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BGS 5+5: Chris Staples

Jul 11, 2019

BGS 5+5: Chris Staples

Artist: Chris Staples
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Latest album: Holy Moly
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Buns, Stapes

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I would have to say Tom Petty. I fell in love with his albums as a youngster from Florida. His tunes were always about being dumped or being bummed. How did this guy from Gainesville, who probably grew up in a trailer park, make these great songs and become a rock and roll sensation? He was pretty dorky and genuine at the same time. He was from a few towns away from where I grew up and it always filled me with hope.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

So many to choose from, geez. I played a show recently in San Francisco. It was in a top-floor apartment near Chinatown. There were 75 people crammed into this apartment so it was pretty cozy. I had just hurt my back really bad on tour; people helped me carry my gear and merch up four flights of stairs, which was really nice. Everyone was so excited to be there. I could hear a soft rain through the open windows of the apartment, as well as sounds from the city drifting by. It just felt magical for some reason.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I watch a lot of documentary film. I just watched a great doc called Los Angeles Plays Itself. Itā€™s about the many filming locations in L.A. that have been used across decades of film and in different genres. The documentary makes the assertion that L.A. is a character in many films that does not mirror reality. It delves into some of the darker truths about the city. Great film, but itā€™s also a look into the mind of a director with a sort of twisted perspective.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Usually before a show I try to find some time to walk around outside and get some fresh air. Sometimes I try to find someone at the show that reminds me of an old friend. Someone who makes me laugh or seems interesting. If I have a 20-minute conversation with a stranger at a show, I forget that I have to play and Iā€™m not nervous at all about playing. For me, itā€™s the best antidote Iā€™ve found to being nervous. A fun conversation with someone can take me from being almost crippled with nervous energy to being ultra chill. It still amazes me.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use ā€œyouā€ when it’s actually ā€œmeā€?

The opposite happens more often. I write a lot about other people a lot but I say ā€œI.ā€ Sometimes my friends text me and say ā€œI didnā€™t know you went through a divorce??!!ā€ I have to explain that itā€™s just a song. The names/places/events can be made up but the sentiment is all real, and universal. I think music listeners are conditioned to think that the singer is the person in the song. Itā€™s just an aspect of this medium that is confusing. I think itā€™s good in a way for people to wonder but never really know. Itā€™s different for screenwriters or authors. No one emails Stephen King asking if he broke someoneā€™s legs with a sledgehammer. Itā€™s a given that all of his stories are born out of his imagination.


Photo credit: Andrew Shepherd

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BGS 5+5: Chris Staples
BGS 5+5: Chris Staples