Interview with Jeff Christie

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

My mother was a trained dancer and played the violin as a child as well as being steeped in the classics. She passed on her love of music to me at a very early age. She would often sing around the house and her and my dad often took my brother and I to the local park where there would be Brass Bands playing every weekend. I was fascinated and had to be literally dragged away from in front of the bandstand. The sound of live music being played at such an early age cast a magic spell on me and started me on the biggest adventure of my life which thankfully continues today.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Continue playing music as it’s not just a job it’s a lifetime love affair! I do also enjoy swimming, walking, art, occasional theatre and foreign movies, good food and wine and generally freedom to roam, think, especially in steam rooms and the sauna but ultimately music is my default position for which I’m eternally thankful.

How long have you been making music?

Since I popped out of my mother’s womb.

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

These days I’m back where I started from, Leeds, in Yorkshire, England after spells of living in London and then LA. Brass Bands playing in the local parks when I was a toddler enthralled me then and still do. Hard to say how much that early influence climbed into bed with all the other temptations, especially Rock’n’Roll, Blues and Soul etc. but it is in there and surfaces sometimes unexpectantly.

Tell me about your most memorable shows, if you haven’t played live what is your vision for a live show?

Quite a few, the first chronologically would be with the Outer Limits at the Cavern Liverpool in ’65. The second, the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1967 again with the Outer Limits, on tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and other big name bands. The third was the Dag Hammarskjold Stadium Zambia in ’71 with my band Christie where we had to abandon the concert because of rain and unsafe conditions and danger of electrocution as the uncovered stage area was open to the elements. People began to riot even though our manager tried to explain the situation and promised we would return and do another show. We eventually made it back to the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka where we were staying and started to get death threats almost immediately after returning there. We had been forced to crash through the stadium perimeter gates whilst the crowds, who were mainly from the surrounding Townships threw bottles and other missiles at the coach we were travelling in. The fourth was at the International Stadium in Bogota Columbia in ‘72 where we (Christie) outdrew Santana who had played there not long before. The arena was sold out and people without tickets were actually hanging from the rafters in order to see the show even though security kept trying to get them down but they just kept climbing back up again. We also had a couple of nurses at the side of the stage with giant oxygen cylinders and after every few numbers we had to take hits of O2 because of the high altitude. Fifth would be during the Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona Spain in ‘73 where the bulls run amok through the streets full of people. Sixth, again late ‘71 would be performing in Umtali Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) at a huge outdoor Drive-in. Hundreds of cars parked in the darkness inside the perimeter of the parking lot would honk their horns and flash their headlights after every number.

Finally I think playing the Olympic Stadium in Moscow 2001 was a landmark gig as people were coming up to me afterwards saying that they had waited 30 odd years to see us after seeing our show from Sopot in Poland on their TV’s which was beamed live via satellite across the USSR in 1970.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

There were many shows that were memorable for different reasons, a few already mentioned but none that I would call favourite. A moon gig could be a contender!

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

If you mean to be on the same bill as other artists I’d say I’ve already done that with some of the all time greats. If you mean to be on the same stage together then the list is endless but I would love to have been on stage with Roy Orbison, Larry Williams or The Band.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into making music and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Follow your dream and your heart but don’t forget your head. Do it for the love of it, not for the fame or wealth of it and never forget where you came from if you ever make it to the top of that slippery slope. Learn to eat rejection for breakfast and stay hungry!

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Obviously, I’d have to say Yellow River as it’s become a classic, and over the years covered by many famous artists and still featured in Movies and TV across the world fifty five years since its birth.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Too many to mention but Yellow River always gets the most requests.

What is your creative process, and what inspires you to write your music?

If I knew that I’d bottle it and sell it. As for inspiration to write... ‘’As I walk this land of broken dreams’’

Do you have messages that you like to get across in your music? if so please tell me about them.

Not necessarily, although sometimes I can get a bit preachy with just observing the absurdities of human behaviour, including my own.

Do you have any new singles, videos, or albums out that you would like to tell me and your fans about?

I have an album out at the moment called Here And Now on the MTS label which has been getting great revues and the current single Ordinary People hit #29 on the iTunes rock chart recently.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

To keep on writing and recording songs when I’m not writing and recording songs.

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

My website: jeffchristie.com Spotify and all streaming platforms CD, Cassette, and Vinyl