Conversations with christ.

christ.

Small 'c', full stop at the end. The name is unassuming in the lower case, and the full stop abbreviates it, but listening to the church-like, spiralling synth and organ lines of his most recent LP Blue Shift Emissions, you could be forgiven for thinking that christ. was motivated by some form of bliss or transceence. Melancholic but upliting, imbued with delicate grace, the tracks on Blue Shift... evoke awe as well as calm. The reclusive producer prefers the pastoral calm of the countryside to the bustle of the city, but regularly plays abroad, a stalwart of Sonar and its affiliate festivals, he travels the globe performing his work wherever intelligent electronica is appreciated.

christ. is keen to dispel unwanted associations of his name early on: "There's no religious meaning in the use of the name christ. at all, hence the use of a lower case 'c' at the start, and full stop at the end to denote that it's an abbreviation of Christopher. Basically, a bunch of my mates in my teens and twenties used to call me christ, and it stuck. I don't really listen to much religious music."

I ask if he is comfortable with the ambient tag: "I'm uncomfortable with labels generally, beyond the obvious feature that it gives you a clue as to where to start looking for something specific in a record shop. I mean, look at all the acts that are labelled 'IDM' (Intelligent Dance Music). How many of them actually fit into a similar category beyond the fact that they use electronic equipment to make their various fucked-up noises? For me, if you want to call my music ambient, then that's fine. I don't find it constrictive because I don't tend to try to fit my work into a category outwith the category of it being music I feel happy to have made."

I ask if he sees his work as being a direct descendent of acid-house era electronic music like the Orb, or does he see it as part of a longer tradition stretching back to early pioneers like Kraftwerk or JM Jarre.

"Firstly, I think Jean Michel Jarre is the most overratted tripe to come under the heading 'electronic music'. I feel it would be more suited to those relaxation CDs you can buy in service stations for a few quid. The Orb were a big influence at the time. I found it fascinating that they could basically play variations on the same groove for forty odd minutes, and still retain a rich sense of development throughout the track. That was a long time ago now though, and while I still think a small portion of their influence is present in my music, I tend to write in a bit of a cocoon, so I'm generally a bit vague when people start asking about my influences. Eno, Vangelis and the Radiophonic Workshop seem to come up quite a lot in reviews, and I do appreciate the sound design, and melodic features of those acts, but I can't honestly point to someone or something and claim it as the source of inspiration for my music, because I simply don't know."

When I ask if he sees his music as being for the brain rather than the feet, christ. gives an answer that defines his approach to music: "I think it's dangerously elitist to start talking about 'music for the
brain', as you put it. It's like the term 'IDM', which I hate because it seems to be trying to set itself apart from other forms of electronic and dance music on the basis that it's intelligent, and other stuff isn't. I used to DJ at parties and clubs round edinburgh, and own a bunch of amazing detroit techno by the likes of Rob Hood and Dan Bell. Tracks that sometimes consist of a 909 kick and hat, and maybe two bleeps a bar, which is as intelligently constructed as any of the convoluted beat trickery that, say, Autechre come up with. Sometimes less is more in my opinion."

He's right - much of the beauty of Blue Shift... lies in its simplicity, the ethereality and getleness of its melodies and rhythms. There is little showmanship to the production work, it doesn't announce itself, but closer listening reveals deeper intricacies, particularly in the use of vocal samples.

"Most of the tracks on Blue Shift... do contain vocal samples in one form or another," he elaborates, "But I think the whole idea of using samples 'as is', in order to say something within a track is a bit played out, and I tend to process them quite heavily, or use them as percussive or melodic elements."

christ. refers more than once to the fact that he writes alone, in: "a coccoon." I ask if this has anything to do with living in the countryside: "It hasn't changed my approach to music," he replies. "What it has changed is the space I have within my own life, and my own thoughts. I have peace to relax, and come up with ideas, and space to spread into as a human being, where I can breathe. I'm very intolerant of unwanted noise, and moving out of the city removed a huge portion of the stress I experienced living tenement life. As a result, I'm in the right frame of mind to write music more often, and for longer periods of time."

I ask about the album title, which refers to a scientific theory called the Doppler Effect: "The blue shift as a feature of the Doppler Effect refers to a mass of excited atomic particles moving towards us, and their wavelengths shortening into the bluer end of the spectrum. The original context it came to me in was that of the universe contracting rather than expanding, in a time approaching the end of the life of the universe, which I found interesting. I also like the idea of the 'blue shift' referring to the late shift, or back shift. The twilight hours of the day, which is when I'm most productive in the studio. It's a quiet time. If you think about it like that, then this album is literally my 'Blue Shift Emissions'".

This makes a lot of sense: the mood of Blue Shift.. is definitely akin to the drawing in of night, and evokes cold universes, receding light. It is an emotional album, decidedly human for all its relative absence of recognisable voices. It runs contrary to the mass-market ethos of dance music, in that it is a personal piece of abstract art. christ. himself is keen to avoid any scene associations - he is defiantly an artist in his own right.

"I have the feeling that movements are loose affiliations which are generally put together and classified after the event by those trying to categorise similar uses of the available technogy at a particular time," he says insightfully. "I mean, you could compare my music to other music which employs the same technology, or ideals of melody, or production styles, but I don't think that anyone who might fit into that category ever sits in the studio with the idea in their head that they want to create a 'slightly nostalgic, downtempo melodic piece'. Certainly that's not how it works for me."

Finally, I ask him to tell us about what kind of kit he uses in his studio: "I bought a Hohner Pianet T, which is a classic piece, for a fiver from my agent, and I use it a lot. It's knackered, and in dire need of renovation, but it gives any melody, even silly nursery rhyme tunes, a real melancholy edge, so I'm not sure if I'll go ahead and get it fixed. I've started using some Camel Audio software which the guys at Camel kindly provided for me, and it's some pretty awesome stuff, particularly the Chameleon synth. I bought a Korg MS 2000 last year to replace the keyboard i'd been using live, because it had suffered so badly at the hands of airport baggage handlers that it had become unuseable. I'm kind of 50/50 with the Korg. It can make some great noises, but it's a bitch to program. Other than that, just bits and pieces. An old TEAC reel to reel, a nice new set of monitors and a whole bunch of toy keyboards and circuit-bent things that mates make, or I find at car boot sales. I believe I'm first in line for an acid green Bontempi organ that a mate of mine picked up recently."

As for 2007, it seems like christ. has a busy year ahead: "I'm currently working on an EP for Minerals, which is close to completion, and it's a bit different to other christ. stuff. Maybe that will come out in the wake of the album. We're currently making inroads into a short tour in March, starting with a launch event for the album in Glasgow. I'm playing in Barcelona at the Apolo Theatre, which is an awesome little venue, in March. For the tour I'll be bringing David McGeorge along to drum for me, and a whole new video backdrop which has been put together by Matt Brown and Blimey productions. Details are pretty sketchy as regards actual dates and venues, but you'll be able to track that info as and when we have it on the Benbecula website."

A true maverick, christ. stands head and shoulders above most so-called 'chill-out' artists. Unafraid to simply construct beautiful soundscapes, he follows moods and feelings through his work, chasing down the emotion within his own compositions. Categorise it how you will: Blue Shift Emissions is quite simply a beautiful and moving suite, his best since the magnificent Pylonesque. Play it in the wee small hours, and be transported.