Archives for posts with tag: songwriter

Here, we are going right back! Way, way back! Around 2005/2006 time was where it all began. A young Chris dressed head-to-toe in black singing sad, mostly acoustic songs into the microphones at Beck Studio in Wellingborough. The Beck Studio sessions never got released to the world because I felt my inexperience shone through a little too much. The first songs that made it onto the internet were 4-track cassette demos and then from these demos I returned to a studio. Hot Rock in Northampton was recommended to me by Stevie Jones of the Wildfires so I sought them out to complete a demo CD of ten songs playing acoustic guitar, bass, lap-steel and vocals. I’m still proud of it as a whole but for similar reasons to the Beck sessions they’re not out there in the world anymore; I was young and not fully developed as a songwriter and definitely not as a singer. It was still the days when MySpace reigned supreme that these songs got any air.

I’m contemplating putting together a compilation of earlier songs via Bandcamp in the near future and may well include a song or two from these sessions if I feel they can still work and survive in the real world.

Below is a song that was written for the Beck recording sessions – although the version shared was recorded around 6 years later at home, with a more focus approach on production.

CF

Feel free to explore the discography and links pages at the top of the website to listen to sounds from each of the current projects released out into the world.

The Silent Committee

The Silent Committee is an instrumental project that revolves around manipulation of acoustic and electric instruments. The songs produced are typically minimalist and ambient in nature and as time has gone on have become more complex. It started life as experimentation with 4-track cassette demos and grew into full studio production and even live performance. To date there are three full length albums and a number of EPs, singles and soundtracks under the name.

Violet’s Gone

Violet’s Gone is the more typical singer songrwiter sound and quite far removed from the instrumental projects. Chris Fordham started his musical exploration as a rhythm guitarist and a bassist in pub bands, lurking around open mic nights. Having learnt a decent roster of cover songs he set out to write his own songs inspired by the artists he listened too in his teen years and beyond. Expect songs based around piano and guitar in the main; some experimental leanings, but a lot of these you can sing along with. This project is two albums and one EP in, so far.

[Pyxis]

Starting out in 2023 after a short break from releasing new music in earnest, [Pyxis] is a new project that sought to shake things up for Chris and get him making tunes again. Gone are complicated rhythm and time signature swaps, in are electronic sounds with drone backing, ambiance, noise and drum loops. Something new and we hope you enjoy. The debut album from this project lands in July 2023.

Chris Fordham

Finally, there is the music released just under the musicians real name. This is where it all started back in 2004…he’s tried my best to remove traces of the real early stuff from the face of the Earth but some of it still stands up. Chris was associated with a netlabel in the 2010’s called BFW Recordings (sadly no longer active) and produced some songs that still stand up as some of his best; even when the recording techniques afforded were minimal. At some point in the near future we will collate and remix/master the recordings of this era to give them a new lease of life. Aside from those projects there are a selection of classical songs scored for quartet or bigger that NEED recording properly and will hopefully one day, happen.

Other Projects

Chris has appeared in a number of bands and recording projects over the years. Most notably are his long term involvement in Northampton bands Enki and The Snakeman 3. Both approached different brands of psychadelic and garage rock very different to his own solo projects and definitely shaped his musical outlook. Chris was also a member of the touring band for To Bury A Ghost in promotion of the EP The Hurt Kingdom and still maintains contact, a listening ear and occasional instrument to Jons new projects. Check out the bio page at the top menu to see an extensive list of all Chris’s other project appearances, live and studio.