Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Wyse.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chris. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It all began in Queens, New York. Born in Queens, I became fascinated with music at an early age. After immersing myself in the Celtic tunes my Irish parents fancied, I discovered KISS, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, The Doors, and Led Zeppelin in grade school. All bets were off. I was originally inspired by Steve Harris of Iron Maiden to play bass.
I am currently a member of the group, The Hollywood Vampires with Johnny Depp, Joe Perry, Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen, Glen Sobel and Buck Johnson. I have recorded and played with a vast amount of artists including Ace Frehley, Ozzy, The Cult, Jerry Cantrell, Scott Weiland, Tal Bachman, and more. I also front my original band Owl (owltheband.net) and recently started a bass centric solo album which will be a music-comic with a storyline of a vigilante vampiric owl creature (chriswyse.com).
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think if you are a “lifer” in the music business you are bound to have ups and downs. The way you deal with it can become your recreation and rebirth. Bands have a cycle and may end or take a pause. There can be many obstacles but you have to keep your eye on the prize. Having a focus on your strengths and having goals to stay creative is most important whether on the top or the bottom. All that being said, I have been very fortunate but there have been hard times in between. One must have faith in themselves and realize the quality of work and practice is the same for 50 people in a club or 50,000 at a festival.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a bassist who pushes the boundaries with sounds and techniques that expand the norm. I use effects like echo, whah and overdrive on bass guitar and upright bass often with a bow. It is a mix of modern tones with a classic like familiarity. I am now working on my solo album which will be a music-comic with a storyline. I really enjoy the expressive, theatrical style of vocals which helps me define the storyline. Also, there are layers of bowed and blistering solos featuring my style. It has a soundtrack like fell to it. The music and storyline you can sample at Chriswyse.com.
I also have fronted my band OWL for the last decade which is more song-oriented with still some musical intensity. owltheband.net I have always incorporated my style into whatever band I have been in. I really was happy The Hollywood Vampires were into me using the upright bass. I play it on “Heroes” which Johnny Depp sings and have a bow piece ” A pitiful beauty” on the latest album “Rise”.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am looking forward to next year picking up and The Hollywood Vampires tour which is all rescheduled 2021. In the meantime, I am finishing the music-comic with the amazing artist Russell Marks who is collaborating the story and creating the art. He is feeding off the music to create art and now the story and the art is inspiring me to finish the next few songs. It is really an exciting creative process. Planning all this to come out spring/summer 2021. There are also some video teasers that really show the type of intensity and style of the album. To check out the sights and sounds, go to Chriswyse.com! Russell’s art is the perfect match to the music and our storyline is getting quite juicy.
Contact Info:
- Website: chriswyse.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/chriswyseowlman
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.wyse.96/
Image Credit:
Russell Marks-art, Alex Kluft – photos, Tammy Greene – only one photo-the color upright bass shot at the “Whisky”.
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