Derek is the lead singer and chief organiser of everything to do with the band (sorting out gigs, set lists, getting payments, publicity, posters, etc.). He originally hails from the South Wales valleys, the original land of choirs and singing, so it should come as no surprise to anyone to find him as the Hypers’ front man. He also bangs the tambourine on an increasing number of Hyper songs, occasionally even in time with the beat. His vocal stamina is legendary and he can usually still belt out the likes of Whole Lotta Rosie at the end of a 3-hour show. He also enjoys playing the guitar in what little spare time he has (acoustic, electric and bass) though there has been little opportunity to date for him to put these skills to use in any Hyper shows.

By day he is employed at the Defence Academy as a Senior Lecturer, mainly teaching subjects such as missile and aircraft propulsion, aerodynamics, design and structures. He’s also an avid sportsman, having turned his hand to most at some time or other during his lengthy time on Planet Earth. He still manages to play some squash, soccer and golf though nowhere much as in the past, partially due to the ever-increasing Hyper workload and also partly due to his advancing years.

He has a voracious appetite for learning songs, though this has had to be brought to check recently due to the large number of songs now already in the repertoire and the major difficulty in getting Phil to learn anything new. His musical preferences and favourites are in keeping with the material usually played by the band. David Bowie, Stereophonics, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult, The Jam are all often to be found blasting through his iPod.

He lives nowadays in the buzzing town of Highworth, not too far from the band’s axe man, Dr Finnis.