Hi there! I'm Chris Joss, almost my real name, I'm a French "multi-instrumentalist and autonomous studio producer"(I didn't come up with that but that sums it up). As a listener I love drums and they're the heart and soul of my music. I had organ lessons in my teens which gave me the basics to learn other instruments. Jamming was my school. I've played loud, loud headphones, long hours, now I'm suffering from tinnitus and hypercousia, reasonably loud sounds hurt, unreasonably loud sounds are ringing for months, now I play quiet and can't play live anymore for these reasons. I have a passion for recording and sound production.
After 3 brief but revealing experiences with major labels through the band I was fronting, I left France for London in 91 with a band that imploded within weeks. Jumped from bands to bands on bass or guitar, sound engineered a bit while making solo tracks of various styles on my Atari+sampler+16track setup.
95-96 taped a few tracks influenced by 60's & 70's soundtrack music gathered on The Man With a Suitcase. Presented as an imaginary 60's TV series soundtrack I sent it to a round of UK labels without success. I moved to La Rochelle France in 98 in need of sun and water. I met the Cristal team who connected me with indie Pulp Flavor that released the LP in 1999 minus 2 tracks found on the Bombay By Bus EP.
99-01 recorded Dr Rhythm 15 tracks of funky electronica released in 02 by Irma. In 2000 I moved into a place where I could play drums again (sometimes) but most of the tracks have programmed drums giving a more breakbeat sound than my subsequent records. The total absence of promo and payment from this dreadful label made this release a painful experience.
2002-2003 got myself an 8 input soundcard for my computer, for the first time getting a sound I liked on the drums and jammed away. A turning point for me in music production coinciding with the birth of my daughter, it became You've Been Spiked. Influenced by 60's & 70's pop & funk I incorporated modern elements through the sound production, obscure samples backgrounds and computer trickery and mixed genres which originally coud not be heard together, thus keeping away from the revival scenes. Released in France in early 2004 on Cristal Records the response was devastating and the distributor closed down. ESL Music signed me and released the album late 04. Spiked tracks are in TV series & programs, movies, commercials and games. Remixes by Ursula 1000, Fort Knox Five & Kraak & Smaak followed in 05 & 06.
2004 I spent 5 months making the Discotheque Dancing video and was approached to rework the "Deep throat" soundtrack for the movie Inside Deep Throat (soundtrack on Koch in 05)
2005-2007 remixed Jody Watley, Pirates of the Caribbean, Joe Bataan, Woody Hermann, Bebo Valdes, Thunderball, Frank Sinatra, Yerba Buena, Praful, Fisherspooner.
Dec2005 I smashed the 3 bones of my right elbow, I'm now limited in my movements but still can play. I was very lucky to be operated by fantastic surgeon Mr Beya. A musician himself he saved my arm and my music making. Between hospital stays in Jan/Feb 06 I was asked to record a version of John Williams' Superman for a movie trailer of Superman, what is called "on spec" you work for nothing in the hope it'll get picked up, it wasn't. I had to record the drums in many short sections. After months ESL got clearance and released it on an EP in Aug 07 alongside remixes by Basement Freaks & Plastilina Mosh.
2004-2007 recorded the 13 tracks that make Teraphonic Overdubs. Reacting to the critics (good and bad) that could only hear a retro sound in Spiked, I experimented to make the modern aspect of my music more obvious while keeping the acoustic drums-bass-guitar-keyboards setup. Most of these experiments didn't convince me and will most likely stay outtakes. I made many different versions of the same tracks, "I want Freedom" is an alternate version of "Count the daisies", Summer Springs" of "Luna Rides Back" and kept on changing the tracks to keep them fresh for me to work on as my elbow accident had delayed the progress on them. Returning to hospital in dec06/jan07 disabled me again for months and the many projects I engaged in during these 4 years (remixes, production, VJing, DJing, videos) often made me feel I could never finish this album. I bought a sitar, flute, double bass, congas, bongos towards the end of the recording and replaced many electronic parts with these instruments, changing the direction of the album. Released on ESL in Feb08 with remixes of I Want Freedom by Smokey Bandits, Atfunk and Myagi came out in Aug08.
Nov2006-may2008 recorded my 5th LP, entitled Sticks. Compared to the 4 years it took to make Teraphonic, Sticks was a pleasure ride. Inspired by the new instruments I turned down remixes and side projects to stay focused. I recorded the basic tracks while still working on Teraphonic, the sitar is giving a more contemplative vibe than my previous releases. Alexander Von Mehren from Norway contributed with a lovely vibraphone solo on "Tea Age Sea" and I used a saxophone sample from Praful on "Melisma Mercury". The artwork by Cyril Jean. Sticks came out in March 09 on ESL Music.
Sept2008-Feb2009 recorded 6th LP : Chris Joss presents Monomaniacs vol1.
12 tracks of angry hammond funk with a nasty vintage sound. Artwork by Cyril Jean. Coming out on ESL Music in January 2010.
Salut Chris le mp3 tue le disque, et par la même occasion il tue les disquaires (après 20 ans d'existence Rennes musique, une institution pour ceux qui connaissent, à fermé). Je lance un appel aux artistes, même si le mp3 est incontournable, continuez à presser des CD, pour ceux qui veulent continuer à faire vivre le support. Pour info, on trouve encore des CD sur Amazon, mais attention si vous ne trouvait pas un album sur le store Français il est peut-être dispo sur un store Amazon étranger. Ex : le dernier Christian Prommers "The jazz thing" dispo uniquement en mp3 en France, trouvé en CD sur le store Allemand. Idem pour l'Album Sonar Kollektiv Orchester A+ et merci pour encore pour l'échange ;) :::JANjan::::
Tous les Mercredis soirs a 21h30 vous pourrez écouter sur VOLUBILIS.. "Votre Accent Est Charmant Mademoiselle". Une sélection de chansons chantées en francais par des japonais, des anglais, des italiens, des indiens...
Every Wednesday evening at 21h30 you can hear on VOLUBILIS.. "Votre Accent Est Charmant Mademoiselle". A selection of french songs sung by Japanese, English, Italian, Indian...
All is going well here..Can't wait to hear your new stuff!! I left the studio I was working with, to produce a feature film and am making great progress. Also waiting on the budget info for a gig, scoring a documentary. I'll be watching for the album..Talk to you soon! Jason
"Explosivos" n° 11 by Suonho A 15mn high quality selection
Monday, october 26th 2009 Tracklist :
01) Lainie Kazan - Feeling Good / Universal Jazz 02) Buddy Guy - Crazy Love / Universal Jazz 03) Ambro Seelos - Joker / Universal Jazz 04) Perry Como - Papa Loves Mambo / Arista 05) Renato Carosone - Tu Vuo Fa l' Americano / Wave 06) Encarnita Polo - Paco, Paco, Paco / Love Monk Spain
"Explosivos" is aired: every monday,9.30pm(Paris time)
I'm totaly delighted to show you a teaser to my upcoming video. An amazing artistical attack on your eyes. You will find this video in higher resolution on www.ben-zen-berg.com
Online Now!
