Meet Chris Wirsig

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Wirsig a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I’d like to say that this comes from me being born and raised in Germany, and having lived there most of my life. But then again, it’s not a unique German thing… 😉

I’m sure it has to do with growing up in a working household, and in an area that back then didn’t have big unemployment issues, so everyone worked in one way or another. But it probably also comes from somewhere inside of me, wanting to do my best, especially in fields that I’m interested in. And while I can be a totally lazy person, just reading or watching movies, I also quickly tend to get that itch to produce something, work on something.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a composer, songwriter and producer. In my early days I had some classical training on piano and saxophone, later I studied audio engineering, and have been writing music since my teens. Funny enough, I remember that I wrote a very minimal (actually pretty bad) piano piece as a kid, but my piano teacher was less impressed LOL. I like to think that I’ve come a long way since then 😉

Nowadays I write a lot of music for film and TV, but also still enjoy writing songs and producing all different genres of music. I’ve started out more on the dark side of music – dark Electro Pop, and moody instrumentals – but have been branching out in recent years, as several directors and co-writers pushed me to other genres as well. And I really enjoy this variety of styles. Of course I can’t help myself and always bring in some edgyness in most of the projects I’m working on. But then again, this is why many also want me as a collaborator. I tend to see what exotic instruments or sounds can be used, or where a song can be made more interesting.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Becoming a musician, the most important thing is to learn at least the basics of music theory and an instrument you can play. This has helped me in all of my work in music – from writing to production and mixing. You don’t need to be an expert in every part of music theory or become a virtuoso on your instrument, but you should definitely know the basics.

Apart from this, I think its most important for all artists to stay curious and never stop learning. Not just to keep up with new trends (that often change quickly, especially in music), but also to keep yourself hungry and entertained. Music and all creative arts are a playful profession, and to me learning new things – quite often by playing around with different things – is a very enjoyable part of it.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
Oh, there’s a lot. But one very important thing definitely was that I could have piano lessons at an early age, and then later saxophone lessons. This gave me the basic music theory, and – especially when playing saxophone – a broader sense of music and genres.

Also, I could soak up any kind of music, and even when I wanted to study audio engineering (not the usual choice in a more rural part of Germany) they were always supportive.

Oh, and another thing, they “forced” me to take a typewriting course in high school. I’m still very grateful for that, as I can type really fast (including this interview) 😉

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