American Idol victor Phillip Phillips plans to rock the SURC Ballroom with his band this Saturday, as his North American tour comes to the Pacific Northwest.

Phillips will be closing out homecoming week alongside Portland-based performer Christian Burghardt, he promises to put on a show both the audience and the band will enjoy.

“We like to get out there, rock out, jam [and] just have fun,” Phillips said.

The homecoming performance will be the first of three shows he is playing over the next week in Washington.  He will also be playing in Pasco on Sunday and in Everett on Tuesday.

The tour, which is about to hit the midway point, follows Phillips’s release of his second album, “Behind the Light,” in May.  According to Phillips, the album is very different from his debut album, which featured his most popular singles “Home” and “Gone, Gone, Gone.”

“I took my time on [Behind the Light],” Phillips said. “There’s a darkness on this album and it’s awesome, because it’s honest.”

Though Phillip Phillips drew his early inspiration as a musician from guitarists such as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn, bands such as Radiohead and Peter Gabriel inspired the music for “Behind the Light.”

“I listened to Radiohead when I was learning guitar and I learned quite a few of their songs but I didn’t really listen to the songwriting,” Phillips said. “I went back to some of these albums … and I really paid attention to [the songwriting] and it was very inspiring and very beautiful.”

Phillips recorded “Behind the Light” with his live band.  Another key difference between it and his first album, “The World from the Side of the Moon,” is that the band members had more of a chance to shine in the new tracks.

“It all just came naturally when we started recording these songs,” Phillips said. “They have their own personalities in these songs.”

Phillips isn’t new to performing at universities, and looks forward to the college gigs.

“You really build your fanbase by playing at colleges,” Phillips said. “They’ll be with you for a long period of time.”

Although Phillips won American Idol in 2012, where live show ratings peaked at over 21 million viewers, he still gets nervous before every performance.

“It’s a different crowd and a different show,” Phillips said.

This fear nearly defined Phillips while he competed on the FOX talent show.  He didn’t want to audition in the first place and did not think he actually had a chance to win until the moment came.

“I kinda got lucky,” Phillips said. “I’m not a very confident person.”

Phillips chose to perform Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” for his first audition in Savannah, Ga. because of how comfortable he was with his version of the song.

“I’m not the best singer in the world,” Phillips said. “I’m a guitar player first.  [Superstition] was my option for me if it was just singing.”

Phillips said his favorite part of being a part of American Idol was interacting with Steven Tyler, the Aerosmith lead singer who was on the judging panel for Season 11.

“He said [to me] it’s alright to be different. Sometimes people want that,” Phillips said. “I appreciate him saying that and it’s just an honor to get to know him.

Phillips said his newfound fame after American Idol has definitely changed him. However, he does his best to remain “normal” despite his career advancement.

“I’m not better than the guy doing construction work building houses, I’m just doing something different for a living,” Phillips said. “I don’t act like I’m better than anyone else because I’m not.”