The Philharmonik is the stage name of Christian Gates, a 24-year-old future soul and R&B artist in Sacramento. He's earned a reputation for putting on electrifying live performances at Concerts in the Park, Sol Collective, the Tree Tone Records OnTheBlock Party and at venues all over town.

His music blends contemporary rap and hip-hop influences like J. Cole and Kanye West with classic R&B, soul and funk artists like Stevie Wonder, Prince, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Parliament and Earth, Wind & Fire. He also cites pop rock influences like The Beatles, Steely Dan and The Police. (Check out his "My Biggest Influences" playlist.)

In 2017, he self-released the hip-hop- and rap-oriented "Good People" E.P. and single "Energy" on SoundCloud. In December, he released two music videos, "Mama's House" featuring Hobo Johnson and "Colors," recorded live at Gold Standard Sounds. In February, he released another single and music video for "Neon Lights."

The Philharmonik's debut self-titled album on the Sol Collective record label drops on March 1 on Apple Music, Spotify and SoundCloud.

You can see him perform live at his album release show at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Sol Collective in Sacramento. His friends and musical collaborators SUNMONKS and Jmsey (a.k.a. James Cavern) will open up the show.