December 2, 2023
Christopher Normann, a California raised & Boston-based sonic wonder, discusses with us his latest EP "It's About Me, Too" and the creative avenues he navigated while making it.
Christopher Normann knows no confines in terms of genre, his music is a beautifully dynamic blend of sounds and melodies lead by a superior sense of musicianship. Citing the likes of Santana, Car Seat Headrest, and Dijon as influences, you can hear similar elements of these artists translated in his works. His latest EP "It's About Me, Too" recently dropped, and has become one of the best albums I've listened to this year. Rather than writing about other people and the roles they played, the artist chose to uncover the layers of himself in this record. "It's About Me, Too" is a complete collection of masterly crafted self-portraits, Normann puts his personal experiences with identity, on display. Made with layers and layers of encapsulating instrumentation and production elements, this is a project to get lost and find yourself in. Raised in the Bay Area, Normann is currently based in Boston studying at one of the top music schools in the country. His captivating sound slithers somewhere within the regions of rock, jazz, and electronic, treating his tracks like scientific experiments, thus creating beautiful reactions between the different elements of his own experiences.
As he's basking in the glow of his new record, Pookie had the pleasure of communicating with Christopher Normann to ask him about everything that went into building it.
Huge congrats on “It’s About Me, Too”. Such an awesome, raw body of work from start to finish. How are you feeling now that it’s out to the world?
Thank you! Really appreciate the words :) to be honest, I have an overwhelming feeling of relief now that the record’s out. When I sit down to make music, it feels like I’m reaching up and out into the unknown, and with that comes a feeling of uncertainty with anything I do. It almost feels like it’s for the sake of science, or some greater discovery that these personal experiences I’m writing about are merely a vessel for. And it seems like people fuck with it! It feels great to receive all these messages from friends, strangers, and artists that I respect—I really feel the love. I’m so so excited to move onto new sounds and new explorations, and I’m hoping that “It’s About Me, Too” will serve as a jumping off point for me as both an artist and a person.
How did the creative process for this record go down? Were there any significant moments that happened?
The creative process was honestly pretty scattered and unfocused, in terms of narrative and like a formula. However, I think that my general approach remained very consistent since I started the project, in that I was attracted to the same guitar tones, pitch-shifting algorithms, wordisms, and melodic motifs. My biggest goal was to find a way to just tap in and tap out when making music, and then connect the dots later. I think it’s so easy as an artist to get caught up in worrying about the way it’s packaged and the way it’s all gonna come together in the end, and I kind of just said fuck all that and made the music that I resonated with and then made everything make sense later. Creating, and I mean really getting in there and turning your mind off, is too precious an experience to waste on worrying about stuff like that. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when an artist has got a whole story in mind and they find a way to navigate that really effectively, but that’s just not me right now. Maybe one day I’ll do some grand story-album where I know exactly how it’s gonna sound from day one, who knows—just focusing on the flame for now.
What was the inspiration for “It’s About Me, Too”? What kind of space were you in sonically and physically/mentally?
When I sat down in March and said, “alright, I’m gonna make all these random songs into a real project!” I really didn’t know what to expect. This was also after I had planned this whole other album, but eventually scrapped it. I was scared that it wouldn’t make sense or that people would think I was trying to tackle too much in one go. I was also terrified that I wouldn’t finish it. Over time, though, I really grew to appreciate the variety of my work, and I realized that I could make a coherent final product. With such variety, it was really hard to find records to use as role models for what I was trying to do. A couple albums do come to mind, though: “19 MASTERS” by Saya Gray, “Absolutely” by Dijon, and “Bismillah” by Peter Cat Recording Co. were in especially heavy rotation throughout the whole process. In terms of how I was doing mentally, I went through some of the biggest ups and downs in my life during the writing process. I got out of one relationship and into another, I lost friends and gained friends, I lived in three very different places throughout Boston—it was a time of stark contrast. In the end, everything sort of piled up into this amalgamation of sound and lyric that you see today, and I’m pretty happy with it :)
When you listen to this project, what color comes to mind?
