People
Chris Bathgate has a Wikipedia page, but he’s still not sure who actually put it together. While he says some parts of it are remarkably correct (like the fact that he was in a heavy metal band in high school), other things (like his birthday) are not. Since you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet, we decided to go straight to the source to learn more about the man overtaking the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti folk scene.
m(id): So Chris, when do you expect this next album to be out?
Chris: I’m hoping it will all be wrapped up around the 21st of April.
m: That’s a very specific goal.
C: That’s what I’m shooting for. It will be done regardless, whether it’s done before or far after that. I imagine it probably won’t be coming out until the fall.
m: How do you expect this record to be different from your past?
C: I think it will involve working in a new way. I’m leaving a lot of things open for the studio. Before, for this eight track album that I did called Throat Sleep, I recorded some of the songs eight or nine times over and over again. And then, the next record I did – Cork Tale Wake – I sort of had a similar process where I was working with my eight track obsessively. This (album) is going back to leaving things more open.
m: Which do you enjoy more, writing and producing the music or performing it after it’s all said and done?
C: I really love working in the studio. I’m interested in the freedom that the studio has to sort of experiment, to take things away and bring them back. But I don’t know, it’s difficult. There’s really no excitement but your own in the studio. Playing live you sort of get to feed off other people. It’s a weird coin, with two distinct sides.
m: You’re originally from – I don’t know if I can pronounce it – Pecatonica, Illinois? Is that it?
C: That was the correct pronunciation. Good job.
m: Thanks. I practiced that for a while before I called. But it’s a small town, what was it like growing up there?
C: It was crazy. There were only 40 or 42 in my graduating class. It was a really small town – there were like, 250 kids in my high school. It’s definitely crazy living in a small town and interacting with small town people. We had previously lived in a city. I think we were in the suburbs until maybe fifth grade and then we moved straight into the middle of nowhere. But it was good. It was sort of exciting not having much to do. You make your own fun.
m: More than once, you’ve called yourself a musician from Michigan. You don’t consider yourself from Illinois then?
C: I have strong bonds to Illinois. It used to be that I would say I was from Illinois when I was in Michigan. But I think it’s at the point, where if I’m in Illinois, I say I’m from Michigan. And if I’m in Michigan, I say I’m from Michigan. My most active years – 2002 up until this point – have all been in Michigan. It’s affected my development, so I consider myself a Michigan musician. And I have a Michigan license. I’m a resident.
m: You’ve toured all over the US – how would you say that Michigan differs from the rest of the country?
C: It seems like there’s sort of this umbrella of Michigan fanaticism amongst the people that live here – at least with the people that I’ve met. I understand that there’s a sort of flight of young, creative people out of Michigan, but it feels very club-like in a sense. People are really into the fact that they’re from Michigan. There’s a ton of people who have moved to New York, and they see themselves still sort of existing in their Michigan support systems. There is Michigan music, and there are people who are pro-Michigan music. It seems to be unified by locale, which I think it’s a really good thing.
m: Are you doing music full-time?
C: At the moment, I currently have a day job. It’s possible to make a living playing music – I have done it for long stretches of four to five months before. It’s really difficult, but it’s rewarding. But just to strictly to live off playing music, especially – I can’t believe I’m saying it – but in an economy like this one, things like entertainment and art are one of the first things to get cut back on. So yeah, I have a job right now, but I’m also writing a lot. I just got back from the studio prepping for the next record. Technically, it feels like I have two jobs. I haven’t really stopped (laughs).
If you're looking to learn more, check out Chris's MySpace for free streaming MP3s and as well as a list of his upcoming shows (he'll be at the Elbow Room in Ypsilanti on Feb. 21).
*Photo courtesy of Quite Scientific Records