There are many ways to enter the music industry. There’s the sheer stroke of luck of recording a song on YouTube or TikTok that becomes a viral sensation. You can start from the ground up by moving to the city closest to you, mingling with and elevating yourself to the local music scene.

Or you can move to a musical home like New York, Nashville, or Los Angeles, perform regularly and network like crazy, hoping to sign with a major record company or connect with a recording studio. Hailing from Barrington, Phil Beaudreau did something like this in LA, and now he’s immersed in the world of pop music as a producer, writer, and recording artist.

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He says he never really intended to get into pop music; he sort of fell into it as he made his way through the City of Angels. His interest in the genre began when he joined the music program at Barrington High School and flourished while attending Berklee College Of Music in Boston.

“I don’t know if it was someone in particular who attracted me to pop music. It’s really just a product from where I’m from, ”says Beaudreau. “Los Angeles is the hub of pop, and that’s where a lot of the work takes place and a lot of what my friends do. It was a natural change to try to compete in the bigger market here. “

He thanks Barrington High’s director, Barbara Hughes, for helping to shape his musical development.

“I was immersing myself in jazz, especially Duke Ellington at the time,” he says. music.”

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The festival also focused on the historical context of music, which he said “opened up a whole new world of what music could actually be and how it could represent people’s lives. It’s a space. infinite to explore what’s going on internally, as well as externally. “

On weekends, he also performed in an orchestra under the direction of Ann Danis, music professor and conductor at the University of Rhode Island. Said Beaudreau: “His passion and his energy translated into teaching me that good enough is not good enough.

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Danis’ teaching methods and high standards allowed him to excel at the senior level while attending Berklee, he says.

“You can really find the essence of music if you study deeply and care about it,” he says. “These lessons have not left me, and they have prepared me for what I studied at Berklee, which was a lot of performance and composition, and not a lot of production, actually.”

As a producer, Beaudreau has worked with Dr. Dre, Justin Bieber, The Game, Travis Barker and Black Violin, among others. Working with the latter on their latest album, “Take The Stairs”, earned him a few Grammy nominations last year, and he was also nominated for his work on Bieber’s latest studio album, “Changes”.

Among his list of artists, a singer stands out so far as his favorite.

“There are so many incredibly talented people out there, but the first person that comes to mind is Lalah Hathaway,” he says. “She’s Donny Hathaway’s daughter, and she’s a world-class singer, so working with her has been very rewarding. It’s super fun, because she really knows where to go harmonically, and having a voice like that is a pleasure.

Beaudreau first caught the attention of the majors with his debut album, “Ether”, which was released in 2014, and he signed with Def Jam Universal as part of his duo AOE. He’s currently working on a follow-up album, slated for next year.

“It’s actually pretty close to being done,” he says. “It must have taken a back seat to some of the shows I’ve had, because I have to keep the lights on, but I’d say it’s 80% over with a few songs to finish.”

He’s planning to release it on both vinyl and CD, and he’s also working on a marketing strategy, “so I’m not just throwing it in the torrent of new content.”

“It takes a little while to build this,” he said, “so I’m trying to give myself time there.”

To learn more about Phil Beaudreau, visit philbeaudreau.com.