Chris Lewington
Singer songwriter. Psychedelic Folk pop. Classic songwriting with a dash of 60's and 70's style. There's Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Beatles, Scott Walker and CSN and Y to name a few in there.
Theres hints of 80s guitar jingle Lloyd Cole and REM. And theres a contemporary twist like First Aid Kit, Damien Rice, Bon Iver. Mostly Chris is just his own style. Lyrics with a neat twist or viewpoint, catchy hooks, lasting tunes. From South London now based in Kent Chris plays all the instrumentation on his songs and produces.
Who is the "human" behind the Artist Chris Lewington?
Much the same person. I’m a singer songwriter. I use my own name for releasing music. I write about things that interest me in my songs. My new album “Starfish Memories” has songs that reflect the world we live in from songs about personal relationships to war in Ukraine, COVID and COP 26.
There’s songs that have immediate hooks and singalong chorus's and then there’s songs with more intimate ballads. It’s curious how you pick up on things that makes you want to write a song.”
White Rose” on the album is about the student resistance movement inside Nazi Germany. Many of the group were executed at a young age by guillotine. Any execution is atrocious but the guillotine just struck me as both hideous and incredibly archaic when I read about it. So the song developed as both a paean to saying truth to power whatever the cost and the thoughts of those involved facing that fate. Not exactly Ed Sheerhan but that’s kind of how I do songs.
Do you remember your first steps in music?
I bought my first guitar with £3 I won in an art competition as a kid. When I could play a few chords I started to try forming bands with other kids locally. It wasn’t until I moved to London that I was meeting people on the same wavelength and could form my first serious band. I was always writing songs though as soon as I had a few chords.
What was your inspiration for the song "Radio Radio”?
“Radio Radio” is a kind of retort to Elvis Costello’s track of the same name which at the time criticised the commercialism of English radio. In response my song is about how vital radio can be in keeping the communication lines open in countries where state repression stifles all freedom of information and true news reporting.
The song mentions the BBC world news service resorting to using short wave again to get their programmes still accessible in Russia.
From playing all instruments over songwriting to producing, what's the most difficult part in your creative process?
They all have their challenges and their delights. Sometimes a song almost writes itself really quickly, the tune and lyrics just flow. There’s other songs I have that have taken years to finish. It’s always great once I have the song to arrange it and play the different parts over but again sometimes getting started can be hard. Getting the right rhythm and approach.
Other times I can have laid a whole lot of tracks down and it’s just not working and I jettison most of them. Every song has it’s own life and journey and that’s the thing that keeps me doing it. Yes you have an idea of how you want the finished piece but equally there’s a voyage of discovery that can take you in ultimately a very different direction.
If you take a look back, what are the significant differences from your first release to your current ones?
Looking at my solo albums. So that’s from “Landells Road” in 2018 and “Riverside” 2020 to “Starfish Memories” 2022. The production has got significantly better. I guess it’s just a learning process. I know how to do things studio wise that I wasn’t sure of a few years ago.
Any chance for your fans to see you somewhere live on stage?
No is the short answer. Not as Chris Lewington. My solo projects are basically recording studio projects. I have no plans to go out and gig them. I’ve played live a lot in the past but that’s not where I’m going with this project.
What's next for you?
Each of my albums has been slightly different so far. “Landells Road” was quite a Beatlesque eclectic sort of affair. “Riverside” was a little more acoustic singer songwriter.
“Starfish Memories” is a bit more classic rock in places though still singer songwriter in style and cinematic almost. I’d like to do a very orchestral based album. Lots of strings. Just have to wait and see
