London spending on average sixteen hours a day, every day, seven days a week, writing and recording music.
"I guess that’s the reason I have written and produced so many releases. But in doing that I sacrificed any kind of social life except for the occasional DJ and live gigs. I don’t really know what I was looking for but I guess after Hook-Bellboy I became a little lost in my musical direction and certainly made some bad errors of judgment with some releases and some people I worked with during my travels.
"I finally ended up in Prague which I loved as a place to live. The scene there was very good. It had an innocence and vibrancy I hadn’t seen in Spain or Holland. The Czech scene was reminiscent of the old rave scene, so it felt quite nostalgic. However, within a year and half of my arriving in Prague I noticed the scene had become contaminated slightly by the usual dodgy promoters who began skimping on costs and the events. Yet the atmosphere was still good due to the people who went to the events, but I was feeling the need to become more connected to the music again and I felt the only place I may get that was back in the UK. So I decided to move back to my home town of Aberdeen. Since then I feel I have been slowly finding my musical direction again and have been writing a lot of tracks for my upcoming album."
As a musician you worked under many different names. Do you regret that?
"My only regret using all those aliases is that very few people know who was behind many of those tracks. At one point I had over twenty of them. I realize now it would have been better for my career if I had used my own name. There were a number of factors involved in the use of aliases. It was worth it in the sense that I was able to release a lot of music without constrictions but on the other hand I should have been managed a lot better. I never did have a manager and this was due to my ex label partner. I talked about it with him a few times but he always wanted to avoid the conversation.
"I was and still am a very loyal person so I never would secure the services of a good manager in case my label partner thought I was only looking out for myself."
Many of your tracks, regardless the name you released them under and the genre they supposed to represent, have a recognizable "Chris Cowie" drive. Is that the beating of your heart? Did you ever dream about making music not intended for the dance-floor?
"I have made a lot of music not for the dance floor and at least half of my forthcoming album will contain non dance floor material. Over the years I also have written indie tracks just for me because deep down I do love indie guitar stuff. It is where it all started for me; playing guitar in indie bands. There is certainly a “Chris Cowie” sound in my work and I get a number of people telling me I should have never tried to get away from my signature sound. But after Hook-Bellboy I absolutely tried to change
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