Philip Christopher Harvey (born 29 August 1976) is an English manager and creative director. He is best known for his work with the rock band Coldplay. While attending Trinity College, Oxford, he used to organise and promote student parties at local clubs, dropping out of his course to manage the band and helping them finance Safety (1998). They signed a record deal with Parlophone in 1999 and found global fame with Parachutes (2000) and subsequent albums.
Harvey left Coldplay's line-up for four years due to the stress of managing the group by himself, a job which usually requires a team. He completed a psychology degree at the University of Melbourne during this interval, returned as a creative director, and started to make select cameo appearances in their music videos. He won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year as part of Coldplay. Having sold over 100 million albums worldwide,[a] they are the most successful group of the 21st century.[3]
Early life
Philip Christopher Harvey was born on 29 August 1976 in Bristol, England.[4] He studied at Sherborne School between 1990 and 1995, in the Lyon house.[5] While at the institution, Harvey met and became friends with Chris Martin.[6] He also played bass for The Rockin' Honkies,[7] a group that performed soul and R&B covers.[8] His position, however, was eventually changed to sound engineer.[7] Martin was invited to become their keyboard player around the same time.[7] After Harvey concluded secondary education, he went to Trinity College, Oxford, enrolling in Classical Studies.[9] Martin then formed Coldplay at University College London.[8]
While studying at Oxford, Harvey worked at local nightclubs setting up and promoting student parties.[9] Despite considering those activities to be basic, he has stated that these gigs helped him to understand how to hire a venue, book a musician or DJ, and try to make money.[9] In 1998, Martin complained that one of the local promoters in Camden was spiteful towards Coldplay, to which Harvey suggested the band should organise a performance on their own at Dingwalls.[9] Around 400 people attended the concert and they sold the first 50 copies of Safety throughout the set.[10] The earnings helped Harvey to pay back his father and a roommate, as they financed the extended play.[10] It was around this period that he dropped out of college to dedicate himself to management,[11] which encompassed calling A&R professionals, reading Music Week and scheduling more shows.[12]
One of the performances arranged by Harvey was for In the City, a festival of unsigned bands in Manchester.[13] Two days later, scout Debs Wild reached out to him, linking Coldplay to the music industry through her connections with Caroline Elleray from BMG Publishing and lawyer Gavin Maude.[12] In 1999, the group wrote "Brothers & Sisters" and recorded it under a short-term contract with Fierce Panda Records.[14] However, when the song was finally released, they already had signed with Parlophone.[15] Harvey later got overwhelmed by the success of Parachutes (2000), as the record topped the UK Albums Chart and led him to work for 16 hours a day: "It was only later that I discovered most international bands have huge teams and organisations supporting them not just one bloke in a shithole office".[10]
Despite Estelle Wilkinson being hired as his assistant to help,[16] he declared that the 2001 Brit Awards was his lowest point, since Coldplay had won British Group and British Album of the Year, but he was feeling exhausted.[17] Harvey announced his departure during the last recording session for A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), a situation he described as dramatic due to his friendship with Martin and the fact he was moving to another continent.[11] His role was jointly taken over by Wilkinson and Dave Holmes, who managed Coldplay in the United States.[17] By the end of the Twisted Logic Tour (2005–07), Holmes had assumed duties alone.[18] He worked for the band until 2022 and sued them over a contractual dispute in the following year.[19] As a result, Harvey became their manager again, but with assistance from Mandi Frost and Arlene Moon.[19]
Creative direction
Well the band encourage me to say that I'm the Creative Director, which I fucking hate. It makes me sound like I run a ballet company or a marketing agency. I don't know... in the album liner notes they always list me as a band member, which is very sweet.
Following his years away from the United Kingdom, Harvey went back to London and started to hang out with Martin again.[18] He visited the studio occasionally to give his opinion on what the band were doing,[18] something which became a permanent role by 2006.[20] Two years later, Coldplay published an appeal to Wikipedia via their website to stress Harvey's participation in the line-up, concluding they were actually a quintet.[21] He was included as a member in the liner notes of all albums except Parachutes (2000) and X&Y (2005).[b] As per Jonny Buckland, things are easier when Harvey is around because his presence gives a sense of security to his bandmates.[18]
He was encouraged to describe himself as their creative director, but showed disdain towards it: "I'm not particularly creative, but I guess I do try to give them some direction from time to time".[18] Moreover, Harvey affirmed that his role includes helping with videos, designing live performances, visiting the studio regularly, writing press releases and handling any other possible situations if necessary.[18] He has appeared as an easter egg in several music videos released by Coldplay,[23] and is known for his interactions with fans of the band on social media.[24] Some conversations led to albums and songs becoming more widely available on streaming services, including the track "Flags", from Everyday Life (2019).[24]
^The term "records" is for album and single sales combined.[1] Coldplay, however, sold 100 million copies in albums alone, while Parlophone have not disclosed the amount of records.[2]
^Harvey is credited for management on Parachutes (2000) and "wise words" on X&Y (2005).[22]
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