Learn how Chris Wabich creates his own musical style with steelpan.
Every recording artist has a process for creating their own sound. It can involve any number of combinations from recording techniques to musical influences and even personal idiosyncrasies that help shape their sound.
For Chris Wabich, utilizing all of these elements and more is crucial to creating and expressing his unique vision for musical expression. Harnessing a Master’s degree in Percussion and a wickedly sardonic sense of humor, one can best describe Wabich as the “Frank Zappa of steelpan.” He also possesses a creative and virtuosic prowess on the drum kit. Whatever the case, Wabich continues to create unique music, with his latest upcoming release heading into new territory for the artist, featuring all “positive songs” to offset life’s challenges and obstacles.
“The music has two major aspects. The first is the inspiration for the melodic and harmonic landscape, and the second is presenting a tone poem of different facets of intrinsic optimism against a literal lifetime of constant tragedy,” Wabich explained. “It’s not meant to be my therapy record, but something that will inspire people to remain positive and optimistic. I intend to write some heavy liner notes that should be read only after people absorb the music.”
What makes Wabich such a skilled and well-rounded musician is perhaps his willingness to experiment and to continue learning and perfecting his craft. Wabich has over 50 albums to his credit as a player/producer, and a few hundred more as a sideman. He has explored many genres, both directly and in fusion formats, showcasing his versatility and willingness to test the boundaries of his capabilities. His two most recent albums, “Optirhythm” and “The Notes”, put his intellectual and artistic prowess on display for all to hear. But his talents didn’t begin there. His sound was crafted from years of hard work.
“They say you need 10,000 hours to hone your skills, right? I tend to double down with the accountability of things in the formative stages with the idea that hitting the 10K hour mark is just the beginning. You don’t master something by playing it perfectly, but by absorbing the essence and then forgetting about the technical concepts so it’s truly a part of YOU,” Wabich said.
“There is nothing more authentic than being your own best version. I have this habit of drawing connections with the strangest things that are truly one in my mind. People find them unique, but it makes sense to me somehow,” he added. “For example, I used to have this group playing jazz standards in Eastern European odd time signatures (not the overplayed jazz 7/8!!!!). Hitting the changes and corners of those tunes with the overlay of 11/16 was natural depending on which song we did. It’s NOT THAT ODD really!! No trust me hahahahaha… ok, I know it’s probably space alien music to lots of people, but try it!!!”
Listener Supported
Every recording artist hopes for their work to be critically and commercially successful. Thankfully for Wabich, “Optirhythm” was well-received by fans and non-fans alike.
“The responses to ‘Optirhythm’ have been diverse,” Wabich said. “A few memorable ones: ‘Your fire is burning bright, keep blowing the flame,’ ‘I can tell you put your heart and soul into this album and left nothing on the field,’ and ‘I need some creative soundscapes and this feels perfect!’ Certain people gravitated towards specific tracks, stating that it was ‘their jam’ which was a total surprise to me. Lots of people favor the tune “Lullaby”, and a couple of schools have arranged it for their percussion ensemble.”
Another surprise fan to the album (as noted by Wabich) came in the form of Al Nathan, a door man at famed North Hollywood jazz club, The Baked Potato. Nathan has known Wabich since 2010 and the two have been friends ever since. As one of three door men, Nathan takes his job seriously, ensuring the show runs on time and nobody “dies on you.” Another part of his job is to receive a CD from a returning band in hopes that he will play it on the house system. Optirhythm is one of the albums that made the cut and continues to make it to this day due to its popularity with both patrons and staff.
“There are maybe three or four albums we play the entire year where you know it’s an instant classic and Chris’ record is one of those. It was in the CD changer for a year. People say, ‘What is this?’ I like that it’s a little bit different than your typical jazz record. It’s got a little something extra. It’s got things you can catch onto. Once in a while musicians will give you something great but mostly background music. This is something that could stack up to Grammy nominations for that type of music.”
According to Nathan, Wabich’s music reminds him of progressive rock bands moreso than straight ahead jazz. “It’s not your typical trio or quartet with sax, bass and drums. How many times have we heard that? There’s something extra in it. I’ve never heard steelpan used like that before.”
A Different Approach
With a unique style often comes a unique approach to creating it. Every element of an album is likely a contributor to its end result. One unique element that Wabich used to create his latest album was the use of an iPhone to do his file sharing. Wabich does not have home internet.
According to Wabich, the music has two major aspects. The first is the inspiration for the melodic and harmonic landscape, and the second is presenting a tone poem of different facets of intrinsic optimism against a literal lifetime of constant tragedy. “It’s not meant to be my therapy record, but something that will inspire people to remain positive and optimistic. I wrote some heavy liner notes that should be read only after people absorb the music.”
He also crafted the album with a different way of using steelpan. Instead of featuring it prominently on every track, as he originally intended, he decided to change course as he wrote the songs and featured it in a more ambient and supporting capacity on just three of the songs.
“For ‘The Notes’, I originally intended to have pan on all of the tracks. It’s ending up on just three because I really liked the interpretations of the cast. It’s featured heavily on “Taos” which is a track representing the world connecting in a singular spot,” Wabich said. “It’s constructed so elements of cultures can coexist without compromise. Rather than a mashup of culture, it’s a non-academic blend that has its own swing in the end. It represents how the world will eventually be; a mixed culture.”
While it was featured prominently on only three songs, steelpan is present on every track. “Pan is on every track but it’s buried. There’s one solo and one tune I did in five with the pans playing the Phase II strum rhythm in five as the track goes along. It sounds like pan but you don’t notice it,” Wabich explained.
Trends for the Future
The songs for the album were all sent to each musician without context. This allowed each artist to interpret their meaning without knowledge of their intent, which Wabich had in spades.
“I have veteran status with family members dying young, being surrounded by negativity with crazy people trying to attack me. So I wrote this album and just gave musicians the songs but didn’t tell them what it was about,” Wabich said. “People just played the music and got the feeling of what it was like from the arrangements.”
“As for the technical landscape, nearly each composition has moments where sus chords appear,” Wabich added. “That represents the unknown in music and the unknown in relation to the song’s topic. A way of explaining it is that I’ve set a tone poem based on a certain life experience and left it completely to this cast to react in their honest way. I didn’t tell most of the cast what the actual meaning is because they know me anyway. In all cases, they downloaded my intention and remained themselves against it. I’m so happy about how this turned out. The layers for deepening on repeated listening is high on this one! I’m definitely setting my own trend for the future.”
Download a digital copy of “The Notes” HERE.
Click each to get a physical version of the album on Vinyl or CD.
