This week Roni Glasthal is joined in the studio by Chris Lewington.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Based in Kent. I'm Ronnie and this is the show that introduces you to
00:20original music artists from around the county. Each artist will be here with me in the studio
00:25talking about and performing their own original music. Today I'm joined by Chris Lewington, an
00:30acoustic psychedelic folk pop artist from Ainsford. Chris, thanks for being here. Hey, glad to be here.
00:37So I love the description. I'm so intrigued. Anything psychedelic I definitely vibe with.
00:42Tell me a little bit about the journey you took finding your sound. Oh, well that's a lifetime.
00:50I mean I've been doing music since I was in my teens and I've been doing it for a long while.
00:55In and out of bands and now doing solo stuff with a number of albums I've released personally.
01:04But I suppose it always comes back to that core of the sort of things in a way you grew up with.
01:09And I was always into, in a way, the singer-songwriters of the 60s and the 70s and that sort of late 60s
01:15psychedelic sound. So that still permeates my music even though I still go off in all sorts of
01:22directions, you know, like always collecting different sorts of music. But, you know, you always have that kind of
01:29bass that's there in your songs.
01:32I'd love that. Okay, amazing. So you have a bassed sound. Amazing. So tell me a little bit about the more recent
01:39influences you've discovered mixing into your music.
01:43Well, I mean, one of the things is, in a way, it's like listening to the kind of modern singer-songwriters. I do think at the moment we're going through a sort of
01:51a renaissance of sort of singer-songwriters. But one of the things I've sort of found, because I do quite, I suppose, classic songwriting, I'd call it.
02:00And, obviously, you have a line that then rhymes with another line. One of the things I've noticed, let's say, for instance, if you listen to the Boy
02:10Genius album, a lot of the writing nowadays, you can just know rhymes.
02:13So I'm trying to sort of, you know, here and there, you know, let's branch out, let's do something like that then. Yeah. So you're always like listening to other stuff and trying to maybe, yeah, well, let's experiment with that. Let's do one like that.
02:29So, yeah, so there's bits like that in there. Yeah.
02:32Amazing. So as a little preview, any of the songs that you're playing today, have those been some of those successful experiments you've made?
02:41Well, I'd like to think so. I mean, obviously, I like the songs I'm playing today. They're from my different albums that I've had out. The first one is actually from my album Riverside. And then the second one, Colour Eragon, is from the second album. So, yeah, I think they, you know, I'm happy with them.
03:07Yeah. Amazing. Well, I can't wait to hear them. So your first song today, After the Sun, tell me a little bit about that.
03:15In a way, that's a sort of lockdown song. It was, I mean, if you cast your memory back then, it was like it is at the moment.
03:22It was wonderful spring weather and everything was out in blossom and everything. So you had this kind of juxtaposition between this sort of like everything's wonderful outside, but oh, it's not.
03:36There's lots of people dying. And, you know, so it's that it's that mix in a way.
03:41So it came about really through that, just thinking about that. It's like, yeah, I can take a lovely stroll down the country lane, but things aren't looking too good at the moment either.
03:52Well, I can't wait to hear it. Take it away when you're ready.
03:54OK.
03:55After the sun comes the rain
04:14After the hurt comes the pain
04:21Cut me, I still bleed
04:26Hold me, there's still a need
04:30After the sun comes the rain
04:35Trees are ripe and blossom full
04:41That suck of the lonesome hole
04:43Wash away your troubles
04:48Warm water and the soap
04:51Let's take some bags of comfort here
05:10Fill them full of sand
05:13Time is running out for us
05:17It's now a foreign land
05:20After the sun comes the rain
05:25After the sun comes the rain
05:27After the fire what remain
05:31After the fire what remain
05:35Cut me, I still bleed
05:37Hold me, there's still a need
05:41After the sun comes the rain
05:43After the sun comes the rain
05:48Jesus, where's the time gone?
05:53Did life get in our way?
05:57Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do
06:03Jesus, where's the time gone?
06:08Did life get in our way?
06:10I wish I had one more round to spend with you today
06:18After the sun comes to rain
06:23After the hurt comes the pain
06:31Cut me, I still bleed
06:36Hold me, there's still a need
06:39After the sun comes the rain
06:52Wow, that was so beautiful.
06:53I see what you mean. It sounds like a sunny day, that song. I envision it so clearly.
07:01It's amazing. It's almost easy listening, very psychedelic-esque. It almost reminisces with Cat Stevens for me.
07:10Yeah, that's the classic era of songwriters, I guess, that I like.
07:17Amazing. Do you find that with the renaissance that we're going through, is there a comeback of those artists and they're being almost rediscovered?
07:27Well, in a way, the way music is set up now, I mean, it's this sort of treasure trove with streaming that you can go and discover any sort of area quite easily.
07:41You know, so in that respect, I think all of the music from back then has come back to a certain extent and people are listening to it, you know, because it's kind of timeless.
07:55Do you find that the audience that is drawn to that is also being drawn to your sound as well?
08:01Well, I hope so.
