A chat with Chris Ho

by Richard Moore

Chris Ho’s music career begun as a simple passion for music. He made music in his Victoria, B.C., home and gave it away for free to anyone who was willing to listen. As time went by a following begun to form in Ho’s home town, eventually driving him to play live around the University of Victoria campus.

In April 2011 Ho released his first official EP Answers, and almost two years later, in January 2013, his Debut-LP City of Dust. The third track on the album “Story of the Flood” got quite a bit of radio traction resulting in Ho being acknowledged with the “Island Song Writer of the Year Award” at the Vancouver Island Music Awards.

I recently had a chance to chat with the man himself about his latest LP and future plans.

Rich Moore: I heard that originally you did not enjoy playing live and now you do, what changed? 

Chris Ho: It felt like it was very much about reaching a level of personal growth as far as charisma goes and coming out of your shell. It felt like it was less about the music and more about being comfortable with yourself and sharing your art with the world.

RM: I noticed that under the instruments you play on the album, you used a typewriter, lets talk about that…

CH: It’s at the end of the song “City of Dust”. Its faint but basically I’m typing something and you, as a listener, don’t know what I’m typing. I guess it’s like a bonus on the track. Really it’s just a quirky thing to add. It suggests that since a typewriter is only for writing, that I wrote the lyrics. It reminds you to listen closely to the music for themes.

RM: Have you ever written songs on a typewriter?

CH: I have written songs on the typewriter in the past and I found that the lyrics flow in a different way that is interesting.

RM: Who is your biggest musical influence?

CH: I would have to say that my biggest influence is WILCO …. they are easily one of my favorites.

RM: How long is the process from the beginning of writing a song until it is ready for the studio?

CH: That’s an interesting one! Generally, my policy is that if it takes more than a day to complete, by that I mean 6 hours, if it takes longer than that to complete I feel that it shouldn’t be taken to the studio.

RM: How long do the best songs take?

CH: The best songs are the ones that are done quickly. Some take one to three hours and those end up being the best songs because you don’t over think it, the lyrics just flow and come from a place that is almost beyond your consciousness. So the songs on the album don’t take very long to write. If they do take too long it almost feels forced and I just have to back away from it for a while. Often times it will be transformed into a new song.

RM: Will you be playing any show out east in the near Future?

CH: I actually now can say that I will be attending NXNE Festival this summer and I will be playing on June15th at the Monarch Tavern in Toronto ON.