Philip Riley was born on Tyneside, England and spent most of his school years in York. Involved in music from an early age, he started in bands at age 15, initially as a guitarist in pop bands, then as a drummer. Riley had some formal piano training, but not until he was 18 and, in his own words "... too infatuated with the instrument to restrict myself to that weeks classical piece - I must have driven my old teacher crazy. I was always more fascinated by what I could find myself, which my teacher saw as a curse, but has since proved a blessing".

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