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In Conversation With: In House Music + Sound's Christopher Wray

16/10/2017
Reps
Los Angeles, United States
220
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In House Music + Sound founder on working on The White Album for Weezer and being an avid outdoorsman

At the end of an impossibly hot Los Angeles summer, DeVine Reps' Robin Reed sat down in an air conditioned coffee shop in West Hollywood with Christopher Wray, founder of In House Music + Sound. Christopher is a man of many talents, a man of much work, and a man of varied interests and skills. He has worked as a songwriter, session musician, multi-instrumentalist, composer arranger, touring musician and producer. He calls himself “an avid outdoorsman.” Here’s how that all comes together to make one of the most unique music houses on the scene.


Q> How did you go from working as a musician and on film scores to working on commercials and starting In House?

CW> I worked for a film composer named James Newton Howard for about six years, and when that season (of working with him) was coming to an end I thought, ‘I’m on my own now. Where do I want to go from here?’ My previous experiences working in the ad world had me thinking there were ways to make the music experience better for everyone… And by everyone I mean the agencies, creative directors, production houses, composers - all of the people creating these spots. I’ve worked as a session musician, record producer, composer, artist, and sound designer. I knew opening In House would give me the opportunity to utilise my entire skill set as well as collaborate with my favourite artists, composers, and musicians on creative and challenging projects. I work with brilliant song writers like Dan Wilson who’s penned some of the best songs in the last two decades (Someone Like You, Closing Time, Not Ready to Make Nice) as well as some of Hip Hop’s sickest producers like T-Minus who has worked with everyone from Drake to Nikki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar. In House gives me the perfect platform to pull from my unique network of music creators and presents really cool opportunities for collaboration. 


Q> You’ve done a lot of work as a studio musician. What do you think about people who say that’s not as legit or, like, “rock and roll” as being in a band?

CW> I love being in the studio! There’s only so many ways you get to work with the artists that you love. I'm never going to be in Weezer, but I got to work on their album last year because I do studio work. I just love being in the studio and contributing to peoples artistic vision. So because I do studio work I’ve gotten to work with Weezer, Courtney Love, Anthony Hamilton, Son Lux, lots of bands and artists I wouldn’t have gotten to work with otherwise. You're contributing to a piece of work that lasts forever, and in my opinion, the skills it takes to be a studio musician eclipse the skills that it takes to be in a band. You can be a shitty musician and be in a widely popular, hugely successful band, but if you’re a session musician you have to bring it. Some people hate the studio, but I freaking love it. 


Q> So are you one of those guys who can pick up any instrument and just know how to play it?

CW> I mean when I kind of get obsessive about new instruments and things like that, I go really hard on them. I’d say what I’m known for is synthesis, pedal steel, guitars and a few other odds and ends.  


Q> When you say ‘synthesis’ do you mean 'synths' like keyboards? 

CW> I do, but more from a modular perspective. So there's these things called modular synths. They’re the synths with tons of cables and blinking lights. It’s a bit more in-depth because there's just more possibility of the sounds that you can make. Because there are so many different aspects of a sound that you're creating, you end up making sounds that can never be heard again because there are so many patch points. The complexity of the sound that you’ve made - it’s really valuable in the world of film and commercials. 


Q> How did you get started with music? Piano lessons as a kid sort of thing?

CW> Oh yeah, I did but they didn't last long. I lost interest in it quickly but then I started playing guitar and I fell in love with guitar. 

I went on a tour last year with an artist named Butch Walker, and for that gig, it was a pedal steel guitar vocal and keyboards. It was a multi-instrument gig. At the time I was not a 'keyboard' player so it was one of those things where Butch called and said “hey man, do you want to do this gig, and I need you to play keyboards,” and I said “yeah, no problem” then I called one of my best friends, a guy named John Sosin who’s a killer session musician and I said “bro, I’ve got a month and a half.” 

So for four hours every day, up until rehearsals, I was playing keys and then we were good to go! So, yeah, it takes a ton of work, but I do love learning new instruments. But my whole thing is: I need to have a 75% chance of being able to nail it to say yes. If I feel like if there's there's a 75% chance I'm gonna nail it then I go for it. I have a 100% Success rate so far with that philosophy… knock on wood. 


Q> With that in your background, do you think of the crew at In House as your band?

CW> I think it more as a family because I have close personal relationships with all the people that I work with. From the composers to the sound designers to the mixers - I love my team, and I've worked with them in some form or fashion outside of the commercial world, so I'm very in tune with their skill set and what they bring to the table, which I feel like allows me to call the right people for the job.


