Peterborough tattooist and singer collaborates with US band in 'gruesome' music video

A musician-singer from the Peterborough area says he’s ‘over the moon’ after featuring on a new single by American band Dance With the Dead.

Shaun Phillips, 44, is the vocalist and writer of their latest single Cold as Hell – which saw him travel to California to shoot a gruesome music video.

The dad-of-one, who has his own tattoo studio in Priestgate, plays the lead character in the video – which features a particularly grim storyline.

It is the first time the US electro-synthwave rockers have featured a singer – and Shaun was chosen for his vocal performances in his own synthwave band Lebrock – which he fronts with fellow Peterboroian Michael Meadows.They have achieved their own success since forming in 2015 - with a global following, and sell-out tours.

It was through one of their European tours, where Lebrock performed alongside Dance With The Dead, that Shaun hit it off with band member Tony Kim, with their shared love of music, horror films and all things 1980s.

“We bonded really well,” explains Shaun. “We had always talked about a collaboration in the future, and then I got the call.

“When they asked me to take part in a horror-themed video for the release, which would be in California, I couldn’t say no.”

Shaun, who lives in Deeping St James, flew out to the States to shoot the music video in the San Fernando valley, using a 1950s-style movie-set diner popular with film directors.

"The whole experience was amazing,” he says. “We had a full crew and catering including an amazing special effects artist to make me up into the skull man. We were shooting for nine hours to create a four-minute video. ”

Shaun plays a father whose young daughter is kidnapped by the band’s iconic skull-faced character. His rescue mission takes him to a dystopian American diner – where he discovers that the only thing on the menu is human flesh. Here he tracks down the kidnapper, and fights to get his daughter back.

Despite only being released a few days ago, the track has already gained more than 80k views and hundreds of comments from fans – with some calling for a full album featuring Shaun’s vocals.

One fan writes: “Wow, cool song and video. Vocalist is from Lebrock? Love his voice.” Another comments: “I always knew that vocals would push your music further past perfect.”

“Recording Cold as Hell was relatively easy as I knew the music and subjects they wanted,” explained Shaun. “As they are an instrumental band I was given a lot of freedom so just went with my signature style of big hook choruses and thoughtful lyrics. When they said they loved it, I was over the moon!”

He added: “I loved every minute. I feel blessed to be still doing this stuff. I have also written two others songs on their latest album.”

Closer to home, Shaun and Michael are now gearing up for Lebrock’s ninth tour in September – with ten dates starting in Manchester on September 4.

Dance With the Dead’s Cold as Hell (feat Shaun Phillips) is out now on all platforms, with the music video exclusively on YouTube.