Cross-dimensional, cross-continental metal project PHASERIP announces the release of their debut full-length album, Out of Phase , now available on all major streaming platforms https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/phaserip/out-of-phase
Blending metal, grunge metal, and alternative metal, PHASERIP crafts a soundscape reminiscent of Faith No More, System of a Down, and Soundgarden, while carving out its own heavy, melodic, and cinematic identity. The album’s narrative follows a man ripped into an alternate reality, exploring themes of isolation, displacement, and identity, perfectly captured by the project’s mascot, ‘Phaser Phil,’ an outsider wandering a distorted mirror of our world.
PHASERIP is led by Fresno songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jawsh Willis, who performs most guitars, bass, and keyboards. The core lineup spans the globe: drummer Cezary Borawski and vocalist Oscar Klassen record from Poland (Oscar originally from Mexico), forming the backbone of the project’s sonic intensity.
Out of Phase features an international roster of guest musicians, including Finnish death-metal vocalist Topias Jokipii, Algerian extreme-metal vocalist Redouane Aoumeur, award-winning Japanese guitarist Preston Murdock, Fresno musicians Matthew Banwart and Grayson Nolan, and former bandmates Trevor Bryant, Joey Ayala, and Daniel C. Wallace. Produced and mixed by Facundo at Sweep Blast Studios in Argentina, the album delivers crushing drop-tuned riffs, soaring hooks, and atmospheric storytelling.
PHASERIP also pays tribute to a personal hero with a cover of Black Sabbath’s “After All (The Dead),” honoring the legendary Ronnie James Dio.
Jawsh Willis on the release:
“Out of Phase follows a man who slips into a reality where no one knows him. It’s a metaphor for the way so many of us feel—out of place, unseen, and searching for meaning in a world that doesn’t feel like ours. If you’ve ever woken up in the wrong universe, this album will feel like home.”
PHASERIP is self-managed, independent, and distributed via DistroKid.
For interviews, features, or more information, contact: zach@metaldevastationradio.com
Listen to Out of Phase now: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/phaserip/out-of-phase
- Out of Phase feels less like an album and more like stepping into another world — when did you realize this was going to be a full concept, not just a collection of songs?
The first few songs I wrote for the album were “Out of Phase,” “Displaced,” and “The Nothing.” I noticed that I’d unintentionally created a similar narrative theme for those songs. So I as I began to write the rest of the songs, and even when I chose the closing cover tune, “After All,” I was visualizing cross-dimensional character who starting calling “Phaser Phil,” traveling through alternate dimensions and trying to get back home, which led to the lyrics of “Gateway,” “Faceless,” and “Long Sun Over Kepler.” After those songs were written, the focus started to become more deliberate, and I started thinking of how Phil’s narrative crossed over into the rest of the tunes. This includes getting partially ripped apart by a witch and then existing in a purgatory afterlife at the end of the album.
2. The idea of waking up in a reality where no one knows you is pretty haunting — where did that concept come from?
I think the feeling of not quite belonging anywhere, or not fitting into any group, is fairly universal among many people. I first felt this as a teen when I was an outcast from most of my school peers and was called a freak. So I met up with a group of rebellious kids who took on the mantle of “freaks” as a badge of honor, but I began noticing that, even in that group of so-called non-conformists, they had a surprising number of rules that made me feel like I didn’t fit in there either. And it always seemed weird to me that these non-conformists and rebel groups of freaks and punks always seemed to require a “uniform” of sorts. You couldn’t be one if you didn’t look like one. I had that ‘Holden Caulfield’ moment of thinking, “Is everyone a phony?” So that was the root of the feeling.
The idea or concept featured on the album is built on that foundation, but adds a layer of science fiction and fantasy. It’s that speculative fiction question of, “what if the Mandela Effect,” wasn’t just a feeling, but a shadow of another dimension that we experienced where those things that feel inconsistent in our reality actually exist elsewhere?” The lyrics to the song “Displaced” explore that core thought the most, as Phil proclaims that he is from the “Bernstein (Bears) reality.” I feel there is something bizarrely comforting about assigning a fictional narrative (which is not the same as a false narrative) to a deep-rooted feeling that would normally cause anxiety and fear.
- This album follows a man displaced into an alternate reality — is this purely fiction, or does it reflect something personal you’ve experienced?
