With their edgy take on the pop rock genre, the CHRIS WATTS band is bound to be a crowd pleaser at their upcoming gig at the Espy. They’ve already used The Grace Darling Hotel, The Brunswick Hotel, and Revolver as ‘rehearsal’ spaces, although they’ve actually been putting most of their energy in the studio lately, in an attempt to grow the band in a more mature direction. Before the release of their upcoming album, you can’t miss out on the opportunity to see the band play live. They’re preparing a great show for you guys on the 22nd at the Epsy, and before the show, they take time out of the practice room to chat with Emergenza.

HOW IS IT BEING A SOLO ARTIST IN A WORLD OF BANDS? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN GOING SOLO?
I write the music but I do play with a band, so I guess I’m not a solo act. I always knew when I was to leave high school I was going to need to start looking for a band. I needed a bass player and a drummer at first. I had people in mind, but I needed people that I could trust with my vision and goal, and people that were genuinely nice people. I then found my drummer Dom who I had played with a little bit before and my bass play Mark. They have done a great job with the Chris Watts band.

WHAT DOES SONG WRITING MEAN TO YOU, AND WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM FOR YOUR ORIGINAL MATERIAL?
Song writing is my weekly Yoga. I have to pick up my guitar almost every day and just play and write. My inspiration comes from issues in my life that I find tough or confrontational.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS ONE OF THE SIGNATURE ASPECTS OF YOUR SOUND?
Bright melodies and the use of falsetto in almost every song.

YOU'VE GOT QUITE A LOT OF RECORDINGS UP ON YOUR OFFICIAL SITE. ARE THOSE SONGS PART OF AN UPCOMING ALBUM, OR WHAT?
Yes, the songs on the site will be part of the Back Down album. There are also another 6 songs that are just waiting to be mixed for the album as well. This album has taken over 2 years to produce and we very exited to launch it, hopefully at the end of 2013 or early 2014.

IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'VE BEEN SPENDING A LOT OF TIME IN THE STUDIO LATELY. HOW HAS THAT BEEN, AND WHAT IT YOUR APPROACH WHEN YOU'RE IN THE STUDIO?
As a band we love playing live but we know we have to produce recorded songs to have a chance of ‘Chris Watts’ growing. We approach recording very democratically and we never have any arguments.

WHERE HAVE YOU PLAYED SO FAR, AND WHAT IS YOUR DREAM STAGE TO PLAY ON?
Grace Darling Hotel, Brunswick Hotel, Revolver, etc. Our dream stage is any music festival in Australia. We would love to be asked to play at the Falls Festival.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO JOIN EMERGENZA?
The reputable name of the company was what drew us in to join. The outcome of going to Germany to play also attracted us very much.

HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THIS STAGE IN THE COMPETITION?
We practice twice a week. We also make sure we go over old material that we have played a hundred times so it comes out perfect every time.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST ABOUT THE FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE?
We just love playing live and playing in Melbourne.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO GAIN FROM THE EMERGENZA EXPERIENCE?
We hope to fly to Sydney for the later rounds!