Independently owned and operated by siblings Matthew and Caitlin Phillips, State House Sessions officially launched in 2018, but like all stories, this one begins much earlier. “I guess it all started a while before it actually started,” Caitlin says. “My brother and I were always obsessed with music and as we grew up, that love expressed itself in different ways – Matt wanted to record it and I wanted to write about it.”
For a time, each pursued those interests individually. They went to the same shows, devoured the same records, but never thought about doing anything together. “Its funny now because it seems obvious, but we only started thinking about it after Matt encouraged me to do something on my own,” she remembers. “I had this idea years ago for an article series and he rightly told me not to pitch it anywhere. He said, ‘It’s an interesting concept and wherever you pitch it, if they like it they’ll just do it without you.’” The concept led to Throwback Thursday Philly, or TBT Philly as it was known for short, a website designed specifically to house her articles highlighting Philadelphia’s historic and modern connections to the music industry, all with a throwback twist. The September 2015 premiere article, “Bowie Records In Philly” was followed by pieces documenting the influence of Philadelphia’s own Tammi Terrell, the cultural significance of “Rock Around The Clock,” by Chester, PA’s Bill Haley and The Comets, long-running local radio station WMMR’s role in breaking Billy Joel, and how in 1957, Villanova students threw eggs at Elvis Presley during his first visit to the city.
The original interview series “My First Song,” showcased the modern crop of area based musicians, and not long after, the occasional live session seemed like another natural way to spotlight the local scene. With Matthew on board, they began by asking their friends bands, and soon, what they first viewed as an experiment became a permanent collaboration that suited his experience as an audio engineer, and his younger sister’s interest in photography and film. “It was such a no brainer that I still can’t believe we hadn’t thought of it sooner,” says Caitlin, who used iPhones and Go Pros to shoot that first batch of sessions. “No one is better at what he does than Matt, and I knew that as long as he was involved we had a chance to make something that really sounded incredible. It’s also been a really cool adventure to film in spaces that the audience might not typically associate with a live performance, but that’s audibly as good as any well made record. Living rooms, record stores, the corner of a venue or a brewery… There’s no crazy lights or crazy sets or even crazy video equipment. It harkens back to something a little more intimate and truer to life while still having that high quality sound.”
When sessions became more and more frequent, the brother and sister felt that trying to fit new ideas into the throwback theme had ultimately become confining. They decided to keep the basic sketch of their original logo – the Liberty Bell with a music note standing in for its famous fracture – as a nod to their city, while the publications name was a bit of a pun – partly inspired by the bell’s first location, The Pennsylvania State House, the revolving visual backdrops and the one of a kind, homemade spirit of the sessions themselves.
“There’s a certain spark that only exists with a live performance, and from day one, our aim has always been to capture that and that alone,” Matthew says. “And there’s so much great music out there, to think that we might have a hand in helping people find it? I can’t think of anything better.”
