Love is the basis of Philip Serino and his music. A love for music, a love for his audience, and a love for his family all combine into his sound.

Introducing Philip Serino

With family at the foundation of music, he was a part of a musical community from a very young age. Growing up in a family of worship leaders, he was always surrounded by music and music lovers. Music was always something larger than life.

Family didn’t stop at the inspirational start, in his present music career, he regularly collaborates with his family members including his brothers Andrew Serino, Matt Serino, and Thomas Serino, and his cousin DJ. The Serino brothers have a strong connection with music, separately and together.

“Burning House” Live Cover by The Serino Brothers and Nathan Hale

Creating, producing and even touring with his brothers is exciting for them (not to mention their audiences). The collaboration allows them to bring their sound forward to one harmony. One example is the Serino brother’s cover of “Burning House,” originally by Cam. This is a fantastic and moving cover full of passion. Each musician brings the piece to a deeper level of emotion.

“We made it happen. It wasn’t even spectacular; it was just, “Let’s make music.” It didn’t even get a lot of views, but it was like, “Wow! We just came and made something happen”, Serino explains how publishing the cover felt.

Cover Music

Cover music for all of them, Serino especially, is a way to take a song somewhere that you and your audience wouldn’t expect. The different perspective from a cover of the same song is entertaining and doesn’t get boring.

“I did this one version of “Annie’s Song” by John Denver, and it sounds completely different from the original. I think it’s a really good practice for musicians to be able to cover the song, not to try to imitate the actual original but making their own version,” Serino said, “the artist, they are storytellers, even though John Denver — I don’t know if he actually wrote this song — but he sang that song his way and another artist can sing it with a different perspective, and it’s just fascinating.”

Philip Serino’s Career in Music

Serino’s music, both past and present, shows great diversity. As nostalgic as it is, his love for music was sparked by his passion for video games. Video games were a way for him to connect with others as he moved around quite a bit as a kid.

“I loved my Gameboy. It gave me so much serenity. But it wasn’t so much the game itself that kept my mind at peace. It was the music,” Serino reminisces.

His life in music continued from childhood to adulthood, starting with the alto saxophone, then drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and voice, and ending with the piano. It’s hard to put his finger on a single genre when his sound can be described as Pop, A Cappella, Soundtrack, and Electronic. A music career is a lot of hard work, exceptionally so diverse. Serino’s resume as a musician is extensive and incredible throughout the USA.

He graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Music Composition. At the time, only one freshman was chosen for the top choir. In 2007, that was Serino. During his senior year, he was the featured composer for the school’s Student Soloist Concert and world premiered. His orchestral piece, “Ruach Ha Kodesh” (Hebrew for “Holy Spirit), was broadcast around the world.

America’s Got Talent

He was featured on America’s Got Talent 2007 with the men’s A cappella group, PLUtonic. They performed Serino’s musical arrangements.

Philip Serino’s Continuing Education

Four years later, in 2011, PLUtonic took first place at the ICCA Quarterfinals, where Serino won the “Outstanding Soloist” award. At the ICCA Semifinals in Berkeley, PLUtonic won third place. Again, he won the “Outstanding Arrangement”.

With such an impressive background, He’s a musician who aims to do everything: composing, lyric writing, production, guitar, piano-octave singer/bass II and alto saxophone player. His versatility doesn’t stop there. He can and has performed in congregations, choirs, orchestras, bands, and many more. There are many projects and dreams for his future.

What’s Next for Philip Serino?

As a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), he’s a musician with a business in mind. The ASCAP assists artists in ensuring they are being adequately paid for their intellectual property. His work has been published in Pavane Publishing and Santa Barbara Music Publishing. His main business is simply music and sharing that music with the world.

“I want to establish my business to help composers, producers, and artists. I want to start that project and keep with it, where we create demos from scratch and send them off. We’re just a music laboratory, like a beat factory”, he explains.

Other ideas include a music café, film and television composition, trailer and advertisement composition, video game music rearrangements, going on tour, and so much more.

“I have a lot of ideas. I want to help people creatively share their stories. TV and film are a passion of mine; that’s why I went to school for music composition. That’s the big dream,” Serino describes.

Having such plans makes life hard. For many musicians, it is balancing life, love and work. Is difficult. With so many projects on the go and in the planning stages, it’s not easy to balance all of them. It starts with being patient with yourself and knowing what you want from your life, not just in one particular spot. Focusing all your energy on one aspect of life impacts the other areas.

Concluding Thoughts: Philip Serino

“If that’s something that you love when it comes to music, or whatever your passion is you don’t want to squander it. You don’t want to make it something that is not enjoyable for you; I had to let go of my past, of my obsession with music. If it’s creating a problem in your relationship, and it’s creating a problem, then it is a problem”.

Love is the basis of Serino’s actions. His passion for music is vital even if it’s not currently full-time. It’s a passion for him as much as it is love.

“You need to look at yourself, your life, and be thankful for everything you have, and realize that this is for me, that what I have with music is all bonus.”