How Chris Got His Groove Back

Rediscovering My Passion for Making Music

Music was knitted into the fabric of my being. My mother and her siblings played in the marching band at Worthing High School in Houston, TX. And my older siblings played in the marching band at Westbury High School. I guess you could say that I had no choice but to play an instrument.

My mother put me in piano in 1st grade. I can remember practicing with my first piano teacher, Mrs. Veillon, like it was yesterday. Mrs. Veillon was a gentle older woman, who was also my elementary school music teacher. I would stay in her room at the end of the day when music was our last class of the day. My friends always thought it was strange that I wouldn’t leave class with them. Though she was sweet and gentle, Mrs. Veillon would get pretty frustrated with me for playing piano by ear and memory instead of reading the sheet music. I still play by ear today.

Xian Nation to Divine Mind to Shaman Work

In high school, I began experimenting with beatmaking with my friend Philip Sexton. We would eventually form a rap group called Xian Nation with our friends Broui and Courtney. In our adventures, we would collaborate with a rock-n-roll band that was made up of some of our classmates at our high school, and play shows in Houston and…