How a seven-year-old’s viral hit about birds became the ultimate school bell

Endless media interviews this week are not how seven-year-old Miles Phillips knows he has written a hit – it’s the fact his primary school is using his song Eastern Rosellas as this week’s bell sound.The catchy, viral song about a colourful bird Miles saw while on holiday to Raymond Island in Victoria’s Gippsland region – a tune his dad, Joel, says, “burrows deep into the brain” – has accrued well over a million views on social media since it was uploaded on July 15 and added to ABC’s Triple J Unearthed rotation.Joel and Miles Phillips, Eastern Rosellas father-son duo. Steven Siewert“I was at Raymond Island, and I was feeding the birds seed on the veranda, and birds just came along. There were pigeons, there were rosellas, there were lorikeets. But the one bird that stood out to me was the eastern rosella,” Miles says.“As I was feeding the birds seed, I came up with a catchy chorus, and Dad and I started workshopping on it, and we made it into a song.”Joel originally uploaded Miles’ track on Spotify for family and friends to listen to. They soon encouraged the father-son duo to create a music video and post it online, and so in their Sydney backyard, with Joel on keys and Miles on the vocals, the hit “Full Band Version” was conceived.“It just grew into that,” Joel says, himself a former ABC 3 TV presenter. “There is just so much love for the rosellas song and for Miles’ style and rizz and how he sings that song … I think the coolest part, which he’s a little bit oblivious to, is how much it means to so many people.”Joel says his other three children are musical too, each playing a different instrument and creating songs of their own. All four children carry small MP3 players for when inspiration strikes, and they can record a song, tune or line they’ve thought of.“Writing a song is a very normal thing for people to do in our family. We love to sing about whatever we’re doing,” Joel says.Miles is even more ambitious.“I’m creating a family band,” he says, listing the musical talents of his siblings. “We all play music – I play drums. Jesse plays guitar. Dad can play piano … Saige is bass. Phoebe is singing.”When Australian musician Ben Lee was first sent Miles and Joel’s song, he thought it would be like any other quirky video. But as soon as he heard Eastern Rosellas, he thought “this is up my alley,” and uploaded a cover of it with Sam Cromack of Ball Park Music on Instagram.An Eastern Rosella, the inspiration behind the hit song. Sharon McCarthy“Eastern Rosellas – it’s an example of outsider art,” Lee says. “There’s a long tradition of artists who are basically self-taught and outside the mainstream, and through their innocence and naivety, they just bring a fresh perspective.“In this case, it’s also a reminder of our childhood and love of nature through a child’s eye … we’re just living in such a cynical world in terms of the corporatising effect on music and on culture, that when something innocent and really joyous cuts through, it’s just like it’s a punch in the face.”Lee and Cromack are among the Australian musicians, including Meg Washington and the Teeny Tiny Stevies, who have also covered Miles’ song.Yet despite Eastern Rosellas having its spotlight moment, Miles isn’t settling on being a one-hit wonder. In fact, he’s already writing his next one.“I’m creating the song called The Rock of Doom, and it’s really good,” Miles says before launching into the song’s chorus and explaining where he finds inspiration.“I listen to rock and pop … [and] my second favourite movie is School of Rock. That [exposed me] to AC/DC, Jack Black and also musicals, especially Back to the Future.“And I love the music that my dad and my uncle make.”From our partners