Phil Austrom

Phil Austrom and producer mr. stee released their second collaborative EP, Too Little, Too Late, on July 10th. The album is a smooth compilation of instrumental jazz and dance beats to get you grooving this Fall.

“Loading” has a futuristic feel to it that ebbs, flows and builds in time. The mixing and use of synth in this track is crisp, pulling you into the world of the album right from the beginning.

The second song on the album, “Too Little,” features a classic hip-hop beat with layers of intricate jazz influences on the surface. It’s an upbeat track that takes the heart of the hip-hop sound and turns it into an atmospheric groove.

“Too Late” showcases the jazzier side of the album, with a heavier focus on the brass instruments. A short monologue features at the end of the piece, which adds a soothing touch to mellow out the track. Sharing the entirety of the album’s title, “Too Little” and “Too Late” do an excellent job of exhibiting the album’s core genres of hip-hop and jazz.

“On My Mind” has an infectious dance beat that you won’t be able to resist bobbing your head and tapping your foot to. It takes the concept of a typical club sound and turns it on its head, adding brass instruments and floaty piano to make it something unique and easy to vibe along with. The perfect song to close the album out with a bang.

If you want an album that you can chill and groove to, and get up and dance along with, Too Little, Too Late is definitely the album for you. - The Permanent Rain Press

Just in time for the peak of summer, Phil Austrom and renowned Pacific Northwest producer Mr. Stee reunite on their sophomore collaboration EP, “Too Little, Too Late.” The record reaffirms the pairs deft at combining jazz, hip-hop, and dance music while also showing a clear and substantial growth in its creators. This new project is a cleaner, smoother, loftier production than their 2018 debut, “Origins,”; its levels of refinement, cohesiveness, and artistic daring soar well beyond that of its predecessor.


“Too Little, Too Late,” starts with a slow, atmospheric, rolling movement with ‘Loading,’ a brief but lush extra-terrestrial build-up which melds into the moody yet punchy ‘Too Little.’ On ‘Too Little,’ Mr. Stee cultivates a dynamic and layered dance beat which combines with Austroms powerful riffs – arguably his catchiest on the album – to bring an invigorating commencement to the project. ‘Too Late,’ a grooving, G-Funk inspired odyssey, follows with a plethora of unique movements that sandwich a soulful solo from Austrom. Chock full of stringy, bouncy synths and echoing jazzy trumpet, it is some of Mr. Stee’s most experimental production in his work with Austrom thus far. ‘Too Late,’ serves as an emblem of the level of simpatico and potential for growth between the two collaborators.

On ‘Space & Time,’ Chris Goodchild briefly seizes the reigns of production, bringing with him a beautifully intricate glitch-hop pace and sound to the EP. In particular, and in addition to the lush soundscape he creates, Goodchild does a masterful job of fading Austrom in and out of prominence as needed. During the build-up and resolution, Austroms trumpet lurks in the background – only to unabashedly assert itself center-stage during the song’s climax. Similarly, Goodchild fades in and out of the EP like a friendly ghost, providing a contrasting but complementary fulcrum to Mr. Stees more upbeat, punchy production that surrounds it.

Announcing his return with the fashion and sensibilities of a true curational showman, Mr. Stee masterfully restores the EP to something closer to its previous pace with a scatty, bubbling, Flying Lotus-esque transition on the aptly named penultimate track, ‘Think Slow.’ Not quite as energetic or jaunty as the albums’ eponymous tracks, ‘Think Slow,’ balances slightly more melancholy and doubt, those pesky things contained within all of us that make us human. The result is a little extra space for Austrom to anchor the track with a solo, and the product is the most soulful and moving song on the album. None of this, of course, without Mr. Stee providing a sensually-rich backdrop for Austrom to draw from and elaborate on, and Mr. Stee keeps up his end of the bargain and then some. Mr. Stee provides Austrom with space to thrive during the solo, and his build-up and resolution on ‘Think Slow,’ show off his ability to induce a range of reactions and emotions within short constraints. His production shows a clear thematic stream of thought that continues to reassert itself across his work with an ever-increasing consistency.

“On My Mind,” the first single and final cut off of Phil Austrom & Mr. Stee’s upcoming EP “Too Little, Too Late,” combines hypnotic house grooves, complex changes of pace and beat breaks, and short, catchy riffs that have come to be the hallmark of the duo’s collaborations. Austrom’s riffs ring hypnotically in the background while Mr. Stee lays the foundations of a track that seems like it would be snugly at home in the back halves of many a house DJ sets. It’s hard not to dance to this song.

“Too Little, Too Late,” will be available for purchase across all platforms on July 10th, 2020. In preparation for the EP’s release, Austrom also released an hour-long, lavish mix of deep house and hip-hop cuts, including tracks from the album and tracks from the Eastblvd label crew. The mix can be found here. - Concert Addicts

ustrom’s debut solo EP, Origins, the newest release from EASTBLVD records, allows the up-and-coming trumpeter to wield his instrument as a guiding force through an exploration of hip-hop, dance music, and strong, smooth jazz.

Overseen by guitarist and west coast hip-hop producer mr. stee, Origins is very much a collaborative project, albeit one that developed around the riffs and melodies originally composed by Austrom. A show-stealing Ekke feature on the titular song, Lam’s breathtaking solo on ‘Not So Fast’ and mr. stee’s gentle and dreamy guitar on ‘Late Night Activities’ are three shining examples of how multiple talented voices came to play on the EP, as well as the impressive command with which those voices were deployed.

‘Origins’, the EP’s titular tune and first single, begins with a slow, weepy trumpet riff, as the guitar and drums gradually join in and pave the runway for Ekke, Vancouver-based rapper who is amongst the most talented newcomers in the Vancouver hip-hop scene. As he tells his origin story through clever bars which scrabble together a tale of a man with a perpetual eye to the future, Austrom’s trumpet brings a punchy, high-paced riff that forces Ekke to remain on his toes and perpetually in the pocket. The culmination is a non-stop, syllable-stuffed single that is catchy, clever and crafty.

‘Not So Fast’, featuring Hazel Lam on saxophone, is a funky dance tune, one that would be well at home at a Griz show, what with its trapezing trumpet – quick and triumphant – and its swinging sax – slow and contemplative. Introduced by a mr. stee synth and some playful percussion, Austrom’s roaring riff – punctuated by Janine King’s backing trombone and some guitar by mr. stee – gives way to Lam’s riverboat-ride of a solo. Lam softly announces herself and then cuts through all else to steal you away from the other fun going on in the background, winding and climbing and playing every note like a maestro. As Lams beautiful departure gives way to a reprise of the original riff, the song says goodbye to a new friend and hello to an old one, as Austrom and mr. stee wrap up the song with a combo of brand-new synth and the trumpet refrain that introduces Lam in the first place.

From top to bottom, Origins, is a professional, polished, exciting, catchy, and darn groovy debut project. Not only does it give the world a small taste of what Austrom is capable of musically, it also shows his ability to seamlessly adapt his riffs and melodies to various different musical styles in a way that complements his fellow musicians. - Concert Addicts