(Full Disclosure: I have had the pleasure of singing a “duet” of the Frank Sinatra classic “All the Way” with Philip Alexander, whose true “gift” in my estimation is the generosity of spirit and craft with which he makes his performing partners sound so damned good! But I digress…)
By Cliff Dunn
Philip Alexander is a familiar face to South Florida’s LGBT community. Whether he is jogging on Fort Lauderdale Beach prior to a personal training session, or shaking the rafters during local open-mic and karaoke nights in the Gayborhood, the 6’5” Alexander is a ubiquitous presence with a signature smile, style, and voice that are very much his own. MARK Magazine
Editor Cliff Dunn spoke with Alexander about his Gospel music roots and why the artist loves to be in love.
MARK Magazine: Trace the path that your music has taken, personally and career-wise.
Philip Alexander: I was singing before I could speak. I believe it’s something I was born to do–THE ONLY THING I was born to do. I sang gospel growing up, [laughs] with a little Whitney Houston and Anita Baker mixed in for good measure. I was very sheltered as a young kid. My mother is very religious, so my music selection was very limited to artists in the Gospel scene. It wasn’t until I was 10, when I moved to Turkey with my father, that I learned about “secular” music. The first artists I was exposed to were Tevin Campbell and the girl group “Xscape.” After traveling all over Europe, we moved to Guam. That’s when I fell in love with Brian McKnight and basically most love ballads. We moved back to the U.S. for my last year and a half of high school, to Panama City, Florida. It was there that I came out of the closet, and the artist that helped me do that was Celine Dion. During that time, I sang every song she made.
MM: Who would you not like your style to be confused with?
PA: You know, I don’t really know or care who people confuse or compare me to. [Laughs] I think it’s kind of hard to mistake me once I hit the stage: I’m a 6’5” “Blatino” with blond hair. At this point in my career, I think to be compared to an artist who has already made a name is an honor.
MM: This is a year of great change in the music industry, some of it quite sad, including the loss of Whitney Houston and Etta James. But great change brings great opportunity, as well. What do you think 2012 holds for you professionally?
PA: Along with my team—my manager, Brian Ferber and my agent, Corri Boyd—I believe that 2012 has already been a BIG year for me. I’ve been approached by Broadway producers, I sang with Brian McKnight’s music director, and I am in talks with a big R&B producer. It all seems like a lot of “hurry up and wait” right now, but it will undoubtedly bare some fruit.
MM: From where do you find your “artist’s voice?”
PA: It comes from a deep desire to fall–and stay–in love. My close friends would say, “Philip falls in love every three weeks.” But actually I don’t. I want my music to make people feel real, raw emotion. I think that we are seriously deprived of genuine emotion today. Everyone has a guard or wall up of some kind. And this defensive layer displays illusions of emotions, until we find out whether or not the object of our attraction is true. The problem is that by the time we relax and let our guard down, it’s too late. So when I sing, it’s my raw emotion, my true desire that you hear. I put myself in that “what if” place. “What if” I didn’t have my guard up all of the time? “What if” my true love was sitting right before my eyes? “What if” everyone listening was falling in love with someone right now? This is where my artist’s voice comes from.
MM: Where would you like people to see Philip Alexander’s career in five years?
PA: Five years from now I’d like to be touring. I plan to start opening up for major artists within the next couple of years, so five years from now I want it all!
