Interview: Phil Wickham - Horizontal to Vertical

|PIC1|Talented U.S. Christian musician Phil Wickham hit the UK stage last summer at Creation Fest. Anyone who heard his voice once would never forget - a unique sound that sums up a mixture of U2 and Coldplay. Now preparing for his second album, Phil notes that his ultimate goal when creating music is to inspire people to praise God, and to switch their thoughts from horizontal to vertical.

The first time I heard your album, the first thing that struck me was your stunning vocal. Where does your sound derive from?

My mom is a singer and my dad is a guitar player. People who heard my mom would say that I'm such a guy version of her. She had a very passionate and interesting vibrato. I think that teamed up with my interests - I like Muse, Radiohead, U2, Coldplay, Jeff Buckley - just guys that use their vibratos to get across different feelings. I'm an amateur compared to them. I didn't really work at it. I just grew up singing a lot and my voice was really high like a little sixth grader, and it just kind of became what it is today.

How is touring?

It's been awesome. It definitely has its downs, but the pros far outweigh the cons. There are a lot of early mornings, a lot of early flights, and a lot of lugging your stuff around... In some ways it's amazing. For me, I want to give the person in front of me talking all the attention, listen, and really be open. I just do what I feel that Jesus would do. To be there for people. I mean you have like 70 people in line, but you've just got to keep focused on the Lord and what's important.

What do you do when you're spiritually drained?

When I wake up, even when it's really early in the morning, I make sure that God gets the first 30 minutes of my day. Prayer and His Word.

I feel like there is one source that keeps my ministry centred and my heart intact - it's one well, and that is Christ. You get that through prayer and His Word. Acknowledging that God is here and Jesus is here. Just praying to God, 'Remind me that You are here, and that You want me to experience life with You.' Countless times, God is referred to as the living well, the source of life. Just centring our lives around Him, and seeking His Kingdom. I feel like it means something different to everyone. We all have different marching orders from God as an army. According to what you're supposed to do and who you are, the question is - 'Are you living everyday focused on that prize?' Running with endurance... I feel like that's the way to stay healthy in heart.

Do you have a favourite Christian artist?

I've always loved Delirious?. They're just a rad band, and if anyone progresses in Christian music, they are. I really love and appreciate other music, too - I kind of put the David Crowder, Matt Redman, and Chris Tomlins in a different category. Stuff that I listen to in cars just to spend some time with the Lord.

I read that you learned how to play the piano yourself.

I'm not a really good piano player! But yeah, I did all the pianos and guitars on the record. If you listen, there aren't that many hard piano parts, but I tried to do what I could do.

And you have a new album coming out.

Yes, I've actually been in Nashville for two weeks recording this one. It's going to be out in September. I'm really excited about it.

What's the theme based on?

It's kind of a hard question to answer, because I sort of want the music to speak for itself. It's the same path I was walking on a year ago, but I feel like I've walked down that path for a year - I'm a year down that road so there's something for this time now. You know what I mean? It's ultimately the same goal - to inspire people to worship the Lord through music. And by worship, I don't necessarily mean 'sing along'. It could be for them to know Him better, it could be a change in their lives... By worship, I mean turning people's thoughts from something horizontal to vertical. I feel like it's along the same route. The songs are kind of rock n' roll songs - it's definitely going to rock a bit harder this time. I also wrote specific songs for church congregations. A big part of what I do is lead worship in a conventional sense. Like, 'sing a long.' That's how I always like to end my shows - with worship. Instead of singing a Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin song, I'd love to sing my own.