Yes, while the feeling of being ‘out of phase’ is certainly rooted in reality, the album’s story is purely fictional. I am a fiction writer. While I have not successfully published much beyond some D&D modules, I have written several fiction novels that I’ve been trying to publish through the traditional route. But as the rejection responses pile on each year, I’m more and more tempted to relent my stubbornness and self-publish them. Writing fiction is my main passion, and I attended Fresno Pacific University, where I earned a BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing.
4. “Phaser Phil” is such a unique mascot — what does he represent, and how important is he to the story of the album?
Phaser Phil, the avatar of the listener. He’s basically ‘you’ as you join the cross-dimensional journey through the album. In that way, Phil, whom I always just see as a silhouette of a human, could be anyone, and can be different for each listener. Phil could be a Phillip or a Phillomena for someone else, but for me, he’s just Phil. When I was working with the artist on the album cover, I just told him to make him look as basic as possible, like an artist’s wooden mannequin, but as if it were shrouded in the darkness of outer space.
5. There’s a strong theme of isolation and identity — do you think that resonates more now than ever with modern audiences?
Absolutely, the more we interact with social media and technology and the less time we spend interacting with physical humans, the stranger, more isolated, and more manipulated we become. A theme I’m exploring on the next album, “Out of Mind,” is “Echoborgs” (also a song title for the next release), which are people who have been socially manipulated and mentally influenced, without even being aware of it, by a mixture of AI, algorithms, and online propagandists. Mental health issues have never been worse for our society, and the more we see and know and are manipulated by extremist media on a daily basis, the more isolated we begin to feel. People yearn and ache for a belonging more than ever. That struggle is at the root of what I’m thematically exploring.
6. Your sound pulls from Faith No More, System of a Down, and Soundgarden — what elements from those bands shaped this record the most?
I’ll start by saying something corny, but true in essence, ‘music is in my blood.’ I come from a family of musicians. My Grandfather was a professional Country Music studio guitarist. My uncle Mark and cousin Preston Murdock (who is featured on the guitar solo for Wait for the Witch) are both professional prog musicians in Japan, and my other cousin Eli Mosley is on the guitar solo for Wait for the Witch) They are both professional prog musicians in Japan, and my other cousin Eli Mosley is currently a professional country musician. All that to say, everyone in my family grew up playing something. But the music bug did not hit me until 1989 when I saw the video for Faith No More’s song “Epic.” That song floored me. I wore out at least three copies that that blue colored cassette tape on my old Sony Walkman. I wanted to be all five of those guys at once.
On the album, I would say the vocals are all inspired by Mike Patton, for my part. When I sent the original demos over to Oscar, which had me singing on them, I told him to think of Mike Patton, but to do his own thing, too. Just as Faith No More was a mesh of styles, I wanted Oscar’s own style to shine, and for me, he was that perfect blend of old school metal with enough grunge and melodic sensibility to fit all of that. I also really love the theatricality of singers like Ronnie James Dio, Geoff Tate (of Queensryche), and Chris Cornell.
When it comes to the guitar sound, that is probably 50% of me asking myself, what would “Jim Martin” from Faith No More (and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey fame) do? The way I hold power chords, write gallops, and create more ethereal melody lines rather than just riffs all the time is straight-up big Jim-inspired. The more grungy drop-tuned stuff, like “Gateway” and “Out of Phase,” is very inspired by Soundgarden. Then there are also those aggressive, theatrical breaks in some songs, like “Follow the Leader,” is where my System of a Down inspiration comes through, but I’d also say that Mike Patton’s other band, “Mr. Bungle,” is where that comes from as well – which is definitely evident in the song, “Pop Goes Jack.”
For the Bass guitar, there is a lot of odd slapping, flick chords, slides, and other things that originated in my brain the first time I heard Billy Gould from Faith No More, but have since been refined by learning from other bass legends like Les Claypool, Ben Shepherd, Justin Chancellor, and Trevor Dunn. When I wrote the song “Last Souffle,” I was trying to learn the bass line to Primus’s “Tommy the Cat.” I probably never quite mastered Tommy, but it led me to something I like quite a lot and helped define my taste in bass guitar, and how I really like active bass lines to interact with the melodic guitar composition.
