In writer/director Steven Antin’s finger-snapping, eye-popping and atmospheric musical Burlesque, a time-honored tale of showbiz aspirations fulfilled – and the hallmarks of a classic form of live entertainment – get a dazzling, fun movie makeover. When it came time to create the music played by the house band in the film, Antin and music supervisor Buck Damon turned to Phillips, whose credits include composing for Comedy Central’s animated political satire “Lil’ Bush,” which ran for two seasons near the end of George W. Bush’s presidency, and Suck, a Canadian vampire spoof starring Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and Malcolm McDowell.

“They told me, ‘We don’t want jazz re-creationists. What we love about the Squirrel Nut Zippers is that it’s this old world jazz, but it has a punk rock spirit to it,” says Phillips, whose first band was the North Carolina punk outfit Subculture, which toured extensively with NOFX.  In addition to his tenure with the Zippers, Phillips has recently played with the Dickies and The Jesus and Mary Chain’s William Reed.

Shooting was already complete when Phillips was brought onto Burlesque but, due to security restrictions, he didn’t see any footage until nearly the end of the process. Instead, he worked from the temp tracks that had been used during filming.

“We’d match the tempo and then we’d try to figure out what was going on logistically,” he recalls. “It was a considerable challenge, especially the dance scenes, where there needed to be some specific rhythmic things going on.”

Phillips juggled the schedules of 22 musicians to record the nine tracks. While many songs were written specifically for Burlesque, they also performed a version of the film’s “Welcome To Burlesque” theme,“Sitting Pretty” (from Cabaret) and two Squirrel Nut Zippers classics, “That Fascinating Thing” and “Suits Are Picking Up The Bill.”

“There was a strange sense of déjà vu, re-recording songs that I’d recorded 15 years ago,” says Phillips, noting that Zippers’ guitarist/vocalist Jimbo Mathus even flew in from Mississippi to participate. “He’s an amazing talent. I’ve worked with Jimbo for the better part of my life now, but this session in particular illuminated how joyous our chemistry is.”

The sessions took place primarily at EastWest Studios in Hollywood. Everyone from Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys to Bruce Springsteen and U2 has recorded at the historic studios, which were built in 1961 by legendary engineer Bill Putnam and formerly known as United/Western Recorders and Cello.

“It had all the right microphones and characteristics that enabled us to get the kind of authentic sound the Squirrel Nuts Zippers go for,” says Chris. He also tapped the Petrojvic Blasting Company to perform and assist in the writing of several tracks. The group, which he manages, hails from Nashville, but is now based in Los Angeles. Known for its street corner performances, the Blasting Company plays a unique mixture of Eastern European Balkan brass music and New Orleans street jazz.

In 2011, Phillips will continue juggling his various endeavors – a successful composing career, projects with the Squirrel Nut Zippers and managing both the Zippers and the Petrojvic Blasting Company.

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• Squirrel Nut Zippers Return With Their First Album In Nine Years

Recorded live at Southpaw, in Brooklyn NY, the Squirrel Nut Zippers performed many of their greatest hits and strongest material for a standing room only audience. “Danny Diamond,” “Put A Lid On It,” “Bad Businessman,” “Blue Angel,” and many other Zipper classics make up the set. The band delivers energetic, sometimes loose, sometimes clairvoyant, but always spirited performances on Lost At Sea.

The title of the new release is very appropriate considering the bands unfortunate departure from public life in 2002 when the Disney cruise ship they were performing aboard hit a massive island of trash and was rendered unseaworthy.

The Squirrel Nut Zippers were forced into a dingy which was quickly swept away by ocean currents and deposited on a remote and uninhabited island. Surviving on coconuts and monkey scat they managed to stave off death until a location scout for the television reality show “Survivor” stumbled upon them and brought them back to the United States.

Rejuvenated by this mishap and with a new lust for life, the band returned to the road in 2007 with the core of their original line up intact: Jim “Jimbo” Mathus (vocals and guitar), Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo, ukulele), Chris Phillips (drums, percussion), Je Widenhouse (Trumpet) and Stuart Cole (Bass).

“The crowds we’ve had at these shows since coming back have been nothing short of fantastic,” Phillips commented. “It’s been great to reconnect with our old fans and meet all of the ones who didn’t catch us the first time around. It’s truly been a heartwarming experience.”

The Squirrel Nut Zippers still rejoice at the difficulty people have in pigeonholing their unmistakable sound. A perpetually evolving, hybrid-stew of Southern roots traditions, the Zippers have been tagged with every label from “swing band,” to “hot jazz band” to even “’30s punk.”

However the Zippers have always seen it differently of course. Flirting with a muse most concerned with ghosts, love gone wrong, fever-dreams, and the razor’s edge of sexual desire the Squirrel Nut Zippers “sound” is near impossible to pin down. Centered around the beguiling vocals of Katherine Whalen and the anachronistic windup toy that is Jimbo Mathus, the band both charm and confound. “I always felt like we were making short movies rather than songs,” Phillips says.

As far as future plans go for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Phillips is excited.

“Honestly, the band is getting along better than we ever did in the past and I believe the desire is there to try recording a new album for release in 2010.”

Track Listing For Lost At Sea

Memphis Exorcism
Good Enough For Grandad
It Ain’t You
Prince Nez
Put A Lid On It
Fat Cat Keeps Getting Fatter
Danny Diamond
Suits Are picking Up The Bill
My Drag
Happens All The Time
Bad Businessman
Hell
Ghost Of Stephen Foster
You Are My Radio
Blue Angel
Do What
Missing Link Parade

www.snzippers.com
www.skhmusic.com

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