User:SeattleMusicArchives

Chris Hogan
Biograpy Chris Hogan is a guitarist and audio engineer from Seattle WA. Chris is best known for his work with drummer KJ Sawka. A descendant of the the Dutch painter Carel Fabritius, he was born in Vancouver BC in 1968. Chris had a strange childhood, living in Hawaii, Greece, Singapore and Venezuela. His first gig was singing in a bar with Lou Rawls at the age of 6. He got his first electric guitar on w 48th St in New York at the of 12. By the age of 18, Chris was one of the finalists in the GIT international guitar competitions. In the 90s, Chris pursued a different path then many of his friends in the Seattle music scene. He went to a music conservatory and worked nights as a sound engineer in the clubs of Seattle to pay for it all. He spent many years studying classical guitar with Steven Novacek. He also studied with jazz legend Larry Coryell under a grant from the Allen foundation. Chris pursued further studies with Ghanian guitarist Koo Nimo, Turkish Oud master Munir Bekin and South Indian violinist L. Subramaniam. Meanwhile at night he was paying dues and learning the ropes at legendary Seattle venue The OK Hotel from artists like Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz and Critters Buggin. Chris also played in a number of chamber music ensembles, guitar trios and avante jazz orchestras during this time and is featured on over 20 recordings in the Universty of Washington Music Archives, the most notable being Janus by composer William O. Smith. Chris also spent a number of years working for the National Guitar Workshop. From 2002 to 2003 he worked as a sideman for acclaimed pop group Two Loons for Tea (filling in for his friend Bill Horist). In order to reproduce the layered textures of their albums live, Chris developed an elaborate system of guitar synthesis, filters and looping electronics. Chris recorded the album Live Magnetic Jazz in 2003. A live document of his 90’s avante grunge jazz style it featured Jack Lightfoot, Leif Dalan, and Evan Flory- Barnes. During this time he recorded several works by Villa- Lobos, Mertz and Lauro for solo classical guitar. 2002- 2003 also marked the beginning of Chris’ ongoing collaboration with drummer Kevin “KJ” Sawka. In a now legendary all night jam with PK and Reggie Watts the idea for an entirely new kind of music originated. In 2004 Chris and Sawka went into the studio and recorded the single Solaris with Secret Chiefs 3 bassist Shahzad Ismaily. In 2005 they entered Avast studios and recorded several albums worth of ground breaking instrumental electronica,with PK on bass for some tracks. As Sawka became increasingly in demand and overextended, the project was put on hold while Sawka toured with Blake Lewis (of American Idol fame). Chris found himself playing solo electronic guitar sets around Seattle in 2006 -07 and appearing (ironically) in the independent film Lost On The B Side. He also played a number of shows with legendary jazz drummer Gregg Keplinger and bass phenom Damian Erskine during this time as well a brief appearence with his old friend Larry Coryell at The Experience Music Project. In 2007 Chris played on former Green Apple Quickstep singer Ty Wilman’s Mass Sugar album.Later that year he performed a live improvised film score for Zappa animator Bruce Bickford. In 2008, Chris returned to his hard rock shredder roots and started The Prometheus Variations a power trio with metal drummer Paul Turner (Pawn Council) and bassist Brian Todd (The Kindness Kind). Discograpy Live Magentic Jazz Vol.1 (2003) Live Magnetic Jazz Vol.2 (2004) Solaris (2005) Ambient Shred Mix (2005) Firelotus (2006) Terminal Euphoria (2007) Mass Sugar (2007) Tales from the Secret Lab (2008) Filmography Lost on the B side. Audio Chris Hogan was the head engineer for The OK Hotel, a legendary Seattle venue. He mixed many of the landmark musical events of Seattle's 90's grunge era. To date, he has mixed over 6000 bands as a live sound engineer. These are few of them: The Helio Sequence, Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Andy Summers, Dave Douglas, DJ Logic, Lydia Lunch, Pere Ubu, Steve Vai, Zen Guerilla, High on Fire, Charlie Hunter, Maktub, Eleven, Living Daylights, Sex Mob, Tin Hat Trio, Kultur Shock, Death Cab for Cutie, The Posies, Gus Gus, Daniel Johnston, Amy Denio, Mount Analog, The Makers, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Nels Cline, Bill Horist, Adrian Legg, The Thrones. Chris Hogan was also one of the audio engineers who built the sound system for The Vera Project.