Artist Profile: Christopher Atkins
Christopher Atkins, the self-taught indie artist from British Columbia, has reached new heights with his most recent project, Another Year, synthesizing his stripped-down, singer-songwriter roots accompanied by more advanced and complex instrumentation. While the project, having been recorded in 2022, does not quite capture the advancements he has made over the past couple of years, its rawness and intrigue still remain: a sign of what is to come for the dynamic young artist.
Atkins’ interest in music began as a child, listening to staples of the 2000’s alternative rock scene. However, his interest in playing music was sparked by one of his older brothers, who built him a cobbled-together, Spiderman-themed acoustic guitar as he was entering his adolescence. Although he had wanted to play drums, Atkins felt an obligation to at least try to learn guitar as a result of his brother’s effort.
As Atkins entered high school, he discovered Bob Dylan and The Beatles, both of whom would profoundly shape his approach to songwriting. Although he would write and record songs on his phone throughout high school, actually releasing any of his work seemed, for a long time, like an insurmountably daunting task.
“It was kind of like this secret thing. I never would want to tell anybody [that I made music]. I think, when I was like 13 or something, I started actually trying to write songs, and, in the back of my mind, I was always like, ‘Yeah, I'll record, and release music’... And it wasn't until I was 18 and moved out that I recorded and released 4 songs… For me, it felt like I was laying naked in front of everybody; like I just laid out the last five years of my life on display.”
Those four songs, which ended up as his EP “Sea Corners”, capture some of the early efforts of Atkins’ songwriting; they are largely raw, lo-fi lyrical yearnings and experimentations, capitalizing upon the youthful energy that permeated his efforts at that time.
In fact, Atkins characterizes his earlier efforts, which extend through his first album On the Turn Again, as, in many ways, being born from his limitations; his lack of professional recording knowledge and equipment, like many artists, forced him to get creative in capturing the sound he was aiming for.
Another Year, however, displays many of the advancements he made in the interim period between the two projects. As he learned to recognize the variations between different sounds and the results of different recording techniques, Another Year reaped the benefits, making use of grooving bass lines and blasting harmonica while continually maintaining its sonic centrality.
Atkins has spent the past couple of years playing shows and recording other artists in his home studio, both of which have contributed to the advanced technical knowledge he has gained. Yet, the lo-fi sound, with its restrictions and imperfections, is what still appeals to his creative heart.
“What I've really been getting into lately is these 70s artists who never really made it: like Robert Lester Folsom… Everyone today is a bedroom artist, works a day job, even artists that I like who are successful. And it's just interesting to see in the lens, before social media and before being able to gain exposure online, of these people who are indie artists… the music comes from a different place.”
As he works towards his next project, and attempts to settle back into his own creative acts, he makes it clear that this energy is what he hopes defines his sound. If his last two projects, with their boundless energy and folk-driven instrumentation, serve as any indication of his current direction, Atkins should be someone special to watch within the indie scene.