Influences

	Some of u wanted to know more about playing styles and musical influences(records and artists that i like) so here it is...

Matt: Let’s hear about other music that you like and what style of music is it that you play Chris?

Chris: “When it comes to musical styles I’m not a purist, I’m too unfocused and get bored fast. Essentially I think I’m a campfire musician.”

		Matt: How did u start playing music? Chris: I started out with my grandpa’s guitar, a weather-worn nylon string, writing songs –. music is so much fun - we were always jamming around ... Matt: What kind of songs did you learn? Chris: Blues, Folk, Reggae, Rock- the usual songs by Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendricks, Neil Young and Van Morrison, Ben Harper. I sang them with my friends and we received quite nice Feedback. Probably people being polite!
	Later I was introduced to “old school” finger style guitar playing through a great acoustic guitar player named Peter Ratzenbeck. An entire new world opened up, to sound like 2 people – or even 3, while playing and singing alone.

Matt: So what is this? Is it classical guitar?

Chris: This is what is usually called “acoustic guitar finger picking” in the tradition of the Blues and Folk influenced acoustic guitar players like Leo Kottke, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch or later Michael Hedges. It combines and draws from many styles classical to Jazz but its roots are Folk and Blues.

Matt: So it’s a solo style.

Chris: Mostly. It´s what the old Blues Players like Son House, Skip James, Blind Blake and Robert Johnson used to do. One guy armed with just a guitar and his voice.

Matt: So what about your Band THE FONK? Chris: Naturally it’s more fun to jam. The other musos (Mathias: Chris Schermer & THE FONK ) give the songs a different perspective and groove, they add some great ideas. It becomes danceable.

Musical influences:

Matt: So what was the first music you listened to?

Chris: My mum’s records. She used to play the great records of the 70 and 60 in my dad’s nightclub: Jimi Hendricks, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Nick Drake, Beatles, Bill Withers, Van Morrison, Dr Hook. I used to lie down in the back of the bar sleeping ... inhaling the fumes of smoke and old stale beer, and music. My mum’s neighbour when she was living in London was Cat Stevens. Mum had no idea who her neighbour was until a friend told her. But she had all his records!

Matt: Travelling and music!

Chris: Yeah , you just sort of walk out the door with your guitar. I started busking so I could afford to visit the more known acoustic finger picking guitar players, I just knocked on their doors –they probably thought I was a freak, but then many of them were Freaks in a way..

Davey Graham, Bernt Jansch who taught me a song over the phone! I was awed by the great solo guitarists like Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges, or especially Tuck Andress of Tuck and Patty,

		Matt: You studied Music.. Chris: Schools were never really my thing, but I did start studies at the London Guitar Institute and after a year began to study Jazz singing at the University of Graz in Austria – I never really understood why they accepted me -it really couldn’t have been for the singing...but hey, I was pretty fortunate to be there. Mark Murphy (Grammy nominee male Jazz-singer) was Vocal teacher for 3 semesters, he is a lovely guy, the greatest white Jazz singer. Perrin Allen was my vocal teacher at the Stella Academy in Hamburg.
	He kept saying—“let it be crap-let it be crap”!...I think he meant ..just accept u sound like crap-!!

Matt: ho ho! You have recorded 2 CD´s?

Chris: I recorded my album in Vienna titled “Behind the shades” the album name is based on the title of a Bob Dylan biography “The man behind the shades”

A year later I recorded my next album of acoustic songs and some guitar instrumentals titled “songs from the cellar”

Matt: So that sounds like a lot of different music and styles—what other artists do you like?

Chris: Like I mentioned, mostly guitar based stuff like Ben Harper, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Dire Straits, Bob Dylan, Keziah Jones or Van Morrison also Bob Marley. Lately I listen to guys like Jack Johnson, Flow Bradley(Austria) or Rippoff Raskolnikov(Austria), a fantastic Austrian acoustic guitar Player Thomas Leeb. Tim Hutton, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Nicolai Dunger(sweden), John Butler Trio, pro surfer Donavon Frankenreiter is cool..........

Matt: Great, may I have your CD collection?

Chris: May I take out your girlfriend?

Matt: Keep the CDs! So what is the essence of your music?

Chris: Jamming … connecting … communicating in other ways. Music is great for that ...it is the only truly international language...