chris mortimer

News 2022

Hello again and welcome to the chrismortimer.com website for 2022.

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It is great revisiting the website again after the last two challenging years that have been like no other. 

The chrismortimer.com website is a statement of what I care about and love, music. Being a songwriter can be a very self-indulgent affair at times, as you continually seek to achieve your best work. I constantly listen to my works as I think of new melodies and pieces that reflect me now. In some ways, old works determine new directions. 

Teaching music is a passion that I have discovered once again but the more I work in this area, the more cognizant I am of being in a different headspace and less creative. For me, making new music involves some fluctuation of mood and feeling, hearing new sounds that amaze me, and keeping my thoughts and tunes simple. I tend to over do things and when this happens with music, it takes me forever to compose and ultimately, I am rarely satisfied with the final piece.

This year, I have been reflecting on "the five special people" (or the famous five) who have taken me this far in life. They are people who have invested genuine trust, belief and have deeply influenced me in many ways. 

One of these people was David Jones who was my piano teacher from 1988-1991 at the Newcastle Conservatorium. My new song "Mr Jones" is a tribute to him, and though sadly he passed away some years back in a tragic car accident, he was my mentor, my inspiration, my penultimate teacher, my coach and as we say in education, my critical friend. Great collaborative and productive relationships occur when we adjust to one another, see each other's strengths and limitations and work within and also push beyond these parameters or limiters. 

Being somewhat undisciplined musically, without a steady and consistent journey through the Australian Music Examination Board's grades, and a lackluster final year exam result, I gained entry with big chunks missing. Having auditioned playing Carla Etude which is a contemporary Elton John work which I conveniently forgot who the writer was during the ordeal, I made it through. The amazing Mrs Carmel Lutton who should also be on the shortlist of five, got me through that selection process and like David, things would have worked out quite differently without her seeing a glimmer of potential that day in late 1988. 

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David was an incredible teacher who I grew to respect and like equally and the more I work with students and colleagues, one of the things that really fired in our relationship was his knowledge of me. This involved an openness and much talk about things that were personal, switching into music mode usually instantly. There were many moments when I can remember him leaning out of the building, looking down below at Laman Street and Newcastle City Park, gossiping about people below coming and going, many amusing comments about who was sleeping with who and general life, laughter and open mindedness. David had an amazing and deep connection with me and chose material that was not only challenging, but suited my technique, enabled me to partially compensate through expression and phrasing for some of the technical ability that I lacked, he enhanced my confidence and many of these attributes, I model and practice today in my work with students. 

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I never shared my music with David because there really wasn't the time. Also, because his mind was in the classics and I felt that my simple tunes were not up to scratch as he had perfect pitch and probably could have played one of my pieces back having heard it once, like Mozart!

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It is incredibly important to be humble and realize that our personal journey is always down to a handful of key, remarkable and special people. Our famous five. 

I have mixed the line up of songs on the listening section of the site once more and I hope you enjoy the selection for 2022. Sadly, there are no new demos for the time being however, I have a series of new songs that have been written over the last couple of years that will eventually appear in some format. 

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I hope the music inspires you and gives you ideas through lyrics and music and that you can relate to my experiences, but must admit, some of the words are pure fantasy and Billy Joel once said, essentially just a bit of BS! 

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Love and best wishes,

Chris Mortimer