Philip Selway

Early life

Selway was born on 23 May 1967, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. He started learning to play drums and guitar at the age of 15 for "the social cachet and love of music". His earliest influences were Joy Division, the Clash and the Velvet Underground.

The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, a private school for boys. Selway was in the year above the guitarist Ed O'Brien, two years above the singer, Thom Yorke, and the bassist, Colin Greenwood, and five years above Colin's brother, the multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood. In 1985, they formed , the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room.

After Abingdon, Selway studied English and history at Liverpool Polytechnic. He also worked as a TEFL teacher, a copyeditor, and as a drummer in pit bands for touring musicals.

Career

Radiohead

Main article: Radiohead

In 1991, On a Friday signed a recording contract with EMI and changed their name to Radiohead. They found early success with their 1992 single "Creep". Their third album, OK Computer (1997), brought them fame and is often acclaimed as one of the best albums of all time.

With their fourth album, Kid A (2000), Radiohead began integrating electronic elements such as drum machines into their music. Selway said this widened his options and pushed him to create new dynamics, enabling him to express himself more creatively. Describing the process of arranging electronic tracks such as "Idioteque" for live performance, he said: "Trying to give that sense of the electronic in the piece but doing it through your 'normal' instrument playing — that naturally develops your own musical voice ... Performing those songs live definitely affected how I sounded and how I would approach drum parts."

While on tour for their albums The King of Limbs (2011) and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), Radiohead performed with a second drummer, Clive Deamer. Selway said: "One [of us] played in the traditional way, the other almost mimicked a drum machine. It was push-and-pull, like kids at play, really interesting." For Radiohead's 2025 tour, Deamer was replaced by Chris Vatalaro. Selway contributed drums to "Impossible Knots" on Yorke's third solo album, Anima (2019).

In June 2012, Radiohead's stage collapsed before a show in Downsview Park in Toronto. Selway's drum technician, Scott Johnson, was killed. Selway wrote a tribute on Radiohead's website, describing him as "a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew". In 2019, Selway testified at an inquest into the collapse.

In 2008, Gigwise named Selway the 26th-greatest drummer, praising his "mathematical precision", and Mojo wrote that he and Colin Greenwood were "surely the most inventive rhythm section working close to the rock mainstream". By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019. In a speech at the induction ceremony, Selway said: "We may not be the greatest musicians around and we're certainly not the most media-friendly of bands. But we have become very adept at being Radiohead. And when that connects with people, it feels amazing."

Solo work

Selway wrote songs as a teenager, but concentrated on drumming after forming Radiohead. He began writing again later in life, but decided the songs had a distinct character that did not fit Radiohead. Selway's debut solo album, Familial, was released on 30 August 2010. It features Selway on acoustic guitar and vocals, and performances from the Wilco members Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone and the 7 Worlds Collide artists Lisa Germano and Sebastian Steinberg. Pitchfork described it as a collection of "hushed" folk songs in the tradition of Nick Drake. Selway began a solo tour in 2011. On 25 July, he released an EP, Running Blind, comprising songs left off Familial rerecorded with a full band.

Selway's second solo album, Weatherhouse, was released on 6 October 2014, featuring more ambitious instrumentation and electronic elements. In 2017, Selway composed the score for the feature film Let Me Go, directed by Polly Steele. His third solo album, Strange Dance, was released on 24 February 2023. He chose not to drum on the album, finding he was out of practice and "not in the right mindset", and enlisted the Italian drummer Valentina Magaletti. He began a European tour that year.

Selway contributed a cover of the Nick Drake song "Fly" to The Endless Coloured Ways – The Songs of Nick Drake, a tribute album featuring various artists released on 7 July 2023. Selway described Drake as an influence on his songwriting, and said: "If I had to shrink my record collection to just one artist, then that would be Nick Drake ... Nick Drake is an artist that I feel speaks to me and for me." On 8 December, Selway released a live album, Live at Evolution Studios, recorded with Vatalaro and the string quartet Elysian Collective in Evolution Studios, Oxford.

Other work

With O'Brien, Selway contributed to the 2001 live album by 7 Worlds Collide, a band formed by the New Zealand songwriter Neil Finn. He also contributed to their 2009 studio album The Sun Came Out, for which he wrote and sang "Ties That Bind" and "Witching Hour". It was the first record for which Selway wrote songs and sang, at the encouragement of Finn. The Pitchfork critic Stephen M. Deusner was impressed by his vocals, praising his "subtle melodic hooks and arcing, textured voice".

Selway appears on "Rest on the Rock" and "Out of Light" on the album Before the Ruin by Roddy Woomble, Kris Drever, and John McCusker. He played drums and percussion on the fifth album by Lanterns on the Lake, Versions of Us (2023), after the departure of their previous drummer. According to the songwriter, Hazel Wilde, Selway helped them create a "whole other version" of the album and restored their confidence in the songs.

Selway is a supporter of the emotional support charity Samaritans, with which he became involved while a university student. He volunteered as a telephone listener for years, including at the height of Radiohead's success, and said this "probably kept my sanity in that period". He is also an ambassador for Independent Venue Week, an initiative that promotes small music venues. In 2014, Selway and O'Brien signed an open letter protesting a ban on guitars in British prisons and stating that music was important for rehabilitation.

Personal life

Selway and his wife, Cait, have three sons. In May 2006, Radiohead cancelled a concert in Amsterdam after Selway's mother died suddenly. As of February 2023, Selway had recently moved to London. He is a fan of Oxford United FC.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Soundtrack albums

EPs

Singles

Guest appearances

Notes

References

References

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