Chris Garneau
Hear it Now
We caught up with New Englander Chris Garneau about all things music, while he is on tour in Europe for his album El Radio. "As a child I always would be writing songs and making things up on the piano," wrote singer-songwriter Chris Garneau in an email. "By the time I was a teenager I began writing really epic (and terrible) songs. By the time I was fifteen I was listening to Nina Simone, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, and so on, and I realized at that point that I wanted to create music in this manner."
Garneau began playing the piano at five-years-old when he and his family lived in Boston. He also played the harmonium and accordion. When he was seven, they moved to France for a few years before settling in New Jersey, where he grew up. Garneau went to school for music and later moved to Brooklyn as an adult where he struggled to start his career for a few years, despite his passion and talent. "The first couple years of playing shows was just me figuring out in what direction my music would take me. It was very challenging. But after a couple years of playing shows I started to play frequently at the Living Room on the Lower East Side. This is where I started to build a little following and that is when I really started to enjoy performing."
Now, after releasing Music for Tourists and his second album El Radio, Chris Garneau was signed by Absolutely Kosher Records in California and will be on tour until August. When he returns to New York, he's planning on starting his own record label, creating a performance space and recording new songs. He also hopes to spend more time playing with his pet cat. "In the future, on my next album," said Garneau, "I plan to experiment further and allow myself to veer from formulas and experiment more with sound and instrumental pieces."
Garneau's thoughtful methods of recording and writing take shape from a variety of influences and inspirations. Sometimes it's a thought, phrase or experience. For his song, "Hands on the Radio," it was a trip to Mexico. "I wrote it after leaving Juarez, Mexico, after a very special trip there to visit a clinic that help to protect the women and children of the city -- which was a place of violent serial killings of young women throughout the nineties and early two thousands. The women and children that we met there are very special to me."
We look forward to seeing what he comes up with next. Check out tracks from his latest album and watch the music video below.
—Christa Fletcher
Garneau began playing the piano at five-years-old when he and his family lived in Boston. He also played the harmonium and accordion. When he was seven, they moved to France for a few years before settling in New Jersey, where he grew up. Garneau went to school for music and later moved to Brooklyn as an adult where he struggled to start his career for a few years, despite his passion and talent. "The first couple years of playing shows was just me figuring out in what direction my music would take me. It was very challenging. But after a couple years of playing shows I started to play frequently at the Living Room on the Lower East Side. This is where I started to build a little following and that is when I really started to enjoy performing."
Now, after releasing Music for Tourists and his second album El Radio, Chris Garneau was signed by Absolutely Kosher Records in California and will be on tour until August. When he returns to New York, he's planning on starting his own record label, creating a performance space and recording new songs. He also hopes to spend more time playing with his pet cat. "In the future, on my next album," said Garneau, "I plan to experiment further and allow myself to veer from formulas and experiment more with sound and instrumental pieces."
Garneau's thoughtful methods of recording and writing take shape from a variety of influences and inspirations. Sometimes it's a thought, phrase or experience. For his song, "Hands on the Radio," it was a trip to Mexico. "I wrote it after leaving Juarez, Mexico, after a very special trip there to visit a clinic that help to protect the women and children of the city -- which was a place of violent serial killings of young women throughout the nineties and early two thousands. The women and children that we met there are very special to me."
We look forward to seeing what he comes up with next. Check out tracks from his latest album and watch the music video below.
—Christa Fletcher
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