08:02Well, of course, we hope so. But with your fans and the people you've spoken with who listen to your music, what kind of response do you get from them?
08:12Well, I mean, to be honest, a lot of people that listen to me are probably like of an older generation that remember that first time around.
08:19So, yeah, for them, it's kind of like, oh, yeah, it's more of the same. Yeah.
08:25So, yeah, I don't know how much like a younger audience might pick up on those songs.
08:34And in the odd feedbacks I got from perhaps younger people listening to them, they sort of, they almost go, oh, that sounds a bit McCartney-esque.
08:43And, you know, their pinpoints are, again, like, you know, classic songwriters.
08:49It's always, you know, very flattering to be compared to the classics, is it not?
08:53I guess so, yeah.
08:54Amazing. So your next song today, Color Her Gone.
08:57I love the title of that. It's very, very artistic, really paints a picture. Tell me a little bit about that.
09:02Well, it is artistic because the song is about an artist called Pauline Boaty.
09:08Now, she, back in the 60s, was one of the shining lights of the pop art music, which include Peter Blake, you know, artists like that.
09:18And, I mean, she was up there with them all, you know, she was a major figure in that.
09:22And, tragically, she died from cancer in the mid-60s.
09:30And she kind of, like, just was almost erased from the scene.
09:35You know, it's like the history of pop art went on as though she'd been airbrushed out of it.
09:39And it's only really recently, maybe in the last 15 years or so, that people are starting to put on more exhibitions of her work.
09:47And she's coming back and her name is starting to get mentioned again in those sort of circles.
09:54So Color Her Gone is actually one of her works.
09:57And, yeah, it's about her, really.
10:01It's about that sort of, like, how at her peak, you know, she was, like, up there with them all.
10:07And then, sort of, where did she go?
10:11As the song said, you know, airbrushed from history.
10:14But, yeah, gladly she's back.
10:16So, this was my sort of, my sort of tribute and little part in rehabilitating Pauline Bote in the art world.
10:24Well, I can't wait to hear the honor of her story.
10:27Take it away when you're ready.
10:28Okay, right.
10:29Like Monroe or Bado, a girl who fits the scene
10:51Face on the cover of every magazine
10:57You will be it, girl
11:01They all wanted to be you
11:04Do you know
11:07Where you're going to
11:11Life can be so cruel
11:16Though you play by all their rules
11:19Don't you know sometimes
11:22People are blind
11:25Life can be so precious
11:29But that's what you tried to tell us
11:33Now the only blonde
11:35And the world has gone
11:39Color her gone
11:42Pop goes yeasel
11:50They've hung you out to dry
11:53But artists have beers
11:57Not starry actresses
11:59I
11:59Bom goes the painting
12:03That's not what they want to see
12:07Lost in a bar
12:10Airbrushed from history
12:13Life can be so cruel
12:18Though you play by all their rules
12:22Don't you find sometimes
12:24Don't you find sometimes
12:24People are blind
12:28Life can be so precious
12:32But that's what you tried to tell us
12:35Now the only blonde
12:38In the world has gone
12:42Color her gone
12:44Color her gone
12:51Color her gone
12:59Hello and welcome back to
13:04Based in Kent
13:04Where I'm still joined by
13:06Chris Lewington from Ainsford
13:07Chris thanks for being here
13:09Hey
13:09So next is my favorite part of the show
13:12We're going to go into a quick fire question game
13:14A timer is going to come up on the monitor between us
13:17It's going to start counting down
13:19When I ask the first question
13:20And we're just going to get through as many of them as we can
13:22Sound good?
13:24Sounds horrific
13:26I promise it's not as bad as that
13:29I hope at least
13:31Let's see how we do
13:33Live or recorded music
13:37What's your preference?
13:38I like doing recorded music
13:39Okay
13:40Tea or coffee?
13:43I can't say both
13:45Can I?
13:45Say whatever you like
13:47Yeah yeah
13:47I'm a coffee in the morning
13:48And a tea in the afternoon person
13:50Okay
13:51Good balance
13:52I like that
13:53Writing or performing your music?
13:57Writing
13:58Okay
13:59The creative process
14:00Winter or summer?
14:03Summer
14:04Okay
14:04Easy one
14:05Favorite song you have written so far?
14:09Oh
14:09Oh
14:10That's unfair
14:14You can't pick a favorite child
14:17You know
14:18It's one of those
14:19I get it
14:19Morning or evening?
14:22Actually I like the morning
14:23Okay
14:24Yeah
14:24I don't hear that very often
14:26I like that
14:26Yeah
14:27First song you learned to play?
14:30That was actually
14:31House of the Rising Sun
14:33Oh that's a good one
14:34Yeah
14:34Oh I like that
14:36Sweet or savory?
14:38Oh a bit of a sweet tooth
14:40I'm afraid
14:40Oh nothing wrong with that
14:41First artist to inspire you?
14:46Probably Paul Simon
14:47Was the artist
14:49That inspired me to start
14:50Picking up a guitar
14:52And actually writing my own songs
14:54Okay
14:55Yeah
14:55Nice
14:56Not a name we hear often enough
14:58In my opinion
14:59Time alone
15:00Or time with mates?