7. There’s a mix of heavy riffs and cinematic atmosphere — how intentional was that balance between aggression and emotion?
Having the right dynamic range in my songs to set the tone for my cinematic style was very important for songwriting, performances, and mixing. A lot of what Facundo at Sweep Blast Studios did with the mix was very intentional, keeping that balance and sometimes unbalancing it in service of the vision I had for the album. It’s important to both heighten the song’s tension and prepare the way for my melodies, as well as to occasionally create a sense of unease.
8. What defines the PHASERIP sound that separates you from other metal/alternative acts right now?
What makes us unique is more about the narrative than the music, I think. The music is what I’d call simple but effective, setting the tone for a bit more depth than expected in the songs’ meanings. I also think the blend of my inspirations as the main songwriter, and the choices that Oscar makes as a singer, also make us stand out. When I was looking for a voice to my project, I don’t think I made a better choice than him. He’s that perfect blend of Patton, Bach, Tate, and Dio. If you listen to some of his demos on Youtube where he’s rocking out Queen songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” or “Hedwig’s Klage,” (from the musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”), you’ll see why he was the perfect fit for what I was looking for. I’ve never personally heard a vocalist like him paired with a grungy, alt. metal guy like me before.
- This project spans multiple countries — Poland, Mexico, Argentina, the U.S., and beyond — how did you coordinate something this global and still keep it cohesive?
The important thing to making it cohesive was keeping with the core three, Cezary, Oscar and me for the entire project. Those two guys are super easy to work with. Both of them locked into the vision with ease, and that made it all doable. I heard them both from demos on Youtube and through the app Fiverr. We started messaging, and everything just worked out. While Oscar was born in Mexico, both he and Cezary currently live in Poland, so the time zone adjustment was fairly predictable, since I was the odd man out in California. Working with Facundo in Argentina was never a problem. I’m not sure he sleeps! Then the rest of the contributors were smaller guest appearances. Getting my cousin Preston Murdock from Japan to appear on the album was something we discussed years ago, so that was very natural.
10. Did working with musicians from different cultures influence the sound or energy of the album in unexpected ways?
Surprisingly, no, the different cultures didn’t seem to change the album much at all. Despite the geographic distance, I think we all shared a lot of the same core inspirations to make it work pretty much as expected. Oscar is my main partner and contributor in this, and he and I would discuss what bands we were inspired by in each tune, and sometimes he’d propose adding something Iron Maiden-like into a song, and I love them too, so I was right in step with that way of thinking. His sensibilities have probably influenced more of what I’m already writing going forward, rather than what I did on this first album.
11. What were some of the biggest challenges of building a band that exists across continents?
Artistically, it was super easy because I hired two super talented guys who understood my vision to help me achieve it. The hard part for me was probably composing the music without having a live drummer on hand. No matter how good your programmed drums are, they just don’t have the creative flow that a real drummer has. When I sent the demos to Cezary for his drums, I gave him a lot of freedom, but I also had to have a beat already in place for the song to work. That was difficult because it’s so much easier to change tempo and time signatures mid-song with a real drummer. There is a brief but important time signature change in “Wait for the Witch” that was insanely difficult for me. I asked Oscar if I should just take that out, and he was like, “No, I love it.” So it stayed in. So, yeah, not having a live drummer was difficult. I would love to get a local drummer here to help with the next album, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t use Cezary. I love that guy, He’s killing it in his new band, Mind the Gap, who are currently touring in Poland.
- You’ve got a stacked international lineup of guest musicians — how did you decide who fit into this world?
The great thing about hiring people online is that there is usually a wealth of videos and audio of them performing. Then I messaged everyone I was interested in to get the feel for them. I used to recruit employees in my past career, and I’m pretty good at spotting talent. I hired a couple of people I didn’t use, but only one interaction turned out negatively. The vast majority of the musicians and artists I spoke to online were awesome. I chose Cezary over the other drummers because his groove was the most consistent and confident-sounding in the genres I was looking to explore, and the tone in his recording was a nice, deep, rich, but tightly tuned sound that I like in drums. I’m weird in the way I like the drums to sound as tightly tuned as possible. I like snaps instead of dunks. I showed Oscar’s videos to a few friends and we were all blown away, but what cinched it was my wife telling me that his tone actually reminded her of my own vocal tone. Although my vocal range is nowhere near his, I knew we’d blend together. There are a couple of sections on the album where we’re both singing, and it’s great that it sounds like the same person, even when it isn’t.
