Philip Perkins was mentored by "Blue" Gene Tyranny and The Residents in music composition and performance, and studied motion graphics and animation with Dave Foster at the University of Oregon. He played in many rock and experimental music bands and was a member of The Residents performance ensemble 1979-84 (the original Assorted Secrets and Mole Show-era bands), as well as serving as their cinematographer and lighting designer. He has released 19 albums of his own work 1979-2020 on the Fun Music, Artifact, CHoon SubCity and Captured Tracks labels, and was a member of The Bifurcators with Scott Fraser 1973--2008. His music, audio and radio works have been heard on NPR, CBC, European, Australian, and Japanese radio networks in addition to hundreds of local stations around the world.
Perkins has served as Sound Designer for Alonzo King LINES Ballet since 2012, was co-composer of Alonzo King’s ballet Figures of Speech and the editor of Robert Rosenwasser's "There is no standing still..." dance video series. Other choreographers he has worked with include Rashaun Mitchell, Charlotte Griffen, Risa Jaroslow and Mary Oslund.
Some people Philip Perkins has recorded and mixed music for:
Tom Waits, Fred Frith, Charles Lloyd, Jason Moran, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Regina Carter, Pauline Oliveros, Frederika von Stade, Maya Lahyani, Best Coast, Bob Mould, Mike Patton, The Lost Trio, negativland, John Bischoff, Ellen Fullman, Chris Brown, Kronos Quartet, Barbara Borden, Wadada Leo Smith, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, The Hub, Alasdair Fraser, Phillippe Jaroussky, Beausoleil, Phillip Greenlief, Fuzzy Bunny, Gino Robair, Lisa Mezzacappa, Duo Pantomorph, The SF Mime Troupe, Zakir Hussein, Tim Perkis and The Residents among many others.
Perkins has mixed hundreds of film and video productions from Hollywood feature films to indie documentaries filmed all over the world. Film directors he has worked for include Errol Morris, Oliver Stone, John Korty, Nancy Kelly, Jesse Dylan, Finn Taylor, Debra Chasnoff, Bill Couturie, S. Leo Chiang, Rob Nilsson, Albert Maysles, Debbie Lum, HP Mendoza, Emiko Omori, Roger Sherman, Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, David L. Brown, Gene Corr, Dyanna Taylor, Veronica Selver, Brian Staufenbiel and many others.