Q> How do you like working in the commercial world so far? Big change of pace?

CW> A lot of people complain about the frantic schedule, the super fast-paced nature of it, ups and downs of ‘you got it, you don't got it,’ you know? It really it takes a specific, I think, personality, and I weirdly love all of it. I love the frantic nature of it, I love the quick turnarounds, I love that when a job's done it's done, I love the challenge. I like talking with other creatives and allowing them to give me their vision of what they think the music needs to be and either supporting that, or vocally telling them where I think it could be a little bit different. I always want to make sure I give the client what they asked for, but sometimes I’ll slide in a couple things that I think might fit a little bit better. But I love it. Yeah, I'm having a blast.


Q> What are some of your favorite projects you’ve done?

CW> My favorite commercial thing that I’ve done was an indie project for Tidal Magazine. It was directed by We Are The Rhoads, a photography couple, Chris Rhoads and Sarah Rhoads. They are absolute geniuses - in my opinion probably the two best photographers in the world doing this work right now. And at the time we were - both the Rhoads and myself - into this book 'Dune,' it’s an old sci-fi novel - and so the shoot’s very Dune-esque. I was really stoked with the music that we ended up coming up for for it.

And then musically, last year I did the bulk of the synth work for The White Album for Weezer. That was really fun, and I worked with producer named Jake Sinclair, he was also just incredible dude. I'm in one of his bands called Alohaha which is like this indie, super mellow, depressing, Hawaiian music kind of thing. It's super sick.


Q> Sad ukuleles? 

CW> No ukuleles, but there's guitar and there's two pedal steel players so myself and this other guy named Josh Kaler. It was the most challenging session I've ever done in my life, but it was also the most rewarding. That project was two years ago and that's how I met Jake and since then I worked with him on a bunch of stuff that he produces.


Q> Anything you want to work on that you haven’t done yet? What’s on your radar?

CW> It’s a really good question. One of my favourite hip-hop producers is guy named Clams Casino - in fact I Instagrammed him two days ago. We have a mutual friend named Ryan Lott who has a band called Son Lux, which is really great. I haven’t heard back from him - he probably has a million people messaging him a day, but I'm a big fan of his and I'd love to work with him. Also at some point would love to work with James Blake, I’m a big James Blake fan. As far as like composers and stuff for film I feel really blessed to be working with the people that I really love. Rob Simonsen is one of my best friends. He’s one of my favourite composers and I work with him frequently. He started a collective of composers called The Echo Society and they have a three night festival coming up on October 20th-22nd. I’m performing with In House collaborator Morgan Kibby (M83, White Sea) on an original piece she wrote for the event and I’m really looking forward to it. 


Q> What’s your outside-of-work thing?

CW> I’ve got so many! I love to fly fish, I love motorcycles - that's actually how I met Butch Walker: we rode motorcycles together for a while before he asked me to be in his band. I have a Harley, Heritage Softail that I ride quite a bit. I love old cars; I have an old Jeep that I drove here in. I love vintage watches. I surf about three days a week.

I grew up in Oklahoma, where you can't really do almost all of these things, which is why when I moved here I thought ‘I’m never leaving California, I'm here forever.’ I love everything about this state, except for the taxes. 

I’m an avid outdoorsman, I love to be outdoors. In fact, I’m probably gonna go up to the Kern River this weekend with a buddy and backpack for a couple days. We’re gonna get up to the elevation, the nice cool air, that's why we're getting out of town. Yeah, yeah there's so many things I love to do. I just love life, I really do. I love music, it’s my career path and it's also my passion, but it's just kind of one of the many things that I really love to do.


Q> Okay, so on your personal Instagram, I saw a photo of you, in a chair, in a yard, with a dog, a coffee, and a cigar. That feels like a dream life. Talk to me about that dog!

CW> His name’s Jack. He’s a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. We do everything together. He goes fly fishing with me, he goes camping with me, he goes to sessions with me. He’s my best bud. Every morning, he kind of knows the routine, but I pretty much have a cigar with my coffee every morning at 9:30 a.m. Don't tell my doctors that. 

Q> How old is Jack?

CW> Four.


Q> Have you had him since he was a puppy?

CW> Yup, since he was eight weeks old. So I’ve molded him in my image.




Learn more about In House Music + Sound at http://www.inhousemusicandsound.com/ and follow them on Instagram @inhousemusicandsound.
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