13. Was there a specific collaboration on this album that completely changed the direction of a song?
Unfortunately, no. I really wanted that to happen. I invited a ton of people to help me with “Pop Goes Jack,” including several more childhood friends from all different genres. One of them is a professional bluegrass musician who is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in the clarinet. I told her I was willing to rearrange things to get her on the track. I also had a friend of mine who was from the Death Metal band, “Gravehuffer,” who was supposed to appear there, and could have taken things in a different direction, but when I got out there to Missouri to hang with those guys, schedule conflicts and literal storms prevented us from doing the collab.
I will say that my friend and roommate, Matt Banwart, probably contributed the most to a single song, as he co-wrote the song “Gateway” with me. He and I have been in several bands in the past, and while he’s not an official member of PHASERIP, he’s always loved that song. In addition to co-writing the lyrics, he’s the only person who has ever played the bass on that tune. I’ve never played bass on that song, so I knew I had to have him do it.
- Jawsh, you handled most of the instrumentation — what was that process like building this entire sonic universe piece by piece?
It was different for each song. The songs on this album were written over a period of decades. “The Nothing,” was one of the first songs I ever wrote when I was teenager. I have recorded it multiple times and in multiple ways, but I did not feel it was finished until this album. I have been making song demos that usually start with either bass guitar parts like At the Bottom, Out of Phase and Last Souffle or start with the guitar like Gateway, Displaced, and Kepler. Then others are just mix of riffs from multiple instruments that come together in the DAW like Pop Goes Jack and Faceless. Probably the one that came together most uniquely was, “Wait for the Witch,” which is the only song I’ve ever written from beginning to end with just lyrics and vocals. The entire vocal melody had been in my head for years before I figured out what the instruments would be. With just the melody in mind, I tried writing the backing music in the style of White Stripes, Ween, and even Modest Mouse, before I finally got “the riff,” that helped tie the whole thing together into a metal riff.
It’s also worth noting that I tried to get these songs into a couple of my bands in the past. For instance, I was in a local Fresno band called Arrive, which performed different versions of Gateway, Displaced, Out of Phase, and Follow the Leader – which is why some of my former bandmates are credited with songwriting on those tracks.
15. Working with Facundo at Sweep Blast Studios — how did that production elevate the final sound?
I am truly terrible at mixing and production, despite how often I work at it. I remember showing the final instrumental rough mixes to friends and family and getting such bad reactions, and just telling them don’t worry, “Facundo will fix it.” And he did. I’ve known my wife since my teenage years, and she knew my song “The Nothing” from way back then, and when she heard my mix of it for the album, she was actually upset because it’s her favorite one, and she hated it. But again, I said trust the process, and yeah, after Facundo worked his magic, she loves it again. I’ve learned a ton from him on what’s needed and what isn’t with double tracking, panning, and so on. Oscar loves what he does as well. Oscar’s process is usually to throw as many different harmonies and parts as he can at a track, and Facundo is the one who decides what goes in and what stays out, and we’ve always been happy. Honestly, I’m surprised how many of my own vocal lines were kept.
16. Did the album come together track-by-track, or did you have the full story mapped out from the beginning?
The music was all written first, on a very track-by-track basis, over a course of many years. As I mentioned before, I introduced several of these songs to other projects and even performed versions of them with other bands with different lyrics, vocals, and arrangements, but I never felt the songs were complete. The song Out of Phase, under a different title with entirely different lyrics and melodies, was on a demo from one of my past bands that is still on Reverb, actually, but, even my past bandmates can agree what we trying with that version of the song definitely did not work. About half the album was already there musically when I decided to do it, but those songs were all rearranged, and new lyrics were added along with all new melodies – aside from Gateway (which has been the same from the time it was written). And once the theme emerged organically, the other songs that were newer just followed suit into the theme.
- You included a cover of Black Sabbath’s After All (The Dead) — why that song, and what does Ronnie James Dio mean to you personally?
