Interview with Phil Cho (In Sheep’s Clothing) by: Juan Izguerra

Q1: I met you a few years back through our good friend Jonny Mons, and it wasn’t until recently that I learned you were from the IE/East LA area. I found it really cool to see someone else from my hometown hanging around in the scene in Los Angeles. Could you tell us where you grew up and where you found your inspiration that lead you to the music you enjoy today?

Yes, it was so crazy to find out we’re both from the 909! I’m originally from Arizona but grew up mostly in Diamond Bar. It was a quiet suburb which meant I had a lot of time to do nothing… Musically, I think a lot of what I like is informed by playing bass as a teenager. I discovered jazz through Jaco Pastorius and continued searching for music with the best basslines. Bass led me to Bootsy Collins, James Jamerson, Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham, etc. and all the artists they played with. More recently, the bass thing has led me deep into the reggae zone.

Q2: I feel like I got to know you a bit more during the pandemic and when things started opening up again. I remember scrolling through your Instagram and seeing photos of you with good company, great sound systems, and the name Third Place attached to those memories. Can you tell us what Third Place is and how it came together?

Third Place came out of a bummer feeling I was getting at warehouse parties in LA. I felt like people were just getting turnt up and not really connecting or talking properly. Maybe it was just me doing that… I started Third Place with my friends Luke Mele and Michael Hopkins as a Sunday daytime house party where we just hang out and listen to music on a nice sound system. It’s slowly evolved into a slightly bigger thing (Russell Alexander is now involved too!) with some of the best DJs, music people, friends from around the world coming through to play sets.

Q3: In Sheeps Clothing started off as a Hi-Fi bar in 2018 but when the pandemic started, its doors closed. Instead of doing deliveries and pick-up orders like many other bars did to stay in business- ISC went on a different avenue and created a tasteful music blog. As It had some shifts to its business- how has your role changed at ISC?

I’m the editor-in-chief of ISC which is a funny title, but basically means I curate what goes up on the site including the articles, interviews, records, and playlists. I also do a good amount of our event programming figuring out collaborations, artists to work with, label showcases, listening parties etc. We’ve definitely been learning as we go with ISC. Every day is new, and I like how we’ve taken the odd ways forward at times. We have a record store now on Fairfax. It’s hypebeast central over there, but I kinda like that about it too!

Q4: You were recently credited on Alex Ho’s new album Move Through It and contributed a track to the compilation Music For Freedom by Music From Memory. What’s your musical background and when did you start making music? 

Weirdly enough, I studied opera singing in college. I thought it was a good idea to do the hardest thing you could do singing-wise, but it hasn’t really led to anything so maybe it wasn’t such a good idea… I’ve always played instruments growing up but didn’t start trying to make music or “produce” until college. Even then, it was a lot of just mindless noodling and more of a meditation practice versus any sort of goal-oriented thing. It’s been really nice to have a community of friends in LA to work on music with and even put some stuff out. I owe a lot of it to Alex Ho!

Q5: What was your inspiration for this mix?

This mix has a little bit of everything that I’d want to listen to on a summer day: downtempo, street soul, digi dub, lovers rock, dancehall. It’s mixtape style since I don’t have a DJ setup at home right now and not perfect flow, but that kind of reflects how I play. Hopefully you like the songs!