Tell us a bit about where you are from and how you got into music?
I’m Chris Home, a London-based singer-songwriter, originally from North Wales.
I’ve been writing songs on acoustic guitar for most of my adult life, although music took a back seat for a long while as work and family took priority.
Lockdown got me writing again, and I finally decided to take the plunge into recording. That led to an ongoing collaboration with Barcelona-based producers Jason Boshoff and Oscar Garcia-Bragado.
My first album, Made From Home, came out in 2022, and I’ve since recorded a second album, Everything Ends With Songs, in Barcelona.
What are your ambitions for your music?
Mostly to keep writing songs I’m happy with and keep making records. And maybe a few gigs along the way.
I enjoy the process as much as the end result – taking something that begins with me and an acoustic guitar and seeing what happens when other musicians and producers get involved.
Of course I want people to hear the music, but I don’t have some grand plan involving fame or a particular level of success. If I can keep making music that feels worthwhile to me and gradually find more people who connect with it, I’ll be very happy.
What’s your favourite social media platform to use and why?
I don’t really have one. I’m not a big fan of social media.
The only reason I use it is having made the record, I want it to reach people’s ears. That’s it.
If Instagram or Facebook helps somebody discover a song they wouldn’t otherwise have heard, then it’s useful. What interests me is the music getting heard, not becoming a content creator or spending my life trying to please an algorithm.
What’s your view on the music industry today?
It feels like a weird mixture of massive opportunity and complete oversaturation.
It’s never been easier to make music independently and put it out into the world. But there’s such an extraordinary amount of music being released and artists are increasingly expected to be filmmakers, marketers, social-media managers and everything else all at once.
I hope in the process we don’t lose the space for artists to make a little money doing what they love. It seems in this industry, as in society in general, the gap between the top and the bottom is getting ever wider. I’m in the lucky position that my livelihood doesn’t depend on it – if someone likes what I’ve done, then that’s great, but in the end I did it for me.
What are your thoughts on AI-generated music?
I’m really only interested in music made by people, but it’s definitely getting harder to tell what that is.
One of the best things about making a record is the collaboration between people – and hearing the music grow and change as a result.
Technology has always changed music, and AI will be another part of that story. But if you remove the human experience behind a song, you remove pretty much everything that interests me about it.
What’s the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
Probably to share the songs with other people earlier.
I write them on my own, usually on acoustic guitar, so by the time I share them I’ve often lived with them for quite a while.
Working with Oscar and Jason has taught me that it’s better to get others in early. Collaboration doesn’t tend to dilute the original idea – it generally builds on it and makes it better in the process. And it’s fun.
What’s currently in your ears and on rotation at the moment?
My musical taste is pretty broad, but I have a huge soft spot for 90s indie.
I’ll happily listen to anything from Ray Charles, Prince and Creedence Clearwater Revival to The Stone Roses, The Charlatans and Fontaines DC (looking forward to their new album).
I love a simple, strong melodic hook. That’s probably the thing that connects most of the music I listen to.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
Saturday High is the first single from my second album, Everything Ends With Songs. It’s one of the more immediate, upbeat songs on the record – all about the excitement and joy of going out with friends at the weekend.
The album itself covers much more ground, musically and lyrically, but a thread running through it is change and transition, partly echoing what was happening in my life when I was writing it as I left my job after a long career.
I think big changes force you to look back, look ahead and try to appreciate what you have in the here and now. Songs can be a great way to capture those moments.
Saturday High came out on 21 August, with more songs from the album to follow.
What was the recording process like?
We recorded the songs for the album, including Saturday High, in Barcelona with Oscar Garcia-Bragado and Jason Boshoff at RoomTo Studio.
I went there for two weeks and we had so much fun, getting through a song a day with lots of breaks and a few days off to enjoy the city. My wife Sarah came out to join me for the last few days and ended up singing backing vocals on a couple of tracks including Saturday High – she was much better than me at getting it right first time!
We recorded the first album in lockdown so it was all done remotely. So this was my first experience of proper studio recording – a huge learning experience but it was just such a great laugh. And the songs built up from the initial acoustic idea through the process which was lovely to experience.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
Nope. There are always little things you could change if you kept going back to a recording forever, but at some point you have to recognise that the record represents that particular moment and group of people. It is literally a record of that time and place and I had such an amazing experience with such a wonderful group of people I wouldn’t change a single part of it.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Only that I’m very happy I eventually decided to make these records.
I spent a long time thinking music was something I had somehow missed my chance to pursue properly. It turns out there’s no deadline for creating stuff you love.
I’m looking forward to getting the rest of Everything Ends With Songs out into the world.
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