The song After All (The Dead) is from the Dehumanizer album from ’92, which was the first Black Sabbath album that I was able to purchase with my own money as a kid. I think that just made it special to me. The mix on that album is just atrocious, but it had such underrated songs, and I’ve always wanted to do a cover of that song with a great drum mix. I love the doomy nature of that tune; it’s like Dio’s version of War Pigs, with the simple chord structure and then power hook of the chorus, which, not to overuse the term, is very cinematic. Oscar and I also discussed building up the vocals throughout and ending with a big, almost choral arrangement at the end, like something from a Queen tune. My favorite band Faith No More ended their 1989 album the Real Thing with War Pigs, which is what got me obsessed with Sabbath, and I wanted my own Sabbath cover to end my own album and this was the one that I thought was the perfect fit.
What did Dio mean to me? Wow, that’s a tough question. Much like the Jack Black character from his Tenacious D movie, Pick of Destiny, I grew up in small town, Missouri, in the Bible Belt, with metal posters all over my wall, including Dio on the back of my door just like the movie, and had that same moment from my childhood where my dad screamed at me and ripped off all my posters, but Dio was saved by being on the back of the door. That scene of the movie freaked me out! I thought someone had invaded my past. Like, ‘how did they know about that?!” His music and lyrics were my main escape as a young disenfranchised teenager. When I was hurting, heartbroken, or lonely, Dio’s words were the ones I sought. I always said he was my spiritual father. I said this so much as a kid, my wife always called Dio, “Papa Dio,” when he came on the radio.
18. How do you approach honoring a legend while still making the track your own?
I asked myself that same question. My approach was to approach the music very faithfully and to do my best, changing very little. There is a certain way I do my guitar harmonies that is different that Tony Iommi did, but that was the only change, in an effort to make it sound more like PHASERIP. The main thing I changed, which I wanted to change since I was a kid, was the drums. Don’t get me wrong, Vinnie Appice is an absolute legend, but the original mix sounded like it got drunk in a dingy brick basement. So I threw some drum ideas at Cezary to make the verse have a little more of a developing pulse with a tighter mix. Then, as I said before, we went for a more operatic finish that built up at the end with the Oscars’ vocals. Oscar changed one of the lyrics ever so slightly in a “clever” way that I didn’t expect, but I liked it. I think it would have made Papa Dio grin as well.
- The quote about feeling “out of place, unseen, and searching for meaning” hits hard — what do you hope listeners take away from this album emotionally?
I hope my listeners take away the feeling that they are not alone in feeling out of place. While we all experience this feeling differently and to different degrees, we’re not isolated in feeling that way. I am there with you, too, and there is hope, and there is meaning to be found in our own stories and the stories of others. Telling stories like these helps both the listener and storyteller build a connection, and ultimately, that is the true purpose of my art: to help build that connection.
20. If someone listens to Out of Phase front-to-back, what journey do you want them to experience
I do hope they feel connected to the narrative when they finish the album, but I also hope they enjoy the music and feel that it is something that they haven’t heard before. I want them to hear a new approach to some old styles that makes them feel simultaneously invigorated and nostalgic. But just as I see Phil as being their avatar too, I hope they had their own unique journey that went in a different direction than what I anticipated. I’m not tied to it being my experience; I’d rather it be a shared experience.
- You’re fully independent and self-managed — what are the pros and cons of building something like this without a label?
The cons are obvious: you pay a ton of money for contributors, artists, and promotional tools, and get very little in return. The pros are the independence of it. You are making music you can release to the world that is purely from you and this group of people you’ve handpicked. It was a large investment for a dream of sharing this with the world, and I am glad that I did it, but the reach is certainly limited.
- Do you think being independent gives you more freedom to create something this ambitious?
Absolutely, that’s the main advantage, the complete independence. I saw a few ways of going about this project – a vanity project, a true art project, or a by-the-bootstraps self-marketing project. I strongly wanted to avoid this being just a vanity project, so I really leaned heavily into it being more of an art project that focuses on having actual listeners who shared in the experience, but trying to be realistic that the grueling promotions and marketing piece would be a tough mountain to climb, and I hope I get to continue to climb it. Right now, I have 5 finished cover songs sitting on my hard drive that I’m waiting to finish and release as my next “phase.” The tentative name of the EP is “Duck and Cover,” but that could change. I have also recorded about 15 original songs, and I’m working to finish writing the vocals on them. I’m hoping to add others to the songwriting phase for album number two, “Out of Mind.”