We recently connected with Christopher Michael Stevens and have shared our conversation below.
Christopher Michael, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
God has always been the source of my creativity! My bandmates, will probably tell you about the many times that I showed up with a new song that I “wrote” on the way to rehearsal. I say “wrote” in quotes because I feel like I receive the music more than I make it up, or at least that’s what I would say about the really good ones. They were birthed out of this sudden inspiration that happens most often during a time of prayer and reflection, and sometimes they’re the dreams that keep me up at night! In addition to that, I listen to a wide variety of styles and genres, and I watch lots of films. I think I internalize the art that makes me feel something. Those are the things that I think of from time to time and end up smiling or dancing or quoting. So I guess my answer to how I keep my creativity alive is that I pray and I listen.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I have been a touring/studio musician for 20+ years. The last 14 of which I have been fronting my own band, Vertical Current. It started out as something I wanted to do because I had written so many songs and I just didn’t have an outlet for them. I thought that I was going to take the couple hundred tunes from my computer and play them live somewhere. Instead, I just ended up writing even more songs! Inspired by my experiences in Gospel music and my Dad’s Jazz Fusion record collection, I composed the songs for the band with every intention of spreading faith, hope and love. Please visit our website www.verticalcurrent.com to learn more about the band and see where we’ll be next. When you finish there feel free to stop by www.chrisstevensmusic.com if you wanna learn a bit more about me and my other projects.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back I would say that my ability to quickly learn and retain music, my work ethic, and my ability to adapt have served me well over the years. Additionally, years of playing in a gospel music horn section, trained me to quickly arrange horn parts and melodies.
I think I get my strong work ethic from my parents. I have witnessed the hours of preparation that has gone into their performances, so I understand what it takes to operate at a high level.
As far as learning music and adapting, I recommend these three things. First, listen to lots of music. Being familiar with lots of music makes it easier to learn and remember songs. For me I think it’s a combination of building a vocabulary and being able to make associations. Second, I would say get out of your comfort zone. Play in as many different types of situations as you can. There is something to be gained from each of those experiences and you never know what you may need to pull from at any given moment. Lastly, learn what song form is. That will make communicating music verbally less challenging and it will help with the mental organization of parts. Sometimes the issue with remembering a song is just knowing what comes in where. Being able to define the “where” in music is when knowing song form (i.e. Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Vamp, etc) really comes in clutch!
Lastly, playing in a gospel music horn section forced me to learn how to work in a group and how to flow with the moment as it is happening. In a live music setting anything can happen. It’s important to learn the proper way to respond to the unexpected. What do you do when you’ve learned a complex arrangement and moments before the performance the artist decides to change the key? There’s no chart and very little time. What do you do when the power goes out so the acoustic instruments have to keep the performance alive? What do you do when you have to learn a new song before soundcheck and you are literally taking a shower and have to leave in the next 15-20 mins? I’ve faced all of those scenarios and more. I don’t know if I would have been ready for it if not for my prior musical experiences/upbringing. So I guess what I’m trying to say is use every opportunity to learn and grow!
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
My biggest area of improvement in the last 12 months has probably been my confidence. For many years, I was playing hurt but I didn’t know it. It wasn’t until I went through the recovery process after tearing my achilles that I really started to pay attention to the muscles in my face. When I started applying what I was learning to that area of my body, I saw immediate improvement in my performance. I really struggled for a long time because I was not performing at the level that I diligently was working towards. I didn’t know that I needed to strengthen and stretch the muscles in my face. Learning to do that showed me that the problem wasn’t that I was lacking in talent. Much of what I was failing at I can do with much more ease now. Nutrition was a big part of that too. The physicality of playing any musical instrument, but especially the trumpet demands a healthy body. Taking care of my body made playing easier, and consequently improved my confidence!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chrisstevensmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/csmusic1?igsh=dW52Y2hqbWkxOTN0&utm_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-stevens-9a9046273?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Image Credits
Maximilian Images Alexis Simmons Augie Kim Brian Kilpatrick Derek Brad Beaumonde Originals Steven Taylor Photography
