London-based artist Vincent Christ won immediate praise for his Summer 2022 anthem “Heart On A Chain”, for his textured analogue music videos and his feeling-first, irreverent songs informed by new wave, glam, art-rock and post-punk. Although originally involved in hip-hop production, Vincent gravitated to working with instruments and playing, arranging and recording himself, developing sharp and shimmering guitar tones and propulsive drums.
Christ excellent debut album ‘Truant‘ came out last year and is included in our Best Albums of 2022 list.
His new EP “Galore”, released in January, features five instantly alluring nuggets that brim with affirmative lyrical content and an experimental glam guitar sound that convey VC’s aims of art rock deconstruction and raucous positivity.
As Vincent himself notes…
“It’s pure VC, visceral and pugilistic. That’s one reason I make music, to convey immediacy and urgency”.
We spoke to Vincent about the new EP, influences, the music scene, future plans and more.
Give us a brief introduction to Vincent Christ
VC: Vincent Christ is my real name but nowadays it’s is also the name of the group when we play live, we’ve got Louis Clark on drums, Monty Carlos on guitar and Connor Humphreys on bass. I feel like the music and lyrics are urgent and hypnotic at the same time. It’s emotional music, there’s no ideology to what I do currently.
How does being from London influence your music?
VC: Not at all, I don’t claim London. I’ve lived all over the UK, Portugal, France, Belgium, Switzerland … I see myself as an international artist, or an artist with many roots. I think this will become clearer over time.
Tell us about some of your musical influences that go into the creative process?
VC: I’m influenced by the range of forward-thinking rock music that has emerged since the early 70s. Outside of that, I’m heavily influenced by hip-hop and literature of the 20th century. I’m also influenced in the creative process by restrictions, I nearly always work within self-imposed restrictions.
How do you describe your music to people who may not have heard it yet?
VC: I’d rather suggest a project for them to try. For now, I’d suggest the ‘Truant’ album, it’s an honest statement on youth, danger and naivety, with a good variety of dark, propulsive sounds between the eleven tracks.
What’s your favorite track on the new EP?
VC: Tracks are like children you know you can’t really pick a favourite… having said that my favourite is probably ‘Love Song Conspiracy’.
You are a Hip Hop producer, but your music is Post Punk, how do you handle it?
VC: I started out as a hip-hop producer but I just work in my current form at the minute. My background as an artist in a different genre gave me a good perspective in creative terms. I remember recording early VC material and feeling as though I had this secret body of knowledge.
At this moment, what is your favourite band?
VC: I wouldn’t want to say who my favourite artists are at the moment, but (as usual) the Americans are doing it better currently, a lot of great bands over there are really putting in the work and producing some really interesting music.
How do you try new sounds while maintaining your signature style?
VC: In terms of a signature style, I don’t even consider it, some people have said my voice is the unifying force between the different musical experimentations, but I’m not sure. Some people have been saying that I’ll ‘find my sound’ at some point but to be honest that doesn’t really interest me. People can handle variation, I think I’ll be doing this for a long time so it’s for the best.
What do you think of the music scene NOWADAYS?
VC: Music as always is brilliant. We could get into the external pressures of this or the invisible hand of that but on a musical level there are amazing tracks coming out every single week.
You have just turned 1 year since your first single called “No more Freedom” released on February 4th. Until today you have 1 album, 2 eps and 17 singles, your way of composing and creating is impressive, any particular inspiration?
VC: I’ve been using an automatic method for writing – working quickly without reflection. Things take shape, they write themselves, they even name themselves. The next album in particular, is haunted. Everything important tends to float to the surface anyway.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? Is there any plan for a full-length In
the near future?
VC: This year there will two more EPs (‘Cool Judas’ and ‘Fast Paint’) and a full length LP accompanied by an album length visual (as long as everything goes to plan).
Galore EP is out now on on all digital and streaming platforms.
