Behind the mic: What’s next for The Philharmonik, Sacramento’s own Tiny Desk winner

This story was featured in our SacramenKnow newsletter. Sign up to get updates about what’s happening in the region in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.

When Sacramento’s own Christian Gates, better known as The Philharmonik, was a child, his mother took him to a concert. 

After coming home, Gates said he started playing the melodies he heard on the piano, trying to find a way to replicate them. His mom saw that he had a thing for music and enrolled him in classical piano lessons.

Gates studied piano — by force, he said — from the age of six to 12 years old. After a while, his family couldn’t afford piano lessons anymore, so he was enrolled in his middle school’s orchestra program. It’s there where Gates learned how to play the violin. 

Gates continued orchestra into his junior year of high school, when he started making his own music. He took a musical instrument digital interface class, where he learned how to make his own beats.

He also taught himself how to play guitar. And once he learned he could combine these talents to make beats on the keyboard, Gates was hooked, and spent his free time making music. 

The Philharmonik, his now nationally-awarded musical persona, came six years later. 

Gates is the lead vocalist of The Philharmonik. He also produces, raps and plays multiple instruments for the band, which blends various genres, including R&B, hip-hop and funk/soul.

In May, The Philharmonik won NPR Music’s 10th edition of Tiny Desk. 

The Philharmonik’s song “What’s It All Mean?” — and its music video — was entered in the contest and beat out 7,000 other submissions from around the country.

“It feels really good because I wanted to win it,” Gates said. “I was aiming to win it. It was my intention to win it. And for a long time, I think I've been trying to conceal that fact. And I don't know why I wanted to conceal the fact that I wanted to win it.”

And the winner of the 2024 Tiny Desk Contest is... Sacramento's The Philharmonik!

After winning the contest, The Philharmonik embarked on a 10-city tour with Tiny Desk, starting in Washington, D.C. in May and ending in Chicago in mid-July. Gates called it the most amazing tour he’s ever been on, despite having to cut a few shows due to illness.

Big break 

This year was The Philharmonik’s second time entering the Tiny Desk contest. When he entered six years ago, he submitted the song “Good Day” with Sacramento poet AndYes, but the duo ultimately lost to Naia Izumi of Georgia. 

But this year, Gates said he was going to find a way to win, no matter what. 

“There was going to be no question to these judges that my entry is the only option they have,” Gates said of his entry. “There was something bigger than music that I felt was there. Music is, of course, a very important component. You can't have a bad song. But it's not the only thing that matters.”

Gates said it took him seven years to understand that there's something more to artistry, especially when it comes to music.

“There's the acceptance of self that comes with it. The hard work, with intention, the observation, the lessons learned in life, the living it, the struggles,” Gates said. “We talk about the struggle, but we talk about it in this obscure way, like we don't know what's going on. We really have to understand what's going on in order to learn the lesson. I think I finally learned that lesson, and I was ready to run and that Tiny Desk was that example, and that was proof that I was ready to run.”

Perseverance

Before winning Tiny Desk, Gates said he was on the verge of quitting music. 

“I was tired,” Gates said. “I was tired of doing a lot of work, sowing a lot of these seeds and not watching the plant sprout. I needed to see a plan in order to feel like this endeavor was fruitful. I know a lot of people talk about not quitting, but you gotta know when a tree bears fruit and when it doesn't.”

Gates said he was at a point where he was questioning if he needed to move on to other pastures. But now that he’s started to see national success, he’s felt a pull to continue.

“Now I look at [making music] in a new way, where it's like it's rejuvenated my passion for it,” he added. “I needed a rejuvenation of the passion for me, and winning this was that rejuvenation.”

What's next? 

Since winning the contest, The Philharmonik has played a number of shows, including the 10-city summer tour with Tiny Desk and Concerts In The Park. Gates said the band will continue to perform concerts, but he’s looking to take The Philharmonik international and perform shows worldwide. 

“Now I feel is the perfect time to strike, or to at least reiterate and introduce music to the rest of the world now that they're getting introduced to my Tiny Desk,” Gates said. “It's like doubling down on the music they haven't heard, introducing them to the new music. I'm making and introducing the rest of the world to who I am.”

He added that he hopes to introduce a new style, soon, as well.

“My sound is that I like not being put in a box,” Gates said. “I can go to any type of genre you can think of. Right now, I'm really into the pocket of funk soul for the most part because people on Tiny Desk, that's what they've heard. So I want to keep them there for a second and then I’m going to shift on them.”

He added that he hopes to collaborate with other artists. Gates named Sacramento hip-hop artist Jakhari Smith, who was on the same Concerts In The Park lineup over the summer, as someone who has caught his eye. 

“He's really good and I know he has a bright future,” Gates said. “There are a lot of people that I see have bright futures. But I know he's meant to do this for sure.”

Gates advises new artists to learn to love the business aspect of making music because otherwise, they’ll have a hard time making it.

“You’ve got to find the thrill in it, the excitement,” Gates said. “This is the first time in a lot of years where I finally feel the excitement of the business part. But maybe it's because I've been privileged to see the other side.”

Gates said that the business part of music production is an art, too. 

“Both [music and business] are about learning about the art of people,” he added. “It's about relating to people. So I think there's a teaching moment if you can get both sides of those down and get the view from a perspective of both being art. You're in the right direction.”

The Philharmonik's next performance will be at the third annual WEUSI Music Festival at Sacramento State on Sept. 13.