Out of the ‘Trenches’ and into the future: Phil Perry discusses his vision for HD Media

By Matthew Young, RealWV

The last time I sat and laughed with Phil Perry, we were in a basement rehearsal space under the parking garage at the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Affectionately – and not at all unironically – known as “The Hair Lair,” the space was used by Phil and his former bandmates in rock n’ roll supergroup, Hair Supply. 

At the time, Phil’s on-stage persona of “Philthy Trenches” – complete with the full head of luscious golden locks and spandex pants – was the living embodiment of the 80s-rocker lifestyle. (Rumor has it that Philthy gave former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan private lessons ahead of the 1988 “Appetite for Destruction” world tour, although rumor also has it that McKagan vehemently denies those rumors). But despite the hair-metal decadence and middle school humor (the latter mostly from myself), The Hair Lair was a welcoming place, filled with laughter and friendship. 

That was less than two years ago. And while Hair Supply still makes frequent use of the Hair Lair, Phil’s departure from the group is far from the only way that things have changed. 

Despite maintaining, up until recently, his high profile, Hannah Montana-esque music career, Phil has – for more than three decades – successfully maintained his alter-ego as a mild mannered newspaper-man. A journalist since before I graduated high school – I mean – a journalist since the 90s, Phil learned his craft in the grand tradition of Clark Kent before eventually taking on the role of Perry White for HD Media’s 11 weekly newspapers in 2017. In between, Phil played the part of Lois Lane during stints with Gatehouse Media, Yahoo! Sports, and the world famous, Charleston-based “Graffiti Magazine.”

For the next eight years, Phil faithfully served HD Media, the award-winning publisher of 13 newspapers across West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio. In that time, the HD family grew to not only include the Charleston Gazette-Mail, but the Huntington-based Herald-Dispatch, as well. But in June of this year, for Phil – and for everyone else associated with HD Media – things changed again. 

On Tuesday, June 10, 48-year-old HD Media President Doug Skaff, Jr. succumbed to injuries he’d sustained during an automobile accident earlier that day. In one tragic moment along Interstate 79, HD Media lost a president, West Virginia lost a leader, and Phil Perry lost a friend. A few weeks after the accident – and because of the worst circumstances imaginable – an incredibly qualified and deserving Phil Perry was announced as Skaff’s successor. 

On Friday, I sat and laughed again with Phil Perry. But this time we traded the Hair Lair for Phil’s office on the third floor of the Charleston Gazette-Mail building. Gone were the headbands and luscious golden locks (although it’s possible he was still wearing the spandex pants underneath his slacks). The middle school humor was (mostly) replaced by talk of the likelihood of a Dale Murphy Hall of Fame induction, and our shared appreciation for the durability of the toys made when we were kids. 

But we also spoke about our shared belief in the evolving nature of journalism, and what Phil’s vision for the future of HD Media looks like.

“The vision that Doug (Skaff) had is very similar to the vision that I have,” Phil said. “We both value legacy print-media, but we also value digital-multimedia. I think for us to be successful, we have to embrace both.”

“We have to prepare for the future, while embracing and respecting our legacy print-readers,” Phil added. “Our future is the combination of those two.”

Phil shared with me Skaff’s dream of creating a multimedia-production studio inside the Gazette-Mail building, noting that, “We’re actually building it out right now.” In addition to the various video projects produced by HD Media – and much in the same way that the Gazette-Mail’s printing presses also produce some 20 newspapers not owned by HD Media – Phil said that the studio will be available to rent by anyone in need of a location to shoot their content. 

“We’re building out a state-of-the-art studio with modern gear, and talented, experienced, professionals to run it,” Phil explained. “We have the technical side covered to do that if someone chooses, or they can come in and do their own thing.”

“We’re looking to open this in the spring,” Phil continued. “We haven’t come up with a name for it yet, but it’s gonna have Doug Skaff, Jr.’s name on it. Doug left his own stamp on this company, and I want to embrace that.”

“Moving forward, I want to see through some of these initiatives that Doug started,” Phil added. “I want to see them through to fruition.”

Currently, HD Media streams West Virginia high school football, basketball, and soccer on their “HD Media Gameday” YouTube channel, and Phil says they are working to expand their streamed offerings. 

“We are still developing our streaming division of the company,” Phil noted. “It’s grown exponentially since it started about three years ago. Each year it’s grown and picked up some steam, and we want to continue to develop that.”

Although Phil has his eyes on the future of HD Media’s streaming division, it was in an Appalachian newsroom where he cut his teeth in the industry. Because of that background and experience, he has a keen understanding of what it is that his editorial team needs from him.

“I stay out of that lane, and let people do their jobs,” Phil said, adding that, “As a journalist for over three decades, I know what it means when someone has trust in you to do your job.” 

“I don’t direct news at all,” Phil noted. “I’m actually more involved in the revenue side of things – on the advertising side of things – which is a whole new world for me. I’m not a sales person – I’m an editorial guy. So it’s something that I’ve had to learn very quickly.”

Much to his surprise, Phil explained, it turns out that he actually enjoys the advertising side of the business. 

“I didn’t think I would, but I really enjoy being in that world with the sales people,” Phil said through a laugh. “I’ve really seen how the biscuits are made from that side of it, and I’m fascinated by it.”

“I gained that interest from Doug Skaff, working with him,” Phil added. “I was learning about business from observing him, and how he navigated things. He really got that interest going within me.”

Despite being surprised by his new-found interest in advertising, and much the same as his approach to the editorial side of HD Media’s business, Phil tries to let his people do their jobs free from being micromanaged.

“I don’t look at myself as someone who is moving a lot of chess pieces around,” Phil said. “I’m making decisions that affect the whole company, but I think it’s really important to have people in place who can make decisions for their department.”

“I’m not controlling in that way,” Phil continued. “I’m guiding the ship, but I’m going to let you do your job. Now I do bring ideas to the table, and that’s one thing that I encourage – I want us to be a ‘think tank’ of sorts, where no idea is ignored or passed over. We need to look at everything.”

“This business has changed a lot over the last 30 years,” Phil noted. “Multiple streams of revenue are needed to keep the ship floating. But what we do, it all starts in our newsroom with our journalists. That’s the bread and butter, and it always will be for us.”

“Without them, we have nothing,” Phil added. “It all starts with good journalism.”

Nowadays, even as Phil gets closer to his mid-fifties then, well, his early-fifties, and with the long hours spent in various newsrooms and Hair Lairs (mostly) behind him, he still holds tightly to those Clark Kent traditions, and just a bit of the old “rock n’ roll” mindset. And in its simplest form, Phil’s vision for the future of his company remains rooted in the traditions of its past. 

“(Our readers) can expect the truth,” Phil says. “You can expect quality journalism, and you can expect work that’s done with a focus on integrity, and carrying on the strong tradition that this news organization represents.”

“I take it very seriously,” Phil noted, before adding that a Hair Supply reunion tour is likely not in the cards – regardless of my personal feelings on the matter.

“I gave Hair Supply up last fall,” Phil explained. “It really just grew to the point where I couldn’t keep up anymore. But they’re still playing – I still support them.”

Phil now plays in what he calls an “easy-listening, jazzy, blues duo.”

“It’s just two guitars, called Duo Ashfordo,” Phil said. “It’s like all original guitar instrumental music, I guess is the best way to describe it.”

I look forward to the next time I sit and laugh with Phil Perry, and I wonder where the future will see that meeting take place. And I wonder what will have changed by then. 

But knowing Phil, something that I don’t ever see changing is that wherever that meeting happens, I’m sure it’ll be in a welcoming place, filled with laughter and friendship.