Phillip Mandelbaum

Philophrosyne Philomelus "Phillip" Mandelbaum (born 28 November 1990), also known by his stage name Phil M (stylized as PhilM), is an American guitarist and singer, who is a member of the alternative/indie band Curriculum. Mandelbaum is one of the founding members of the band and has been since the band formed in 2006. Mandelbaum also sings background vocals on most of Curriculum songs though the vocals are predominantly by the band's lead singer Gregory Preston Athanasiadis.

In 2013, Mandelbaum signed with the South Korean record label S.M. Entertainment and the Japanese label Avex Group to launch his solo career in South Korea and Japan. His Asian debut single, "의학 Medicine", and its English version, "Your Love's A Drug", was released in the UK, US, South Korea, and Japan in February 2013.

Early life
Phillip Mandelbaum was born as Philophrosyne Philomelus Mandelbaum in New York City on 28 November 1990. He is of Jewish, Arabic, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and Native American descent; his "Greek-sounding" name comes from his parent's extreme fondness of Greek mythology. When Mandelbaum grew older, and though he wasn't ashamed of his given name, he began to call himself "Phillip" because thought it was as "funner" as his given name since it was simple and easy for others to pronounce.

Mandelbaum grew up in a wealthy and well-to-do family in New York City and is the youngest of three children; his older brother and sister are close to/more than ten years older than him. His family have amassed their fortunes through sex-oriented businesses and practices. His maternal and paternal grandparents runs a high-end brothel, his father is an AVN award-winning pornographic actor from the 1980s and 1990s who now runs his own successful adult film company, his brother is an AVN award-nominated but highly controversial pornographic actor, and his sister is an author and businesswoman who has written a series of best-selling erotic novels and sex advice books while also running her own line of sex toys. Only Mandelbaum and his mother are not involved in a sex-related business as they were discouraged and banned from doing so by the family. Mandelbaum's mother is a CEO of a multi-million dollar candy company and has her own profitable chain of candy stores.

Mandelbaum had a happy childhood and was known to be optimistic but also naive. Mandelbaum lived with his parents until age 12, when his older brother forced him to move in with him and his wife. Mandelbaum's older brother was abusive and controlling and would beat him on a regular basis until he was 16, when Mandelbaum left his brother and moved back in with his parents. Mandelbaum had developed anger issues from living with his brother which he overcame after moving back with his parents. Mandelbaum has since distanced himself from his older brother after learning his brother has narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Mandelbuam still has a good relationship with his mother, sister, and father, despite the latter also having NPD.

Mandelbaum has been friends with Gregory Preston Olivier since they were infants. Mandelbaum and Olivier met Wyatt van Cleef in middle school, and Dana Breckenridge in high school. Mandelbaum's older brother and father, respectively had been friends with the other older brothers and fathers of his bandmates since they were younger. Mandelbaum graduated in the top five percentile of his class at Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey and later attended Columbia University, which he dropped out of to focus on his music career with Curriculum.

Curriculum
Mandelbaum co-founded Curriculum alongside with Gregory Preston Athanasiadis, Wyatt van Cleef, and Dana Breckenridge in 2006 and they have been together ever since. In 2011, the band released their debut single "So Mainstream" which became a big international hit. Their debut album, Syllabus, released in February 2012, has also proven to be internationally successful. The album spawned two more singles that have since reached the top ten in the UK and have gone to attain chart success internationally.

In January 2014, the band released their second album Sophomore, which has spent two non-consecutive weeks at #1 in the UK.

Solo career
In late 2012, while Curriculum was on a "mini-hiatus", Mandelbaum met with the executives of S.M. Entertainment, one of the top three record labels in South Korea to discuss the possibility of signing Curriculum to their label. Instead, the label was only interested in him because of his well-known bubbly personality and his "adorable" looks. Mandelbaum also met with executives of the Avex Group in Japan and they too were interested in signing only Mandelbaum instead of Curriculum. Mandelbaum talked things over with his bandmates who swiftly gave him their blessing. Mandelbaum's deal with S.M. and Avex were finalized in 2013.

Mandelbaum, who for his solo career is known as Phil M (or PhilM), announced that his debut solo single "의학 Medicine" will be released in South Korea and Japan (in their respective languages) in Spring 2013. The English version of the song, "Your Love's A Drug", which is a cover of the unused Helena Rossi version, was released in the US, Canada, and the UK in February 2013; it charted at #13 in the UK, #79 in Canada, and failed to chart in the US (though it "bubbled under" there). When the South Korean and Japanese versions of the single was finally released, neither version charted in their respective countries, causing Phil M to be dropped from his label in both South Korea and Japan.

Two months after getting dropped, "의학 Medicine", began experiencing a sudden surge in popularity after it was featured in a commercial that aired throughout Asia. "의학 Medicine" eventually charted in the top ten in South Korea and Japan, causing the Avex Group in Japan and S.M. Entertainment in South Korea to resign Phil M. Phil M's next single, "So So Hot Sunshine", became instantly successful and became another top ten hit for him throughout Asia. In mid 2013, Phil M signed with a record label in India, to launch his music career there. Soon after he released the single "City Fun Time" only in India. In late 2013, Phil M released his single "Identity" in Hindi, Korean, and Japanese and released it throughout Asia and India; the single became his third top ten hit in both South Korea and Japan and reached #1 on iTunes India.

Artistry
Mandelbaum is the guitarist and vocalist for Curriculum. Though bandmate Olivier sings lead mostly, Mandelbaum sings vocals on most/some of the songs as well though its usually either as an additional lead or background vocalist (though he has fully taken lead a few times).

Vocally, Mandelbaum is a countertenor and is known to have a "pixie-like" and "light but full" voice where critics have stated that they could "hear the happiness in his vocals when he sings". Mandelbaum's voice is said to be limited and not have much range since he's unable to hit low notes and can only hit some notes in his middle register without struggle; meanwhile he can sing near his upper-middle and upper register effortlessly. Mandelbaum is also known and praised for his guitar-playing skills in the band as well.

Image
Mandelbaum is known for his "bubbly and very happy" personality. He is very optimistic, very excitable at times, and gets easily impressed by things. He has a penchant for dance music and often calls this time of music or anything uptemo "dancey". His personality can compared to that of Blonde Ambition, SARA!, or some of the other "blonde-acting" pop starlets in the music industry. Mandelbaum is noted to be "the first male ever to start acting like blonde - though nevermind the fact that he's a brunette with short hair".

Personal life
There has been lots of speculation about Mandelbaum's sexual orientation, mainly because of personality which is described as "very bubbly and girly". Mandelbaum considers himself heterosexual and that he is "extremely" comfortable in his sexuality to "act like what [he] want[s] to."

It is constantly speculated that when he was a teenager, Mandelbaum had a series of extramarital affairs with married older women, some who were mothers to his classmates at his high school. Mandelbaum denies rumors and calls them "completely R&R: ridiculous and rubbish".

In summer 2014, Mandelbaum and his bandmates moved to San Francisco, California and currently resides there. He also lives with his bandmates in the UK.

Discography
See Curriculum discography