Phil - Lead Vocals & Drums Like his father before him, Phil began playing drums at the early age of 8. Primarily a self-taught musician, at 14 Phil formed his first band Split Decision in his hometown of Sayreville NJ with fellow band mates Keith Pretti, Dave (Snake) Sabo, Kurt Erdek, and Andy Makara. In the early 80s, after a few years of playing covers together and a few band member changes, they decided to try their hand at some original music and Steel Fortune was born. Steel Fortune made a name for themselves on the NJ club circuit and opened for such acts as, Twisted Sister, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Kix, Alcatraz and Grim Reaper. Back in the day, Phil played with Steel Fortune at many area clubs including The Fountain Casino, Snoopy’s, L’amor (Brooklyn and Queens), The Fast Lane, and The Stone Pony. Phil has been involved in various other projects with talented musicians including, Vito Brata, Alec Such, and Richie Sambora, with whom he played weekly gigs at Willy’s (now The Starland Ballroom). In addition to performing out, Phil has recorded albums worth of material in the studio at Trax East, GT Studios, and Butterfield’s. At GT Studios, Gary Talent of The East Street Band produced one of his demos, and his last original band, The Slumlords, (which included members of Steel Fortune and Exxplorer) yielded several great recordings, engineered by Steve DeAcutis at Butterfield’s. After a bit of a hiatus from the music business, Phil is once again playing and singing with Simple Groove ... and loving it! Oh and one more thing….. sorry girls, Phil is happily married to his high school sweetheart with 2 impossibly beautiful daughters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!