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Tourist

Poetic Parallels

Running & Embracing the Creative Process

Words by Tayler Willson
Photography by Oliver Hooson

It’s 3pm, mid-November, and I’m sitting beside William Phillips as he explains to me the lifecycle of the Atlantic salmon. We’re perched upon dainty wooden stools inside Deeney’s, a quaint Scottish street food spot in East London, only a short walk from Phillips’ house. 

“Have you ever read about the life cycle of the Atlantic salmon?” he asks, sipping an espresso. “It’s one of the saddest but most beautiful things I’ve ever known. There’s something so poetic about it.”

Phillips, more commonly known by his stage name Tourist, isn’t effusing about the ray-finned salmonid without reason. Instead, he’s likening its sacrificial process — which is, basically, a salmon swimming to its own peril in order to feed and spawn — to the way he finds motivation to create music.

“In order for them to spawn, they have to die,” he explains. “The salmon swims up river to its final moments to feed and spawn. It’s sacrificing itself to create new things. I’m deep into this. It’s kind of my mood board right now." 

Phillips’ dissident source of artist juice is clearly working. The songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist (not to mention father and husband) recently released his fifth Tourist album, Memory Morning, a mood-driven and instinctive collection that ebbs from nostalgia to virtual disorientation.

This recent drop follows a fruitful period of awakening mash-ups with the likes of Christine and the Queens, Churches, Wolf Alice, Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd, and that’s before even mentioning the Grammy Award he received in 2015 as a co-writer for Sam Smith’s Stay With Me.

While the derivation of his creativity is largely down to his own genius (and the story about the Atlantic salmon), the 37 year old also pinpoints another facet of his day-to-day life as being pivotal to his continued success: running.

“The entire process is really all about problem solving, and that’s true for both running and creating music. Embrace being out of breath. Embrace when a track isn’t working. Embrace these feelings of discomfort.”

“There’s a really interesting parallel between running and making music,” he tells me. “Often I’m not in the mood for either. But sometimes you have to confront yourself with something you don’t want to do to embrace the process and eventually let things grow.

“The entire process is really all about problem solving, and that’s true for both running and creating music. Embrace being out of breath. Embrace when a track isn’t working. Embrace these feelings of discomfort.”

As a solo artist, Phillips doesn’t always have people to bounce ideas off of. While owning a recording studio at the bottom of your garden is, of course, a luxury, it can also lead to a diluted perspective on one’s own creations. “I can almost subconsciously bounce ideas and thoughts off nature when I’m running,” he says.

Phillips’ home, a four minute easy jog from Epping Forest, is near perfect for someone with a penchant for chewing the fat with nature. “Running offers a critical objectiveness that improves my ability to listen to my own work,” he continues.

“When I take these sounds out of the studio setting and see how they interact with my thoughts and feelings in a neutral space, it alters my perspective entirely. Running gives me context, which isn’t always easy to find.”

On Who Inspires Him Both Personally and Creatively

“My grandfather John inspired me greatly. He had a real reverence for nature and life. He was gentle and bold in equal measure. He endeavoured to understand things in a way that felt so of his generation. He would go jogging in the forest near where I live, so it’s special for me to be able to do the same. I have another friend Christian who is sadly no longer here—he reminded me a lot of John. We’d often go running together as we shared an apartment in East London in our early twenties. I think as I get older I realise the people who actually inspire me are ones I know, not people I perceive to know. 

“I’m also inspired by those who follow their own path. I know that sounds rather played out, but I find much of culture to be exceedingly disappointing since attention-based algorithms. I love seeing artists being audacious enough to live in their own lanes and refusing to play the game. There’s something beautiful in being devoted to a bigger cause creatively, and not being so swayed by the tides and winds of what’s current.”

On Running On Tour

“I’m always out running when I’m on tour. In fact, it'll usually be the first thing I do. Moving your body in a place that you’re not familiar with is actually quite a spiritual experience. You have no obligation to take in the sights, or go to the cool coffee spot, or try and visit a museum. You just get to exist and take in an experience of a city that is truly ephemeral. You might feel disoriented or lost, but as long as you know where your hotel is you’ll be okay. Running helps regulate so much when I'm on tour: my mental health, my body clock, my jet lag. It’s my way of grounding at a time when lots of things can feel uncertain.”

The Creators Series

If one thing is evident of Phillips’ long-standing relationship with running after spending a day with the musician, it’s that its importance runs much deeper than physical wellbeing — it’s a necessity, a way of seeing the wood from the trees, as he puts it. It’s this amalgamation of endurance and creative dynamism that continues to anchor the essence of our Creator Series, an ongoing editorial project that endeavours to celebrate creatives who harness running as fuel for their own artistry, whatever that may be.

Creators

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