CHRIS PRICE

An old soul who found his voice through music made before he was born

don’t know if I’d go so “I far as to say I was groomed for a certain life”, Chis Price reflects, “but I’d be shocked if I found anything else that feels as natural to me as making music in a recording studio.” Born Kristian Price Pérez, the 32-year-old artist explains that his “messy, lonely childhood” in Miami led him to hole up – and hone his chops – in the home studio of his father, a writer/producer of Latin music, while experiencing life through songs and movies. “I became a rabid record collector in high school,” he recalls, adding that his sensibility was shaped by artists like Nilsson, The Kinks, Nick Drake, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Randy Newman and Lennon/McCartney/Harrison.

“I can only strive to make music as carefully considered and true as the stuff made between 1965 and ’74,” he says. “I try to be careful to point at my influences rather than simply imitating them.”

Producing Linda Perhacs and Emitt Rhodes deepened Price’s understanding.

“With Linda, it’s all visceral, and working in that setting allowed me to become more adventurous on my own recordings. Emitt taught me about the power of a direct, emotionally honest lyric. That definitely carried over into a lot of the songs on this album.”