Photo Credit: LYRIC STREET RECORDS

Phil Stacey: Sink or Swim, I Want My Debut Album to be Different

The season six performer talks to Us about his new album and offers advice to the final five Idols.

Not even 12 full months after his seventh-place elimination on American Idol, season six finalist Phil Stacey officially enters the mainstream music scene with his heartfelt self-titled debut. Signed to the country imprint that fellow idol alums Josh Gracin and Bucky Covington call home, Stacey sat down with Us the day before his album dropped to discuss life after Idol, his motives for the new music, and offered insight into why so many Idols go country.

Usmagazine.com: This album came together rather quickly in the scheme of things. Were you going the route of Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis, who began recording during breaks from the Idol tour?
Phil Stacey: No, not really. I didn't sign with [my label] Lyric Street until I got off the tour. And I had so many different concert dates scheduled throughout the fall, that we didn't really get started on the record until earlier this year. I spent my days off on the road, even when we were promoting the single, finishing the record. It has been a complicated schedule, because I was really hoping to write for this record. My goal was to write with the people in Nashville who have been doing this, who have honed this craft, and who could help me grow as a songwriter. But, I didn't even have a day to do that, really. We literally were on the road [all the time].

Us: Did you impose the tight deadline upon yourself?
PS: Lyric Street Records have put out a couple of other American Idol projects and they developed this ideal time of putting out a record. If we go too late, people would completely have forgotten my involvement with American Idol. We wanted to work on the heels of my Idol involvement - that was the goal.

Us: Have any of the other contestants who have already released albums offered advice?
PS: You know, we have had such limited contact because of how much we have traveled. We have text conversations, sometimes we talk. Chris Richardson has come over to our house in Nashville, and Sanjaya [Malakar] has come to stay with us. Melinda [Doolittle] was with me at the Opry when I made my Opry debut for moral support. I see Chris Sligh a lot.

Us: Having relocated with your wife and two daughters from Jacksonville, Fla., to Nashville, what was it about the area that attracted you?
PS: My family is there. It wasn't necessarily because of the country music industry is there. I wanted to do country music, but there are country singers everywhere, living in Oklahoma or whatever. For me, it was family. The area is beautiful.

Us: Why do you think so many Idols have success in the country realm? For many, Idol personifies pop music.
PS: I think it's because they are great [performers], to be honest. I don't expect the same kind of success [purely] out of merit for American Idol [winners]. If I don't release something great, I don't think it will do well. Carrie Underwood is one of the greatest female artists to come into the country music industry in a while, which is why she went on to sell 9 million records at this point. Kellie Pickler’s voice is great. Her persona is so believable. She is fantastic. I don't expect that I will achieve the same level of success unless I put out something worth listening to.

Us: Did you feel pressure to work quickly once Idol wrapped? It seems like once performers make the top 10, they can enjoy a sense of comfort in knowing that they will have a successful career regardless.
PS: There is a sense of comfort, but there is also a sense of ‘what is going to happen with my career now?’ When you get on that kind of platform, you feel pressure to put out a major record and it doesn't necessarily take that to get a career. I think that people get down on themselves when record labels aren't ringing their phone of the hook. It's funny, because people sometimes ask me, ‘how far do you have to make it on Idol before you have a career?’ My answer is that if you get in the top 24, you can get gigs for the rest of your life. It opens up amazing doors.

Us: Lastly, leave Us with your 60-second pitch on why readers should pick up the album.
PS: My thought is that it is something that people need to hear. If I didn't think people needed to hear it, I wouldn't put it out. My influences are probably different than any other country musician out there. I love country music, but at the same time I grew up listening to contemporary Christian music, gospel music and I have been I a rock band for the last four years. Put all that stuff in a blender and that is my sound. I want to make a valid contribution to the world of country music. Sink or swim, I want it to be different. Plus, the messages contained within the songs are something I want to share. That is why I think I am here. It is a message about love, really. All about loving your fellow man, just being an overall positive impact on people around you and getting your priorities straight. These songs touch my heart, and I hope they touch other people’s hearts.

BY ALLISON CORNEAU