Phillip Phillips fell in love with SA and will be back soon

Cape Town – While preparing to have a sit-down interview with Phillip Phillips we thought we’d have everything sorted, but who knew there were three Southern Sun hotels in Cape Town?

After first walking to the wrong hotel and then Ubering to the second Southern Sun, also the wrong one, we had to run like hell to be on time for our chat with Phillip!

Entering a cool room Phillip greets us with that winning smile and tells us about his short but sweet South African experience…



You travel all around the world, how does South Africa compare to the different places you have visited?

"It’s been amazing, you never know what you’re going to get when you travel outside the US but it’s always better! There is a lot more passion for music. You guys love to hear music and for me as a musician and for the band, to hear that just makes you play harder. All three of the shows have just been unreal. All the places are so different, Cape Town was great but I enjoyed all three cities."

Have you tasted any interesting or traditional South African dishes while you’ve been here?

"I think so, I have eaten a lot of food here… I’ve had some really good steaks. I had curry in Durban and it was so good! I hadn’t had curry since I was in London so it’s been like a year and a half so it was really delicious."

You recently released Behind the Light. What is unique about this album, why should people go out and buy it?

"I feel like it’s so much better than the first album. It’s a lot more creative. It’s more rock driven and represents the live show a lot more as well. There is some darkness to it and there’s light, there is a lot of meaning in it as well and that is what I love. It’s got rock, it’s got folk and little jazz. There is something for everyone."




There is a new season of Idols SA starting. What advice would you give the idol hopefuls?

"Do what you feel is right, know what kind of artist you want to be and know what kind of career you want to make. Don’t be a afraid to express yourself. There’s going to be people who don’t like you, and people that love you and then there’s going to be people that forget about you so just have fun, don’t worry about pleasing everybody because you can’t. It doesn’t matter who you are."

Do you have any pre-performance rituals you do before a show?

"I pace around a lot and I get nervous and pray that I won’t mess up. I also sweat and get jittery and nervous. I often have to slap myself."



What has it been like to tour with The Script?

"It was short. I wish it had been longer, but it was great to open up for them and hopefully the crowds enjoyed us and I can’t wait to come back.”

Where are you headed next?

"I’m going back to the states, it’s going to be very cold because I'll be going into winter over there. I’ll be doing a whole bunch of stuff. Who knows. I don’t know where I’m going half the time so I just take it as it comes. I do want to come back to South Africa as soon as possible though."



(Photographs taken by Channel24)