‘two less strings’ but he realized quickly that he had to learn to read bass clef!

The bass seemed to be a good fit for Phil and he continued to develop his craft through the end of school.  He found a great teacher in the band arranger, Gilbert Adams and really cherished the years of band he played.  Senior year, Phil was progressing with his playing and after being told by his band leader Mr Adams that he was one of the best to go through the program, he decided to continue with his studies and enrolled to get his teaching certification.  Phil still teaches today and you can see on his website www.philromo.com that he gives lessons by Skype as well!

Phil has toured internationally and recorded three albums with original pop-rock band Intercept from 2004 to 2012. In 2006 Phil met and became a student of bass legend Louis "Thunder-Thumbs" Johnson. Phil took lessons from Louis and started the Black Dragon Bass Academy with Louis in 2007. After Louis Johnson passed away in 2015, Phil took it upon himself to write about the teachings that Louis taught him in his upcoming book, "The Secret Scrolls of Funk" out soon.

Article by Kathryn Hopkins