An Artistic Iceberg?
The first thing that you notice about Chelsea, besides being tall (taller than most) is that you just know he's an artist.
Not just a musician but very much artistic, in some way. Maybe it's the way he wears his clothes (anti-fashion, as he calls it) or his dreadlocks in ringlets or tiny circles, that even have rastas staring at him in some strange way. "Knotty dreadlocks," he'd say.
Once you get passed the first impressions and get to know him, this too is artistic. He has a great sense of humour (which is somewhat limited by his lack of the French language) and threads of his humour run through most of his songs. Sarcasm, irony and sometimes pure slapstick. "Oscar Wilde being a great influenza, on me."
Musically, Chelsea borrows from many different styles. He said that this is from being a "human jukebox" during times of need. His covers repitoire ranging from Elvis to John Lee Hooker, Thin Lizzy to The Isrealites, the Pogues to Frank Sinatra. He's also a hopeless romantic and he will be the first to tell you this. Some songs are very romantic, other songs are very sad. He says that sadness is a stronger emotion than happiness and that one can convey sadness much more effectively than that of being happy.
Perhaps, one of his setbacks or the greatest thing going against him, is this diversity.Writing from ballads to pop songs, blues to reggae, one has great difficulty pinning him down to one style of music. Many choose the easiest and just call it pop. but by saying that you tend to leave out the bigger part of this musical "iceberg."
"I refuse to remain in one style of music. If a song comes into my head, I write and try to record it, whether or not it fits into what I should be doing. Many times, I give them to my friends that are singers and whom I can hear in my head, singing the song."
One often wonders where he draws his inspiration from. Many are love songs so its obvious, but not as obvious as one might tend to believe. Often claiming to have words come into his head and "dictate" a song or text to him, even when his own thoughts are far away from the subject matter of the song. Appearing to just put his own thoughts on hold while taking the time to pay close attention to what he's being "told", or being sung to him. He even speaks of carrying those thoughts around in his head all day, until he gets somewhere he can copy them down, on a recorder or a piece of paper. Artistic? Yes.
"I read and I love movies, but I don't indulge in these very often. I learn from true life experiences that I see thru my friends or on the news, quoting "the news of today, will be the movies of tomorrow" from Arthurly, another mentor?
Chelsea has political and social songs (such as I'm Changing, Black Bullets and Mr Holy Ghost from his first cd) also haphazard fun songs (such as The Sun and the Moon, Fais Tomber La Monnaie and Sunglasses at Midnight also on his first cd) or romantic gems like Sophie, Unreality and Vanish from his Love for Free cd, still yet, untitled. These songs all take the different shapes of rockers, reggae, funk, soul and ballads, but there is a thread of similarity running thru them that one tends to feel more than hear.
He loves the medium of written communication (which explains his love for the "dandy" Wilde). He dives head on into e-mails and texts over the telephone. Chelsea once recalls a friend saying, "Chelsea, you need 'hooks' in your songs, something that lingers after the song has ended." If you have ever listened to his songs, then you'll know that there have been times when you caught yourself humming something and after you've thought about it, you realize that its one of his songs! If that's not a hook, then what is? This friend, who mentioned hooks, also admitted that ""words are of no importance to me!" Chelsea's sarcastic wit was quick to point out, "Maybe that's becuz you've got nothing to say, my friend." This very same friend has accused him of writing these lengthy epic texts over the phone, causing his friend to get up and look for his glasses! Where are the hooks? They're hidden in the words and the music, where they should be.
Performing his songs live, one is quick to point out how easily he will give you his heart wrapped inside that song. And then inside the next and the next one until after 3 or 4, you want to get to know this man, personally. Giving is contagious and you want to give him something back. Support, maybe?
Yes, the first thing that you notice about Chelsea besides being tall (taller than most) is that you just know he's an artist.
Read more...