With As Long As This Moment Exists, Chris Fortier makes his debut artist album, which is quite extraordinary considering his many accomplishments. One of the original DJs on the legendary Orlando progressive dance music scene of the early 80s/late 90s, Chris ran the influential Balance record pool and was half of the Fade record label and production team. After a few years in New York, Chris was able to focus on what he really wanted, his original music, and this new CD is the culmination of a year of production.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: Your new CD, As Long As This Moment Ends, is your first
artist album. When you started working on it, were you creating
tracks for the album or were you compiling tracks you'd already
produced?
Chris Fortier:: I specifically set out to make an album. I'd made
singles and remixes over the last thirteen years, but I didn't want to
do just that anymore. I had an opportunity to look at something
bigger that I'd always had in my mind to do, rather than singles and
EPs. It's taken a couple of years to put me in the right mindframe
and be able to sit down and do it. The goal was to start January of
last year and write as many songs as possible and then at the end of
the year evaluate what I have and see if I have a theme or just a
collection of tracks. After a year, I realized there was something
more than just a bunch of random tracks.
RS: So in twelve months how many tracks did you come up with?
Chris Fortier:: About twenty-two or twenty-three.
RS: And how many of those ended up on this album?
Chris Fortier:: Sixteen.
RS: When you're working on music do you start with a sample or
keyboard lick, what's your songwriting process?
Chris Fortier:: It could be any of those things, its the idea that
pops in my mind for inspiration. It could be a sample, a vocal thing,
something that I heard that I think would be cool to have that as a
piece and then I might go in and start building on something. Many
times during the creation process I would have four or five things in
process at the same time. It wasn't that I sat down and made one song
and then moved up to the next one because I would have ideas that I
would try to put in to some songs and they wouldn't work and I would
think they were good so I'd set them aside as sort of a foundation for
another song. So I might work on something for a few hours one day
and then go to the next song and then something else in the afternoon.
Its similar to the way that I DJ, I compile loads of sounds and put
them in folder and then I'll go to the folders and start pulling them
out and see what works and try to compose on top of those sketches and
things.
RS: As you're working on music, do you have in the back of your
head will this work on a dance floor?
Chris Fortier:: When it comes to this particular project, I wasn't
thinking about that at all. I was thinking about an artist album and
how any other real artist approaches an album. I mean it's about
music creation and not only one target - it's about making sounds that
work together in a cohesive manner. In the context of the sixteen
songs, all of the songs work together. I don't think I've ever looked
at anything from the approach of the dance floor. When I'd come back
from DJing on the weekend, I'd have an idea for something I might have
already sketched out on my laptop on the road and it would be a record
I would play for sure. Then there are other times when I sit down and
just try to be creative and something down-tempo or ambient or
abstract comes out. Nothing was targeted specifically at the
dancefloor, it was about a listening experience and not something that
I'm trying to get people to dance to.
RS: How difficult was it to make this album as compared to one
of your mix compilations?
Chris Fortier:: Obviously it's tough with the respect that every
sound and note has to be written and you can't rely on other peoples'
tracks to tell the story. I approach every album that I've ever done
in the same sort of fashion - I'm going to put every ounce of effort
into it, because I don't want any bit of complacency to go on with it.
I approached everything putting a lot of care and touch on all the
details that I could, and I think I do the same when it comes to a mix
album. I probably spend more time when I do a mix album mixing tracks
than I would probably say anyone in the world. I worked on the
Balance album for over six months and it's pretty unheard of for
anyone to be that attentive. It's important to me to make something
special and unique and this album obviously is that. It's something
that not a lot of people get a chance to do or have the guts to do and
I'm happy that I took the risk to try to do it and I'm really pleased
with the results as well. I'm really happy and look forward to
getting it out and more people listening.
