KDUP sat down with William Phillips, the man behind Tourist, at Capitol Hill Block Party coming off the release of his debut LP “U”
So I first found your music through the illustrious Majestic Casual, and it was a sound I had never heard before. The song was Your Girl, tell me about making that song.
Yeah I made that in my bedroom when I was living with my mum.
Really?
Yeah so 2012 I think I did that, and I had put it on SoundCloud. It was one of those funny internet sensations, where what happens is that no one asks you if they can use it but they go ahead and use it. Majestic Casual never asked me. They weren’t really anything, back then. Now they are a big institution.
Yeah now you have 12 million views.
Is that right?
Yeah I checked back with it this morning.
Right on. Yeah I do remember writing it. I had no money and I was living with my mum.
Where were you living at the time?
In London.
So listening to that track, it was dance music, but it wasn’t. It was catchy but it wasn’t a pop hit. I think you approach popular sounding recordings, melodies, beats, but you never get there. Why is that?
Cause I am not very good.
(Laughs) You are kidding me.
Yeah I don’t really have any interest in making Tourist something that is going to be on the radio. So I’m not concerned with making big pop songs and then wrapping them in the context of cool. I just really do what I want with the whole Tourist thing.
You have a freedom there.
Yeah it is maybe to my disservice but actually, I am not really interested in making it successful. That sounds strange. I mean I do want to make things that I always love making but I am not interested in making it million selling or on the radio. I don’t actively try to be unsuccessful.
No of course not. You have mentioned before one of your favorite projects was Burial, and I think that is a perfect example of something that is a cult classic.
Yeah. I think he just does what he wants. He sits in his flat and makes music that is part of his world. I do exactly the same thing. I make stuff that makes me feel excited. I am not worried about my audience or who I am writing for. The album sounds a lot different than that demo I put online years ago, Your Girl. So yeah it is a process really. It is fun and I am trying to express myself, some people like it some people don’t and the people that like it make it worth it. You just crack on and do good, meaningful art. That’s the job.
Lets talk about your new project “U” – what does it mean to you to have a debut album out?
I think you get the opportunity to say a lot more on an album. I think it is nice to know that people have read that story. In an EP you have 25 minutes or so and with an album you have about 45 so. I think it is nice to be able to tell a longer story to people and cement in their minds what I am about. I didn’t really want to do a record of featured vocalists. I just wanted to do something that was honest and personal. I think of it like a journal really. It is a story about a relationship I had with a girl, and I thought that would be quite a good personal point for me to write music from, I wasn’t just going to piece together a bunch of demos. It is nice to put something out that feels authentic and honest. It is nice that people will find a mirror in it and find meaning in it. Yeah it is a nice feeling, makes me want to write more albums.
The last track on the album titled “For Sarah” – who is Sarah?
Sarah doesn’t exist I just didn’t want to use the name of the girl.
I see, why?
Yeah well I just thought I am not going to call it; for my ex-girlfriend _______ because I didn’t want her to feel… I don’t know but there is obviously some reason why I did that.
If you had used her name how do you think she would have felt?
Maybe she’d find it a bit awkward. But that is a dedication, that piece of music.
A dedication to the persona.
Yeah everyone has got a Sarah.
Are you aware that Sarah means princess?
Does it? Well she was a f***** princess I can tell you that (Laughs)
You mentioned in a past interview that you fell into the wrong crowd while in London, and then you moved to Brighton.
Yeah I was just doing drugs and not being very wholesome. I think just being a bit selfish and not really focusing on whats important. You get a lot more joy from creating something than you do from taking something. I think I fell into the wrong crowd in the sense that everyone that goes to a university ends up experimenting and some fall into doing things that are not conducive to living their best moments. I stopped doing all that stuff and being really enthused by making music.
You are a lover of philosophy?
Yeah I enjoy thinking about thought.
I’m going to rattle off some popular schools of philosophy and you give me your reaction: Existentialism
Neat shit.
Utilitarianism.
Isn’t that John Mill?
Yeah what do you think about Utilitarianism?
What the greatest good for the greatest many?
Right, yeah.
There are a lot of moral conflicts there aren’t there?
Yes there are.
His whole thing where there is a train and two sides, so would you kill one person to save eighteen…. I don’t know. I think the beautiful thing about philosophy is that it helps you understand how you think. It doesn’t really provide you with any answers but it helps you understand the problem a bit better. I think that is rather annoying for most people. Philosophy just compounds the problem.
Someone once said Philosophy is like shoveling smoke.
That is a great way to describe it.
Eudaemonia – Virtue Ethics.
Ok yeah so Greek philosophy. I didn’t really look into much Greek philosophy. It was never a formal academic subject that I studied but something I got interested in. I got interested in like aesthetics and like the philosophy of music. Taste and taste culture. Why human beings feel like they like certain music. What is beauty? What is truth? So yeah give me some more.
Epicureanism.
Does that have to do with food?
It does have a bit to do with food.
Epicurus… I don’t know you will have to tell me.
Well essentially you have this guy Epicurus and he rejected Determinism and said that pleasure is the only good in life, but there are higher pleasures, like moral and intellectual pleasures. He was famous for saying a steak doesn’t taste better because it is on a gold plate, so he does have a bit to do with food.
So when was he around?
He was with Plato and Aristotle.
Ok so one of the greeks?
Yes. Stoicism?
Stoicism. F***. I feel like I am being tested now. No I don’t know.
Being stoic, being reserved.
Hmm yeah stoic. That’s what the British are known for. That and leaving the EU!
What kind of student were you?
I didn’t work very hard because I studied creative subjects. I doubt the process of marking creativity and grading it. I certainly didn’t work very hard at course work. I don’t know how it works in the US but I got a 2.2, which is really bad. I didn’t work hard at course work but I did work quite hard at the music I made for myself.
It seemed to pay off.
Yes. Its funny because my old university emailed me asking if I would be ok with being featured on the front page of the website, and I thought, “You realize I got a 2.2?”
What was your first job?
I worked at a little coffee shop in Brighton.
If not music, then what?
I would like to be a scientist. A Neuroscientist. I’m just not intelligent enough.
Highs and lows of touring?
High is always playing a good show. Low is being tired. You can’t really moan about flying around to these places and meeting people but it is just a bit… knacking. You do feel tired.
What should I be listening to right now?
You should listen to things that you normally wouldn’t listen to. At the moment I am listening to a lot of audiobooks, the new Blood Orange album. Dev Hynes is really good. Loads more… I feel as if this year might be the best in music for decades. There has been so much good music, really good current stuff and stuff that will last a long time. Kaytra’s record, Radiohead. There is so much good music. When the world is shit culture is good. I dunno if that is correct but it feels that way.
What is the message to the youth?
Follow your heart. Do what you really want to do. Find what you love and who you love and get on with it.
