read more: Chris T-T on Wikipedia
read more: 2009 interview with Stereokill
“Outstanding, indispensable genius. A modern-day Blake.”
THE SUNDAY TIMES
Over the past decade, writer and musician Chris T-T has been one of the most consistently acclaimed artists in British underground music.
Since 1999 Chris has released eight albums, including a trilogy about London: The 253 (2001), London Is Sinking (2003) and Capital (2008), as well as political protest album 9 Red Songs (2005) and more recently the inward-looking Love Is Not Rescue (2010).
Based in Brighton but restlessly mobile, he writes for magazines, websites and books, including a regular column in national left-wing newspaper The Morning Star. Alongside writing and touring, Chris also speaks regularly at conferences and runs songwriting seminars and workshops.
“A national gem of a songwriter.”
THE INDEPENDENT
Emerging from roots in late 90s lo-fi and psych-folk, Chris first gained acclaim for sarcastic, city-obsessed urban folk. More recently he has developed into an influential figure of UK song; crossing barriers between punk, psych-pop and English folk, inspiring a generation of successful home-grown artists.
Chris has played shows around the world with artists such as Ben Folds, Elbow, The Divine Comedy, The National, Bellowhead, Walkmen, Delgados, British Sea Power, Arab Strap, Carter USM, Frank Turner, Marcus Brigstocke, Madrugada, Attila The Stockbroker, Robyn Hitchcock, Stewart Lee, Iain Sinclair and many others. He has also played piano for three generations of great British singer-songwriter; accompanying Tom Robinson, Jim Bob (Carter USM) and Frank Turner.
He has been a speaker or panellist at SOAS, Boring 2011, Interrogate!, Great Escape, Brighton Digital Festival, LSE and many others. He leads songwriting seminars for all ages and abilities, working with schools, universities and songwriter groups across the UK.
In 2007 Chris co-founded Midwinter Picnic to organise charity fundraising events. In 2010 he co-founded Arc Alliance to deliver creative concepts to the TV and charity industries. An avid Twitter user, in 2010 he instigated the #IAmSpartacus global Twitter meme, as an act of civil disobedience in support of Paul Chambers’ Twitter Joke Trial.
He has also performed on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square for Anthony Gormley’s One & Other project; re-soundtracked live cult Japanese film Battle Royale for Soho’s Other Cinema and composed music on commission for the Natural History Museum and the World Health Organisation. A number of his photos are included in the Dark Mountain Volume Two book and his essay The Year Punk Broke is in the first New Public Thinkers collection, Despatches From The Invisible Revolution.
Since January 2010 Chris has taken a photo of every loo he goes in and posted it to Twitter using the #loo2010, #loo2011 and now #loo2012 hashtags. In 2011, Chris took his one-man show Disobedience to Edinburgh Fringe Festival, singing new musical versions of A.A. Milne’s 1920s childrens’ poems.
