9+1 Q&A with Christof R Davis

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio aboutyou.

My dad is a professional singer and we are a very musical family – so there was always music in my life growing up. I learned Piano from an early age, later followed by Drums/Percussion (when I missed the audition for the school musical and was pushed into the percussion section of the band) and Trumpet/Tenor Horn and was always fascinated with experimenting with recording technology, creating multi-track recordings with my younger brother (a fabulous multi woodwind specialist) in my childhood bedroom.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

During the COVID-19 Lockdown of 2020, I was outside one night staring up at the sky and noticed the clarity of the stars shining through a less polluted atmosphere. I wanted to find a way to reflect the millions of points of light in the sky through music and so sat down at the piano and began to record. The live piano is put through a filter with an envelope allowing certain velocities of key stroke to trigger the filter (like the points of light piercing the darkness). Ambient pads, sub bass and some sensitive percussion underpin this repetitive ositnato which hopefully reminds us of the infinite nature of the universe

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

I’ve always been fascinated with Film & TV Music and much of my work now is in the world of scoring film and television, so i’m heavily influenced by the likes of Ólafur Arnalds, Clint Mansell and Max Richter. I also love genre-defying stuff like Efterklang, Snarky Puppy and Jacob Collier.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I hope that you can hear the various influences in my work coming through, but in a way which differs from them enough that I’ve managed to create my own soundworld. I like to think of myself as fairly eclectic in style (spanning various genres from electronic/ ambient, through neo-classical and film music, and onto choral composition (like my setting of Shakespeare’s sonnet 18). In that sense, hopefully you’ll find something of mine that you like regardless of your musical preferences.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Albums:
Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key of Life
Jacob Collier: Djesse Vol. 1
Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest: Sylva

Movies:
Moon (dir. Duncan Jones)
Moulin Rouge (dir. Baz Luhrmann)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (dir. Steven Spielberg)

Books:
Information Is Beautiful by David McCandless
Letters of Note by Shaun Usher
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

I love the fizzing energy of a live performance and the fact that it is different every night. There is always a raw energy with live performances that is hard to replicate in the studio, but that in itself can be fairly nerve-wracking! – but I also love the studio process too, that’s where the magic and experimentation can happen.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

It’s a story from one of those ‘live’ moments. I also work as a session music for musical theatre productions and there was one production where I had to cue the vocalists with a single glockenspiel note. After that cue note they sang a 48 bar a capella harmonised vocal section before the whole band join them. On one night, as my beater hit the glockenspiel, I realised I had given the wrong cue note (by a semitone) and had to sit for 48 bars awaiting the inevitable car crash of the band entering a semitone higher than the singers were singing!

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

I would probably say my track ‘Reflections’ which is an expanded version of a cue from the score to the feature film ‘Messalina’s Offer’. It’s unique in that live strings and woodwind were recorded but then slowed waaaaaay down to create a haunting chorale over which piano and synths play. The slowed- down strings/woodwind came out better than any analogue synth sound I could artificially create in the studio and gives a beautifully eerie base for the music (and if you listen closely you can even hear the wind players breathing adding into the synth texture).

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

I’ve got a new single being released on 30th September. It’s called ‘Expansion’ and is another Ambient/Electronic study of the natural world. I’m also working on a Woodwind Suite called ‘Breathe’ which i’m recording with my brother playing all of the 8 instrumental parts. That should be out later this year.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

What are your favourite instruments and why?

As a percussionist, there’s a whole world of different and fun instruments that can add sonic textures to both live & recorded work. I love using Marimba in my writing as the wooden/earthy sound works in so many different ways. I also love experimental sounds (like bowed cymbals or vibraphone), junk percussion (like car brake drums) and my ever trusty bag of ‘toys’ (shakers, whistles and even some goats hooves (no goats were harmed)).

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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