Review Fix Exclusive: Christopher Washington Talks Creative Process and Goals

October 12, 2018 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Christopher Washington, who discusses his creative process, musical bucket list and goals for the future.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Christopher Washington: I was introduced to music by my Dad. He sings and plays guitar as well and was pursuing a career in music when I was younger. He used to take me to the studio with him all the time. I got to play basketball with Brotha Lynch and sit in on a few studio sessions. I was singing before I could talk, like mouthing melodies. The first song I ever “sang” was Sensitivity by Ralph Tresvant. From there my Dad noticed that I had a god given talent to sing and he began to develop my craft from there. He always let me pursue any instrument I wanted to play. That resulted in my playing the viola, clarinet, and finding my love in the guitar. The first time I realized I wanted to play guitar was when I saw John Mayer play at the Grammy Awards in 2000 and I have been playing ever since.  

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Washington: I don’t really have a particular creative process that I follow. Usually it just starts out with me picking up the guitar and just playing some chords. Eventually, I find a nice chord progression that I like and began tweaking it from there. After I built a nice sounding progression I put together a singing melody that sounds good over it. That melody sometimes leads to words and from there I build the concept. Basically, its like I just follow the vibe of the song trying to create something new and innovative with my melodies. 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Washington: I get inspired by hearing other amazing songs. I really love hearing a new creative song that uses dope melodies and has a dope concept. I get this burning desire to learn the song, make it my own and share it with the world on my social media platforms. I also get inspired by my fans. When my fans tell me how much they like a certain thing or give me criticism its great, I love it. I use that energy to make more songs or learn new covers so I can share more. Lastly, I get inspiration from my family. They all want to see me succeed and they give me so much energy to keep pushing forward to reach my dreams.  

Review Fix: What’s on your musical bucket list?

Washington: Sitting at the very top of my musical bucket list is to play and work with John Mayer. He is a very big mentor to me. I have followed his career very closely and always listen when he talks anything music or music theory. I would love to have a jam session with him and record a few songs with him. Next would be to meet and work with Ryan Leslie. He inspired me years ago with his videos on YouTube showing his creative process. He, just like John Mayer, is a musical genius and I would be blessed to get the opportunity to create music with him. Another item on my bucket list would be to do an international tour. I would love to be able to share my music around the world. 

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Washington: I would say that my sound is soulful at the base but very versatile. Since I studied so many great singers in many different genres my voice has the tendency to change depending on the type of song I am singing. My range is pretty wide as well so I have a lot of room to play with different types of sound. I sing everything from R&B to country so I would say it just depends on the song I am singing. I have gotten comparisons to Chris Brown, Usher, Gary Clark Jr., and Lenny Kravitz. 

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Washington: During my live shows I get to let loose a little more. When I am in the studio things have to be a little more controlled because I have to stay with the tempo of the song and there are certain things I have to adhere to within the composition. When I am live, though I control it all because I rarely ever play with an instrumental so it’s just me and my guitar. I get to show more of my range and singing ability as well as my guitar ability. I get to use cool effect and make loops so that it sounds like multiple guitars are playing it’s a good time. Another very large difference between studio and live is you get to feel my energy and I get to feel the crowds. Artists feed off of that and it makes a world of a difference. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2018?

Washington: I want to continue to develop my craft to be better than I was at the start of the year. As far as I have gotten there is so much more that I need to learn and get better at with both my guitar and my voice. By the end of the year, I want to have a small EP out of maybe 3 or 4 songs that people can purchase at my live shows and that I can upload to all the streaming services. I would like to put an actual band together because I think it would be awesome to have a bassist and a drummer to do live shows with. Lastly, and my main goal for the end of this year, is to find management. I am in desperate need of a manager to help guide me and create more opportunities. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Washington: Achieving my dreams and making new ones. I want to get to a place where I have established myself as an artist and achieved the things on my musical bucket list. Once I do that I want to be able to help other artists who are in the position I am in currently. I would like to scout and find talent and help them achieve their dreams however I can. 

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Washington: I just want to say thank you to everyone reading this! Please take a moment to check out my website at soulacousticofficial.com. Please follow me on my social media platforms listed on the website.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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