Jodi Phillis

Jodi was born in Melbourne and moved to Los Angeles when she was a baby with her American singing mom and Australian camera-man/director dad. Brian Phillis worked as a cameraman at CBS in Hollywood on weekly and special shows, hosted by luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Jack Gleason and Red Skelton. The family moved back to Australia in the early 70's to settle in Sydney's north shore so Brian could take up his new position as director of Channel 10's racy new soap opera, Number 96. Jodi’s mother Juni was a member of The Starr Sisters with her two sisters Arlene and Denise. They recorded and toured from childhood until starting families of their own.

From childhood music, art and nature were always Jodi's true loves, as they are now. Learning about harmony singing in her childhood choir The Small World Singers equipped her with a musical ear and mind. She started playing guitar and writing songs at age thirteen. Jodi started drawing pictures in coloured pencil and ink when she was a child and has been drawing ever since. The first lockdown gave Jodi the time and space to try her hand at painting with watercolours. She has kept at it ever since and has had two successful solo exhibitions with more paintings on the way.

At age twenty Jodi started playing in various bands but it wasn't until 1989 that she formed the alternative pop/rock group The Clouds with New Zealander Trish Young. The original line-up consisted of Jodi, Trish, Stuart Eadie and Rob Phelan. It was after only a few shows that the band found themselves to be at the centre of a record label bidding war. The Clouds signed with Redeye Records/Polydor, run by John Foy. The line-up changed a few times, with David Easton, Andrew Burns, Raphael Whittingham and Ben Nightingale all contributing to the sound, which evolved continuously as they worked hard for 8 years, gaining a loyal following around the world.

 The Clouds were the recipients of three ARIA nominations, repeatedly entered the Top 20 of the mainstream charts, received a gold record for their debut album, Penny Century, played at the first six Big Day Out festivals, lived in the UK and the US, signed to Elektra worldwide and recorded over seventy songs which were released as four albums and sixteen EPs.

 Jodi chose to leave The Clouds in 1997 to explore more intimate and personal styles of songwriting and recording and to have her first daughter Ivy. She has since released five critically acclaimed solo albums. Jodi's second album In Dreams I Live received two ARIA nominations. In 2001 Jodi toured with Tim Oxley through the US and Canada to promote the album and record some songs for her third album For Lovers, Artists and Dreamers with Ron Sexsmith’s drummer Don Kerr at his studio in Toronto.

Jodi has also released albums with The Dearhunters, Roger Loves Betty and The Glamma Rays. Jodi’s youngest daughter, Harmony was born in 2003.

Australian music trivia show Rockwiz invited Jodi to appear as a featured guest to perform the Clouds tune ‘Hieronymus' and team up with Kim Salmon for a version of ‘It Takes Two’.

With a Graduate Certificate in Screen Music from The Australian Film, Television and Radio School, Jodi has been creating music for the screen for 20 years, applying her highly original and melodic style to all her compositions.

Since 2011, a reformed Clouds have performed most years and released five new songs. In 2017, Jodi re-united with The Clouds to tour with Blondie and Cyndi Lauper for A Day on the Green. In 2022 the band toured nationally to celebrate the 30th anniversary of debut album Penny Century.

In 2017, Jodi worked in collaboration with Amanda brown, Caitlin Yeo, Sally Whitwell, Bree van Reyk, Jane Sheldon, Kyls Burtland, Hilary Bell and Ensemble Offspring to create Seven Stories, a major work of classical/art music. The show premiered at City Recital Hall in June 2017.

In 2018, Jodi collaborated with Amanda Brown to compose music for Encounter, a Form Dance Theatre production, choreographed by Emma Saunders and performed by the Western Sydney Youth Orchestra. It premiered at the Sydney Festival in 2020.

Jodi was an artist in residence at Bundanon in July 2019, writing songs for her sixth solo album. At the end of 2019 Jodi went on a solo tour across the US and Europe, finishing off the year touring as the main support for Australian indy super-group Dyson Stringer Cloher.

 Solo album #6, ‘We Need To Be Free’ with production by composer Damien Lane was released through Cheersquad Records in June 2022.

Jodi is currently in collaboration with Italian poet Gianni Menichetti to write songs for his love poems dedicated to the late great Australian artist Vali Myers, one of Jodi’s greatest creative influences. Watch this space for updates.

‘Everything’s Gonna Be Fine’ written for Whirld Web Series won Best Original Song at The London Movie Awards, September 2021.

In 2023 Jodi and collaborator Damien Lane won the APRA Screen Music Award - Best Original Song For the Screen for ‘Rollercoaster’ written for the ABC show ‘Soundtrack To Our Teenage Zombie Apocalypse.