Phil Didlake is a connector. He believes rhythm has a way of bringing people back to themselves — and back to each other — in a way words often can't.
That belief took root in 2009, when Phil started the Livermore Drum Circle while studying music at Las Positas College, where he also stepped into his first leadership role as president of the Performing Arts Club. A community member believed in what he was building enough to help sponsor his education and open the door to what came next: Berklee College of Music in Boston, where Phil studied music therapy and continued stepping into leadership, serving as president of the New England Region – American Music Therapy Association for students. He was featured in a Berklee press release recognizing inspiring students in the 2016 graduating class. That same door opened him to travel — Ghana, Bali, Istanbul, Greece — studying music and rhythm alongside people from wildly different traditions, and finding how much still connected them.
Phil went on to train under Arthur Hull and Christine Stevens, two of the most respected names in drum circle facilitation, deepening his craft as a facilitator. When he finished his studies, he came back to the Bay Area, bringing everything he'd learned home to keep building community around rhythm and music.
In 2020, Phil founded Rhythm Quest. What started as a way to bring people together in person grew to include online beat-making programs, and today Rhythm Quest is where Phil's music therapy work, teaching, and community drumming all live under one roof. He and his trailer — loaded with over 80 drums and 200 percussion instruments — show up for everything from special events to team-building experiences across the Bay Area.
If any of this speaks to you — a project, a collaboration, an event, or just an idea you want to talk through — Phil would love to hear from you.