We had the chance to chat with Epic Records newest super star, Philmon lee for our OTR series! Check out our interview with him below!
For readers who aren’t aware of you and your musical journey, can you share with us how you began?
As a kid, I was on the tour bus, my daddy was in the quartette, and when I was 10 he started getting into rock and roll music. So I’ve always been around music and slowly started picking up instruments. And I went to college and I figured out college wasn’t for me. I wanted to be that musician trying to make it. So I dropped out about a year and a half. I started writing my own material, got around the right people
Tell us more about your new single “No saving me” with Lindsey Sterling!
The song really means I was going into a dark time of my life during college, I was this was my first time being away from my family for quite some time. And I felt like I’m going down this path and going down this road, I felt like I was going in the wrong direction of my life. And I was like, no, there’s no saving me. I got together with a little Ronny and pete and I told him the concept of the idea and we started we went from there and I mean, it just felt so natural.
When writing, do you have any routines or rituals, and how do your writing sessions usually look?
It depends! I work with a couple of writers usually , I’ll get this concept or idea now, I’m somewhat of a decent writer, but I always like to have help. I like getting the second idea because I mean if a song can be better, I want it.
I had a handful of writers and I’ll go in and we’ll talk. We’ll sit down, catch up and I’ll tell them the concept or how we want and we’ll just go from there.
So how does growing up in Georgia majorly musician you are today?
I had a lot of support from our community, so getting the support out there, pushing me to seeing and I think as the support came, I just keep getting better and better. But growing up in Georgia, I don’t think Georgia had a lot of influence, I think it was more my upbringing, my father being on the bus and stuff like that And he would introduce me to genres of music. And when I was 10 years old, I was introduced to like Motown, that Marvin Gaye sound, the Temptations, all that! I listened to a lot of different artists!
As a musician, do you enjoy taking part of the artistic elements of your career, such as music videos, cover art, merch, etc.
Absolutely. I don’t have any merch yet, but I’m pretty sure that will be coming soon. The music videos, I mean, this is my second one. I did the first one and I don’t think I slept for two hours. I think I went to bed at six and woke up seven-thirty,/eight am, and had to be there at eight-thirty. So I had no sleep. I was tired. I was more nervous. And even though it was my first time with a big shoot, my nerves were there but this shoot I just felt comfortable. So music videos, I really do like those!
What would your dream collaboration be?
A lot of people say I have somewhat of a Sam Smith sound, so definitely I’d say him. So I like when I when I first got introduced to Sam Smith, nobody could convince me ever there was a better singer. And I would always just listen, listen, listen. I knew every single, like it was just ridiculous, And I love the creativity.
What kind of advice do you have for younger musicians?
The music world is very, very tough to get into. I would say you don’t hear a lot about people getting record deals, but I wouldn’t say I never thought I would be where I am now just because I thought it was such a long shot, but I mean if you want to do something, You should your mind to it. Once I told my parents, I was like, look, if I’m going to be that to sing and just to get some money, like I’m going to do it like I want to follow my dreams, I mean, I’ve dropped out of college after two semesters. And I was working pretty hard and just doing every show I could. I set my mind to it and I didn’t quit until I got what I wanted.
Quarantine’s horrifying, but how has it been for you? Are you feeling more or less creative?
Oh, I think I think the only thing that kills me about the quantity is not being able to travel as much, but it definitely puts me in a more creative process because, I mean, like, there’s nothing else to do.
So what can we expect from you in the future?
I’m pretty sure we’ll do a couple more single releases, but. I’m pretty sure somewhere around next year, early in the year, a full release. I’ll have a lot for you guys!
CONNECT WITH PHILMON: Instagram, Spotify, Facebook.
