Surrounded by the mountains and trees of Bellingham, WA, Chris Gerber is a producer and multi-instrumentalist with a constantly evolving sound. Combining delicate piano and orchestral melodies accompanied by wide soundscapes bursting with lush synthesizers and deep pads, Chris aims to surround his listeners in a new feeling of nostalgia by blending the lines between blissful and ambient atmospheric lo-fi music with hard hitting electronic dance music elements. We’re thrilled to present his latest chilled-out track, “Rocky Path”.
Gerber: "Love this question, my background is really complex. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and although most of my extended family still resides between Johannesburg and Cape Town, I definitely find my roots in Duluth, MN where I spent most of my time growing up. Shortly after my family emigrated from South Africa to the UK, feeling connected to any one area was really difficult. That being said, I formulated the most of who I am today and made my forever friendships back in Minnesota, where my parents still reside."
Gerber: "When I was first formulating my own taste for music, my first love was hiphop and rock, but particularly R&B. Haha, I used to sneak Akon’s explicit tracks onto my iPod when I was 11 or 12 which frustrated my parents because nine times out of ten his lyrics are incredibly explicit and far beyond the scope of what an eleven year old should be listening to. Those instrumentals back in 2008 still resonate with me so deeply today that I often find myself drawing inspiration for tracks in completely different genres."
Gerber: "I definitely do not have a conventional way of making music, mostly due to my lack of real music theory knowledge. At the end of the day, most of the time spent during my music making process is in sound selection and throwing ideas at the wall until something sticks. Sound selection largely dictates the mood, genre, feelings, and structure that a track is going to have, so it’s really important to make sure each element (whatever it is, a snare, kick, violin, trumpet, etc) is placed delicately and harmoniously without distracting the listener."
Gerber: "Not really, I’ve always emphasized the importance of combining a lot of beautiful small musical elements into a larger “picture”, per se. I can largely attribute the formulation of my personal sound to the same technique, because without spending so much time on sound selection and finding imperfections within the small details, I'm not sure I’d have the same style of production that I would have today."
Gerber: "Curiosity and eagerness to explore. I produced this track envisioning the “perfect” hike in Washington."
Gerber: "Absolutely, seasonal depression is real and sometimes weeks of rain on end can be demanding of your mental health. It’s difficult to feel inspired to make a beach-y, happy song when your surroundings are the complete opposite. That being said, finding happiness and creativity while covered by the lush green trees and constant rain has really shaped my sound into a vastly more organic one."
Gerber: "Surpassing one million monthly listeners has always been one of my main goals as an artist."
