311 Fan Spotlight – Phil Garis – 12/14/15

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Welcome back my friends in 311 nation! Are you ready to meet the next fan spotlight?? Of course you are! Time to read about Phil Garis!

Let’s travel back to 1994, the year that Phil first heard the magical notes of 311’s music. He was at a friends house and his older brother was playing it. “Instantly fell in love with it. I begged him to dub me a tape of it. Shortly after “Down” blew up on MTV and the rest is history.”

Somewhere between twenty and thirty is where Phil’s show count is. It’s hard for him to see them a lot since they don’t come to his area that much. Of those shows his favorite is a tie between three events – 311 Day 2008, Halloween in ATL 2010, and Pow Wow.

When asked what song means the most to him, he chose “Taiyed.” “Reminds me how tiny we are in the grand scheme of things.” Favorite lyrics come from the song as well:

“See through us see a soul we have not yet

Learned to harness see the next world inside it

We are the people of skin who left water

Inside the dark womb inside of our mother

Prone to the beat and vibe of our tribe

We catch the drift and ride moving tides

Out from a love that will keep on burning

Now see yourself to the next world returning

This life an old place we face to live again

What is it to understand the hereafter.”

Phil hails from the rural suburbs of Buffalo, New York (between Buffalo and Rochester) near Lake Ontario. He grew up in a tiny town where his graduating class only existed of 92 kids. He married his high school sweetheart and they have one son together named Liam (he’s 3). Phil and his wife have been together since March 1999. He currently works in the Customer Care division at Yahoo! to fund his life and 311 habit.

311 isn’t the only band that Phil loves – he listed quite a few as his favorites and said the list could really go on and on. Some others are Deftones, Bassnectar, Highly Suspect, Jack Johnson, Beastie Boys, Charles Bradley, Red Pill, Oddisee, The Beatles, Run The Jewels, The Black Angels, Bob Marley, Eminem, the Foo Fighters, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Method Man, Redman, WuTang Clan, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Sublime (the original), Rancid, and Snapcase. His guilty pleasure is also in the musical realm. “I love “oldies” music. 50’s, 60’s, 70’s Pop/Soul/Motown/R&B etc.”

To 311, Phil would simply like to say: “Thank you for everything. It’s been an amazing 21 year journey!”

And to all the other awesome fans:

“To quote 311 – You can’t be let down if you don’t expect the world.”

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And that is Phil’s story friends! Thanks, as always, for reading this and learning more about a fellow fan. As well as making my dream of writing come true, even if it’s just for fun! Love you all and remember to keep on spreading the word of 311. We need more peace & love in the world!

Much love – The Runt