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Chris McKay



Last Updated: 7/8/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: In a Relationship
Age: 96
Sign: Libra

City: ATHENS
State: GEORGIA
Country: US
Signup Date: 10/12/2005
Saturday, January 03, 2009 

Current mood:  moody
Category: Life
Friday, January 02, 2009


Playgrounds Magazine Interview Part 1
Current mood: moody
Category: Music

Thanks to Alice Barkwell from Playgrounds Magazine in Columbus, GA for allowing us to repost the whole unexpurgated interview I did with them to promote our January 16 show at SoHo!

So here we go over to Alice for part 1!

So, Chris, where did you grow up and how did you end up in Athens, Georgia?



I was born in Camden, South Carolina and was playing in clubs way before it was legal for me to be there. If there had been a scene to support the things I wanted to do, I don't know if I ever would've left. However, South Carolina is not exactly the most supportive place to original music. It's a shame, too, because there were and are a lot of great bands and artists there that you're never going to hear about because they decided to stay in their home.


When I left South Carolina, I briefly wound up in Auburn, Alabama and quickly found out that if any place was less supportive to original music than where I'd just come from, it was Auburn. Then when I was at a concert in Atlanta, I saw someone wearing a t-shirt that said "Athens, Georgia. Because it's everything that Auburn isn't." And that, among with its history and having visited there and loved it, made me give Athens a try as my new home as soon as I could. The vibe and feel of the town was perfect for me. I loved it then and I still do now.

Does it live up to its reputation as the best place to be to start a band?

I don't know about that. Maybe it's the best place to join a band that's already established or has its own identity but not really to start one if you have specific ideas about what you want. Of course, I had very, very specific ideas in mind. It took a long time to find the situation that I needed and that was, of course, after I had even stopped trying. I'd had enough of "musicians". I couldn't deal with them anymore. I know I am one but there were just too many points on which I differed from what I call "musicians". I always wanted a professional, responsible band and that didn't seem like an option. So I quit completely. I became a "rock photographer" so that I could still be in the environment that I was comfortable. And I'm fortunate that people seemed to like my work enough that I was successful with that (more or less) from the start.
But playing and creating music is where I'll always choose to be if I have that as an option!

When the Critical Darlings started it was more or less on a whim and thanks to a friend at the time who heard some demos that I had been working on for myself. He made a joke something to the effect of, "All you need is a good drummer" while pointing at himself. I hadn't even thought about the fact that he was a drummer. So we started getting together for fun and within a couple of months had enlisted my friend Frank DeFreese to play bass. After a while, Frank had moved to Athens and it was still just playing among friends. We didn't seek out shows. People would come to us and ask and we would show up and play. Then we decided to record the first album and Frank and I decided to continue even after the band became too much for the original drummer to handle. It took over two years after that to finally solidify the lineup with Joe Orr sharing guitar and vocals with me and Josh Harrison on drums but I'm glad we kept trying because this lineup seems to be nearly ideal for what I've always wanted to do.



What or who inspired you to play music, and at what age did you begin?



I have no idea what age I was when I began playing. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting around in my Grandmother's living room with members of the family playing music. I remember them all playing old Southern Gospel and country songs. I would try to fit my arms around the guitar and could barely even hold it, much less play it. Since there were guitars all over the place, a bass, and a piano that were my Grandmother's, when the rest of the family weren't there, I'd be trying to play them. My Grandmother didn't keep them from me. She always encouraged me to experiment and play with the instruments. When I was big enough to actually hold the guitar, she taught me the proper chordings and I more or less took it from there. She also taught me how to sing, as much as one can, and devise harmony vocals by singing along with Gospel music. It made all the difference. My Dad taught me a few rock 'n' roll type barre chords and from there, I made it up as I went along and still do. You can ask the guys in the band, I often do "wrong" things because I love the sound of breaking the musical rules on occasion.



First concert?



Well, being in South Carolina, there wasn't all that much from which to choose. My Mom and stepfather took me to the first real concert I saw and that was Journey. I remember how unbelievably loud it was for a small kid. You literally could not hear yourself screaming. My eyes burned from all the cigarette and marijuana smoke. I kept my thumbs plugging each ear and fingers plugging my nose. It wasn't the most comfortable experience but I was hooked on the live music experience instantly. It doesn't sound that great when I mention the smoke and unbearable volume I know, but the show, the excitement and the whole atmosphere sold me completely.

First guitar?



Well, the first ones I played were my Grandmother's. She gave me some cheap electric guitar for Christmas one year. It would hardly even stay in tune but she wanted me to have one. I don't even remember the model. My first real guitar was an Aria Pro II that my Dad bought for me. He also gave me a 60-watt amp which I used to contribute to the tinnitus that I've had since I was 14.


Part 2 to come...

Tonight we reconvene to try and kick off the New Year at Wonderroot in Atlanta! Let's say...um...tennish anyone?

C
12:56 AM
 
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