ARTIST
OF THE MONTH: NOVEMBER 2006
CHRISTOPHER
After
the album "wer Next Project" five years after
the release date finaly reached Croatian ground, and the
same example followed also "Abandoned In Situ"
and after Christophers music finally get into the Croatian
ears, interest for this musician is biger and biger every
day. That's why, and I wanted to present to you this unique
artist, I decided to follow the biographical information
enclosed with his new album "Smoke and Origination".
The thing that the most of you probably wanna know at
the beginning is - Chistopher is coming from Canada. His
name is a result of being fed up with trying to devise
a publicly acceptable band name. The name 'Christopher'
is his birth name and represents the frivolity of the
industry mistique; a single pop moniker that adorns music
that is the antithesis of 'pop'.
The birth of 'Christopher' the recording artist was August
of 2000. "wer Next Projekt", Christopher's debut
album is released in 2001 and it includes a mix of exotica,
classical, metal and electronica. The sound/style developed
on this record is only recently being explored by others
in soundtracks and video games. There is a symbiotic relationship
established between rigid sampling/looping and live performance.
The most noticeable characteristic on the album was Christopher's
ability to vocally swithc genders within a song. "wer
Next Projekt" found critical acclaim in the underground
metal community due to it's unique style and innovation
with composition, such as the track "Nokturne".
The album found its way to every part of the globe and
to every country that didn't have a political despot in
charge. The contents of "wer Next Projekt" ended
up being licensed heavily to independent films, interpretive
choreographers, and other media artists due to it's unique
sound and adaptive characteristics to visual media.
During 2001 and 2002 Christopher was tirelessly promoting
the debut "wer Next Projekt". During that time
he left his long time home (The United States) to go back
to his native Canada. The years living in the New York
City area left such an imprint that coming back to Canada
was a culture shock. Once situated in Canda, Christopher
built the new version of the Thoughtful Spot studio and
commenced with scoring the soundtrack for PC RPG Game
'Dawn'.
"Smoke and Origination" sessions soon followed.
One big difference for this album was the absolutely mandatory
use of natural acoustic instruments. No relying on samples
to be the backbone this time. This meant learning/re-rearning
instruments and exploring microphone techniques that were
not necessary in the past.
In 2004 Christopher gained some notoriety for auditioning
for Finnish rock group Poisonblack. After landing the
spot, Christopher started getting in shape for the recording
sessions that would take place in Oulu, Finland, winter
of 2004. Things would take a down turn when suddenly general
inquiries from Christopher were met the silence from Ville
Laihaila. Poisonblack's leader then announced that he
would front the band himself.
The original version of "Smoke and Origination"
was completed in 2005 and was destroyed by a flash fire
in a computer while the master tracks were being backed
up. Thousands of dollars later and no means of recovering
them, Christopher re-recordded the album... again. The
second version of this album is colder, more driven and
the feeling of ferocity/frustration firmly implanted.
"Smoke and Origination" fought for its right
to exist.
Text: Ivana Sataiæ -
Ivy, official biography
www.christopher.mu
