Photo by Jose Ramón Caamaño

Dean McPhee is a solo guitarist who draws on influences from dub, British folk, underground electronic music, and psychedelic rock. A self‑taught musician with a fluid, understated technique and an inventive approach to the instrument, his sound has evolved from sparse, echo‑laden solo guitar pieces to a heavier, more multi-layered style featuring deep bass, hypnotic riffs, and looping textures. He plays electric guitar through a large pedalboard, routed into a guitar amp and an 18” subwoofer. Dean is a regular contributor to the Folklore Tapes collective and has released music on his own label, Bass Ritual, as well as on BLAST FIRST (petite), Sonido Polifonico, Reverb Worship, and Hood Faire, which he co-runs with labelmates Sam McLoughlin and David Chatton Barker. Dean has toured throughout the UK and Europe, and has opened for artists including Thurston Moore, Acid Mothers Temple, Michael Chapman, The Magic Band, Emeralds, and Michael Hurley, among others. His latest album, Astral Gold, received widespread critical acclaim from The Quietus, Uncut Magazine, Aquarium Drunkard, MOJO, Loud and Quiet, KLOF Mag, and Brainwashed. He is currently working on a new LP scheduled for release in 2026.

“McPhee’s greatest moments reach another plane altogether where it feels like he is channeling something much deeper, more timeless, and almost supernatural.” – Brainwashed

“Dean McPhee stands out as a true one-off in a crowded field.” – Loud & Quiet Magazine

“There’s really no one else who can create (and sustain) the darkly seductive mood that’s embedded within his work.” – Aquarium Drunkard

“Set within an electric ancestry that includes Michael Karoli’s solos in Can, the hymnal rock of Popol Vuh’s Daniel Fichelscher, and the sonic spaciousness of dub, as well as the emotional punch of John Martyn’s dawn-lit Echoplex epic ‘Small Hours’.” – The Quietus

“Definitely one of the leading contemporary guitar stylists in the UK, and in the world.” – Steve Barker, BBC ‘On the Wire’