The Philharmonik prepares to take Sacramento soul global

Christian Gates has been part of Sacramento’s music scene since 2016. Performing as The Philharmonik, his sound blends soul, funk and hip-hop into something unmistakably his own. In 2024 his entry in NPR’s Tiny Desk contest, “What’s It All Mean,” won the top prize and introduced his music to a global audience.

Since then, Gates has been traveling, performing, and connecting with fans from all over. Now he’s on the cusp of his first world tour, with dates across Asia and Europe. Despite the growing spotlight, Gates is staying grounded thanks to his family, his community, and the creative energy of Northern California.

In a recent conversation with Insight’s Vicki Gonzalez, Gates reflected on the past year and shared what he’s hoping to learn as he takes his music across the world.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Looking back, how would you describe the past year since winning the Tiny Desk Contest?

It's kind of like the farmer’s been plowing for the longest time, and you're starting to see the fruit from the plant just sprout up. That was last year for me. Just seeing the fruits of my labor working out, it really put a pep in my step to continue. 

Your popularity has gone through the roof, with a lot of traveling and shows. Have you had the time to reflect on everything that you've done this past year? 

I have, and in those moments I reflect on what I also need to do next while celebrating what I've already done because it's a continuous process. I don't feel like there's an arrival or a destination that you make it to in life. It's just a continuous process of going through many hills and valleys, and I just want to see what the next plain has for me. 

Were there any surprises about being a Tiny Desk Contest winner? 

I didn't expect that there were going to be a lot of bookings from absolutely everywhere. I didn't know how many people really listened to the Tiny Desk. Even though you see the views on YouTube, it's different when you see where those views are coming from. I think those bookings are kind of like a testimony of the demographic of where those views are coming from.

Are there some moments from the past year that you hold dear to your heart? 

I was looking back at the photos on my iPhone, and it was right before we were setting up to be on Tiny Desk. I wasn’t in my suit or anything; we were just doing sound check and I remembered that feeling of walking into that room for the first time. I just remember all my bandmates there, and I realized this vision that I had was able to get us here. It was just like a dream realized. I think I just stepped into a different power of myself, just acceptance of who I am and being comfortable and just being able to walk that journey. 

There's another Tiny Desk contest winner this year from Northern California, Ruby Ibarra. Have you followed her music? 

Absolutely. Over the years she's made a lot of waves in hip-hop, and her name resonated throughout the Bay Area in Northern California. To watch this back-to-back ceremony and celebration of culture be recognized nationally and internationally is huge for our region.

You two are not the only Tiny Desk winners from Northern California. We recently had the first Tiny Desk winner, Fantastic Negrito, on the show. What is it about this area when it comes to music? 

I think there is a great collaboration between the expression of art and the expression of self, and I feel that we celebrate everything about a person as much as we do the art. I'm recognizing this pattern even from when I was here locally in the scene. There are so many diverse genres and diverse expressions, and all of those are celebrated in the same area. What that does is give people the confidence to not only show up in their passion but to show up as themselves, which I believe is the defining factor now looking back at it. 

What has that feedback and response from the audience meant to you?

The greatest thing they taught me was to trust myself that what I'm doing is good enough. And to continue working on that path, like, don't lose faith in what you're doing when times are hard. If you keep working at it and you just hold on to that feeling of, ‘this is going to work if I just continue to keep doing it,’ I think that many great things on the horizon will start happening. 

What influences in your life got you to that point of believing in yourself in that way?

My mom was very instrumental in making sure I had outlets to express myself. We didn't go through any easy times as a child, but there was still love in the household. She encouraged me to express myself, to learn about all the facets of life, and to be able to thrive in this world. I believe that in putting myself in the music and learning the disciplines of it, I had to learn the discipline of just showing up to something before I started to love it. I think whether that was in music or in sports, all of those things became essential to who I am today. It just provided me strength. It provided me resilience. It provided me a passion to stick through and to not quit. I think that's the most important gift you can really give anybody.

Are you working on any new music? 

I’m turning in my last track for my next album, Transcendentalism, that's going to be released this year. It’s a 13-track album I've been working on for a very long time, and I do consider it my magnum opus. It's the truest, purest expression of myself. I wanted to take daring possibilities on where I could take the album. I really took some risks, and I'm going to see how it plays out. 

What are you looking forward to most with this world tour?

Number one is to experience so many different cultures and to actually see the world. I think it's many of our dreams to be able to see the world and touch as many continents and countries as possible, and to just experience life in its fullness. I believe traveling is one way to get there. I also want to see how people absorb music and take in music from different parts of the world and how they consume it. And to see what it means to them and to learn that side of it. Those things make me really excited for what's to come. 

Where will the tour take you?

I'm doing Indonesia, Japan and Hawaii on the eastern seaboard of the tour, even though Hawaii's west, there's that little line that the international timeline and then you get into the east. Then I go to Europe for Spain, London, Paris, Romania, Vienna and Germany. There's a lot. 

The Philharmonik’s international tour begins June 2 in Tokyo and will continue through Europe this summer. You can hear the full interview with Christian Gates at CapRadio.org/Insight.