Yellow. (And some blue and orange and brown, too)
What separates this EP from your other bodies of work that you’ve released in the past, namely “berries” from 2020 and “PENSE” back in 2019? Your entire discography is fantastic.
Thank you!! Honestly, from my perspective, this EP is just so far ahead of those projects, which were basically me trying to make the very most out of my resources and abilities as a 16-17 year old. “It’s About Me, Too” is just so much closer to what I’m trying to say as an artist. I’ve grown so much as a songwriter since then, and doing a lot of reading and listening has helped me hone in and think about what my distinct voice is. It’s not perfect, but we’ll get there. I feel similarly in regards to production, arrangement, and mixing. I’ve been lucky enough to study Electronic Production & Design at Berklee, which is an amazing program that has taught me more than I could ever have dreamed to know about sound design, the science of sound, and music technology. I’ve definitely applied pretty much everything I’ve learned in school to my work, and in my opinion it just sounds better than all of my previous music. It’s also worth noting that I was extremely blessed to have my professor, Jason Petrin, sit side-by-side with me in the studio for like 6 sessions to help mix the whole project. On the topic of people that helped, I had more collaborators than ever before on this project. Friends of mine played banjo, fretless bass, saxophone, synths, drums, and loads of other instruments throughout the record. My good friend and roommate Jadon Sweat and I soft-launched our duo project “Fraud Monet” with the track “I Can’t Dance With You”, which is one of my favorites. I’ve simply never done something at this scale before, and I’m excited to go even bigger next time.
Where do you think your taste in music, sounds, and art comes from? Were there any significant influences while you were growing up?
I think everything really goes back to this one DVD exclusive of Supernatural by Santana… Santana goes the whole damn way and further. I’ve carried that throughout my entire life with whatever music I’ve done, no matter what, everything eventually breaks down into the most human chaos. A lot of the specific artists that have turned out to be my biggest influences, I didn’t really discover until high school and beyond. Bon Iver and Dijon are great examples of artists I would consider to be huge influences, but I didn’t listen to either until senior year of high school. My taste in art just comes from that raw, real stuff that is unmistakable.
What would you say was the most difficult part of recording this project? Was there a specific track that made you really flex your creative muscle?
The third track, Our Heart, was really hard to get right. I’m not as used to doing these rubato, acoustic, just-me-and-the-guitar moments, so I really had to practice restraint and trust in myself as a vocalist and guitarist. Funnily enough, it was the first song I wrote for the record (March 2022), and the last one I finished (August 2023) :)
On the other hand, was there a track that came extra easily?
I have to say that Elderberry was such a breeze to make… I wrote the whole song in pretty much two sittings while I was at home in California, just stringing together all the intrusive thoughts that came to my mind into one big stream of consciousness. My best friend, Dominic Constantz, came through and helped me realize the guitars and vibes I wanted, and then my good pal Sebastian Najbjerg went through the song with me on the drums and we recorded a single, perfect take with no metronome on which the entire recording was built. It was one of those special moments you get as an artist where it just all works out!
Were there any moments during the making of this record where you surprised yourself?
I was definitely surprised at the amount of odd-meter stuff that actually ended up on the record. Elderberry, I Can’t Dance With You, and The Architect all contain super heady rhythm grids throughout, but it was just what I was hearing when I was making them. I think that has to do with a lot of the weirder tunes I’ve been listening to from the likes of Makaya Mcraven and others… it’s a territory I’ve never really traversed before this project and I’m excited to continue exploring odd meters and how they can make you feel.
What is the one thing that you hope listeners take away or learn about you from “It’s About Me, Too.”?
I am outspoken, unapologetic, sensitive, intense… whatever I am, I hope you can see me through this record. I want to show people that it’s okay! smear the paint and throw away traditional song forms, fuck whatever genres are, and just express. I hope to be an inspiration to those people who don’t feel like they can be playlisted or categorized. You can create literally whatever in any shape and that shape is valid because it’s you. This project is merely a step in MY journey towards that one place, hence the title, but I took the step! I put it out! You can, too!!
Photography by Magnolia Ellenburg
Interview & Article by Alec Manning
コメント