Richard Phillips: astrophysicist and a cappella vocalist, not two things you often might find jumbled together in the same sentence. However, as impossible it might be to imagine, Richard seems to balance well, being both one of the more senior members of St Andrews’ favourite a cappella group The Other Guys, and a third year studying astrophysics.
Richard has just returned from a short trip to London, too serenade none other than St Andrews most famous alumni, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Middle Temple Hall, in celebration of St Andrews 600th birthday. The a cappella group sung a mixture of songs, from their popular ‘St Andrews Girls’ to a more contemporary ‘Dancing in the moonlight’. Obviously one might ask why they did not sing the song that raised them to international fame ‘Royal Romance’, with Richard replying ‘we thought it might be a bit awkward’. However they thought wrong as apparently Prince William mentioned to the head of communications why the song had been left out of the collection!
Compared to the uncertain futures of other undergraduates might face upon leaving St Andrews, Richard, as an astrophysicist can have a certain amount of confidence in finding employment. However, when I asked him if he wanted to pursue music as a career instead, he replied, “well, if it all goes wrong I might pack up my guitar and head off!” With winning best arrangement at the National Voice Festival and completing their first self-funded tour around the UK during the summer, this seems to be a year that Richard and the Other Guys will find hard to forget.