I’ve been living in Sacramento for six years. During those six years I’ve made it a point to use technology to keep tabs on the Sac music scene. I’m not sure how but, somehow, The Philharmonik avoided my radar until recently.

My brother (who lives in Tennessee) will text me on a regular basis with a video link to the latest Sway’s Friday Fire Cypher. A month or so ago, I received one of those texts with the message, “you know Philharmonik? he’s in Sacramento.”

Scratching my head, no I had not…well not until that moment. As always, I watched the video and was blown away by this soul brother who proceeded to drop flames on the mic with so much heart and passion I could feel it emanating through the speakers on my iPhone.

Fast forward a tiny bit and The Philharmonik was in NYC for Sway’s Doomsday Cypher with some other heavy hitting talent. Philharmonik KILLED that cypher, too!

The best part?! He’ s NOT a rapper!!! Well, technically, he can rap with the best of them; but in the day-to-day, he identifies as an R&B/Soul artist…who sometimes dips his toes into Hip Hop’s pool.

With all that aside, the moment he dropped the single and video for his new single Drugs, it immediately became my new favorite song. And it stays stuck in my head…as in, I find myself uncontrollably singing the lyrics or humming the melodies as I go about my business.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with The Philharmonik about Drugs, his life long love of music, SXSW and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

For those that haven’t heard about you yet, who are you? What city do you represent? How do you describe your style of music?

I go by The Philharmonik and I’m an artist out of Sacramento, California. I really can’t describe my genre because It covers so many genres and styles of music. However, many people like to consider me as an R&B/soul musician that peers into hip-hop from time to time. Also, my name is not Phil, it’s Christian. I call myself The Philharmonik because I do everything when it comes to making the music: the composition the lyrics, the instruments, and the writing.

What led you down the music path and what motivates you to keep pushing despite the struggles of being an independent creative?

I’ve been doing music my whole entire life. It’s the thing that I’ve dedicated my whole life to you from the time I was six years old. My mother really invested into my craft and wanted me to pursue an avenue in the arts because she saw the potential of what I could become.  What motivates me is the fact that this is the only thing in life that I love to do, and I would also do this for no money. At the same time, however, I do not want to work a job that I hate and I feel that music is the only thing that I’m good at that can pay my bills while not feeling like a slave.  Sometimes, I feel like I have no other choice than to pursue music because I feel like it’s the only thing I’m good at. 

How is Drugs different from previous releases? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?

Drugs talks about the personal struggle of trying to be financially secure while pursuing a music career. I was inspired to make the song because I didn’t have enough to pay rent coming off of the Doomsday Cypher in New York with Sway, and when you have those hardships it inspires you to make that type of music. I haven’t held a job in the last three years outside of music. It’s a wonderful thing and I understand that many people would love to be in my shoes, however there are many seasons where the money is inconsistent And I don’t have any skills to use in other departments because I haven’t held a job down in three years, so I talk about this in the song and my goal was that “maybe if I make a song about selling drugs, I won’t actually have to sell drugs.“

How did you come up with the concept for the video? Was it all you? Did you have help?

The concept was based out of scenes that I could do realistically. I wanted this song to be  Broadway-esque according to my life.  The storyboard was all me, but Matt Brown directed the video and did the editing. He made my vision come to life in a way that I couldn’t. I had a lot of help in creating this video. There were a lot of people that came out because they believed in me and I needed them in the music video for the house scene that touched on learning how to heal our traumas from childhood and realizing that many of us adults are still trying to figure out what this all means.

Now that you’ve set the bar fairly high for yourself with this release, what’s next?

Currently I’m working on the new record. It’s coming along, though there’s a lot of voices that I have to get out of my head in order for me to be content with the content I’m going to put out. There’s a lot of personal growth that I have to do in my own life in order for me to move onto the next level. However, expect a lot of video content  in 2019.

Any shows? Tours?

I’m going to be at SXSW in March and will be performing at a few showcases out there.

What was the last song you listened to?

Living for the city by Stevie Wonder.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Vinyl definitely.

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

All of the streaming services are excellent if you’re looking up music that I’ve made. On a personal level if you’re looking for more on who I am as a person, then Instagram.

Anything else before we sign off?

Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure. Anyone who reads this article should check out the Drugs video before they check out anything else.