Phillip Mandelbaum

Philophrosyne Philomelus "Phillip" Mandelbaum (born 28 November 1990), also known by his stage name Phil M (stylized as PhilM), is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor. He is one of the founding members of the popular alternative/indie band Curriculum, where he is a guitarist and also contributes backing and additional lead vocals. In Asia, where he is known as PhilM, he has a highly successful solo career and is popular throughout the region, mainly in South Korea, India, the Middle East, Japan, and Hong Kong.

After Curriculum launched their mainstream music career in late 2011 and early 2012, Mandelbaum began branching out and pursuing his solo career while the band was on hiatus in 2013. Mandelbaum released his debut single "Your Love's A Drug" in February 2013. Though the single flopped in the UK and US, the song eventually became a hit in Asia. Mandelbaum's subsequent singles also performed and fared extremely well on the charts and with sales in Asia. Mandelbaum also starred in a TV drama/comedy show which deals with four superstar singers navigating their careers in the music industry; on the show, Mandelbaum plays an international superstar who tries to breakthrough to a "very difficult market". A British/American adaption of the show, starring Mandelbaum, are currently "in talks" to be in production.

In 2014, Mandelbaum released his solo debut album Wonderful Is Everything. The album reached #1 on album charts throughout Asia and also managed to receive rave reviews from critics.

Mandelbaum has increasingly received press for his rumored deteriorating relationship with his Curriculum bandmates. In 2014, Mandelbaum managed to get in a public feud with his bandmates after a scuffle over Syd Wolfe records. Despite rumors, Mandelbaum (and the rest of the band) has stated that Mandelbaum will never quit the band and will remain a member "forever and ever".

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, and Korean 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.

Family
Phillip's biological father is Erazem Mandelbaum, an infamous pornographic actor known for his controversial career and various scandals within the adult film industry. Erazem fathered Phillip when he was fifteen years old; Erazem's parents (Phillip's biological paternal grandparents) decided to raise Phillip as their own son after Erazem initially gave him up for adoption. Erazem signed his parental rights away when Phillip was two months old and Erazem's parents legally adopted him soon after. Phillip's biological mother was married with children to another man when she gave birth to Phillip. Not wanting her marriage to fall apart, she signed away her parental rights to Phillip shortly after his birth and abandoned him. Phillip had brief contact with his biological mother when he was twelve but has since not spoken her to since.

As a result of being raised by his paternal grandparents as their son, Phillip grew up believing that his biological paternal grandparents were his parents and that his biological father was his brother. Phillip also had a biological paternal aunt that he grew up believing was his sister. Phillip was 19, when he finally found out that his "parents" were actually his biological paternal grandparents and that his "brother" was actually his biological father.

Mandelbaum grew up in a wealthy and well-to-do family in New York City. His family have amassed their fortunes through sex-oriented businesses and practices. Aside from his biological father Erazem being a pornographic actor, his biological grandfather/"father" is an AVN award-winning pornographic actor from the 1980s and 1990s who now runs his own successful and highly profitable adult film company. Erazem also runs a successful and profitable adult film production company as well. Phillip's biological grandmother/"mother" is a businesswoman who is the CEO of three different major chains of candy, toy, and video game shops.

Erazem forced Phillip to move in with him and his wife when Phillip was 12. Erazem and his wife had two children together, while the former had another child outside of his marriage. Erazem was very abusive, antagonistic, and controlling towards Phillip and would beat and humiliate him on a regular basis. Erazem's wife was also abusive towards Phillip as well. When Phillip was 16, he ran away from Erazem's house and moved back in with his "parents". Phillip developed anger and trust issues after living with Erazem and had to go to therapy. After finding out about his true parentage (his "parents" are actually his grandparents and Erazem, his "brother", is actually his father), Phillip began limiting and later completely severing ties with his family after finding out that his "father" and "brother" (grandfather and father) has narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Phillip still keeps in contact with his "mother" (grandmother).

Early friendship with members of Curriculum
Before their births, the families of Mandelbaum and his future Curriculum bandmates (Gregory Preston Olivier, Wyatt van Cleef, and Dana Breckenridge) had been friends for generations. Mandelbaum, Olivier, van Cleef, and Breckenridge had known each other since they were infants. They would take annual holiday trips together going to San Francisco in the summer and Switzerland in the winter; the boys were often each other's playmates during the vacation trips. Mandelbaum and Olivier lived next door to each other in the same wealthy neighborhood in New York City.

Though the rest of the band has stated that the boys finally bonded and began considering each other as friends when they were teenagers (despite the fact that they had known and were friendly to each other since they were little), Mandelbaum stated during an interview in 2014 that the band were "never really friends" and "just only tolerated" each other.

Curriculum
Mandelbaum co-founded Curriculum alongside with Gregory Preston Olivier, Wyatt van Cleef, and Dana Breckenridge in 2006 and they have been together ever since. In retaliation of their parents wanting to make them into a pop boyband, the four boys decided to become an alternative/indie pop/"experimental" band instead.

Their debut album, Syllabus, released in February 2012, has also proven to be internationally successful. It reached #1 in the UK and would later sell over one million copies in the UK. In January 2014, the band released their second album Sophomore. To date, the album has sold 1.8 million copies and has been certified Diamond by the URAPS; the album also reached #1 on the chart. Later in 2014, the band released an EP titled Flunking Out (and later re-released as Remedial). The EP reached #2 in the UK and was later certified Gold by the URAPS.

Music 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 he claims "begrudgingly" 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. In early 2014, he released another single titled "Spring Song" which became a top ten hit throughout Asia.

In 2014, Mandelbaum finally released his solo debut album titled Wonderful Is Everything, becoming the first Curriculum member to release a solo album. Wonderful Is Everything received rave reviews from critics throughout Asia and charted at #1 on album charts throughout the region. The album's lead single "Wonderful Dream" reached #1 on singles charts throughout Asia.

Television career
Mandelbaum starred in a South Korean television comedy/drama titled Industry Superstars which detailed four singing sensations at different points of their successful careers dealing with life within the music industry. With the whole show being shot in Korean, Mandelbaum plays an international superstar who has had success in other countries and is now trying to break through to the music market in South Korea, which has always been difficult for the character to do. The show received critical acclaim from critics, with Mandelbaum being considered the "standout" and "breakout" of the show, and received high ratings.

Mandelbaum is currently in talks reprising his character for the British/American production of the show, which could either air on television or Netflix if the show is greenlit for production.

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 when he is over there promoting with the band.

Discography
See Curriculum discography