15:02I mean both
15:09Both is productive
15:11It's good to have balance in your life
15:12You can pick both
15:13Favorite fellow Kent musician?
15:15Oh
15:18So many
15:19There we go
15:23Talk Tonight
15:24Baggy Boys
15:25Pee Wee
15:27Cousins
15:29Mine's gone blank
15:31Sorry
15:32That's alright
15:33Favorite gig you've attended?
15:36Well I was lucky enough to go
15:38Was it last Monday?
15:41Or in 1905
15:41To see the tinder sticks
15:43At the Royal Albert Hall
15:45Complete with orchestra
15:46And that was fabulous
15:47Absolutely fabulous
15:48That sounds
15:49I mean you can't go wrong
15:50With the Royal Albert venue
15:51No no
15:51It's a fabulous venue
15:52And complete
15:54When you have an orchestra
15:55In there backing the band
15:56And that
15:56It's just
15:57Marvelous
15:58Yeah
15:58Amazing
15:59Well that is the end of our time
16:00For that
16:01Was it as bad as you thought?
16:03You can be honest
16:04I got through it
16:06Exactly
16:06You know unscathed
16:08It's fine
16:08So your next song
16:10For us today
16:10Girl on the Train
16:12Tell us a little bit about that
16:13Well this is
16:14You know
16:14I mean
16:15For my sins
16:16I did the whole work thing
16:17The commute
16:17You know
16:18Being crushed in like sardines
16:20On the tube
16:20Going
16:21One end of London
16:22To the other
16:22So it's kind of like
16:24It's a song of that time
16:25Really
16:25It's just sort of
16:26I mean it's such an unnatural thing
16:28Really
16:28Stuck in there
16:30In the tube
16:30And
16:31You know
16:32You head up
16:33Somebody's armpit
16:33Or whatever
16:34And it's just like
16:35Thinking about
16:36You know
16:37Your mind wandering
16:39As you're on the train
16:40Yeah
16:40Well I can't wait to hear it
16:42Take it away
16:42Okay
16:42She's the girl on the train
16:47And I see her once again
16:51She gets on the central line
16:54Sits opposite the seat from mine
16:58The same time
17:00The same train
17:01Bethnal Green
17:03A chance relay
17:04And all day long
17:05And all day long
17:07I only care
17:09Come six o'clock
17:10Will she be there
17:12Will she still be on the train
17:16Again tomorrow
17:17Will she still be on the train
17:18Will she still be on the train
17:22Again tomorrow
17:23Tomorrow
17:24I don't look in her direction
17:29I just look for her reflection
17:32Through the crowds
17:35All packed in tight
17:36I just want to catch your sight
17:40Will she still be on the train again tomorrow
17:45Will she still be on that train again tomorrow
18:04And I'll build my fantasy
18:07All the things that she might be
18:11And all day long I just daydream
18:15Between my desk and the coffee machine
18:18Will she still be on the train again tomorrow
18:23Will she still be on the train again tomorrow
18:30Will she still be on that train again tomorrow
18:37Will she still be on that train again tomorrow
18:44Will she still be on that train again tomorrow
18:51Some of those lines really paint the picture you were describing
18:54About being in the confined space
18:56Letting the mind wander a bit of mystery even
18:59I like it
19:01I like the songs that tell the story
19:03That you're really trying to convey
19:05I think that's important
19:06Well I mean yeah I mean I think yeah
19:08I do a lot of story songs
19:10Because I mean in a way
19:11That's what a song is
19:13It's a story you know
19:14But in a much more confined
19:16Little envelope rather than a book
19:19You know so story songs are always great
19:22So tell me a little bit about your process
19:25Of making those stories
19:26You know what does writing a song
19:28Look like for Chris Livington
19:29It can come from all angles
19:32So sometimes maybe a tune comes first
19:34Sometimes the idea for lyrics come first
19:37Sometimes they just develop together
19:39Ultimately it's got to be something in a way
19:44That just particularly on the lyric front
19:47That just creates a spark
19:50You know there's some angle
19:51About maybe somebody's life
19:54Or some situation that makes you go
19:57Yeah I wonder what that's about
20:00And then you try and explore it in a song
20:02So again you know
20:04Like the sort of I suppose the novel process
20:07But in miniature
20:08You know so
20:09That's interesting
20:11Now you touched on it earlier
20:13That you have been writing and performing music
20:16For almost most of your life
20:18You know and that is so inspiring to me
20:22Because I think I feel like a lot of artists
20:24Really struggle to commit with it
20:26So what advice would you have to an artist
20:29Who's just starting on the journey
20:30And is maybe having that internal conflict
20:33Of oh do I really want to stick with this
20:35The thing is like if it's inside you
20:41And you want to do it
20:42You'll do it
20:43And that's I mean that's what it boils down to
20:45You know it's like
20:46You know I've had periods where I'm going
20:49Oh I can't be done with songwriting
20:50Oh I'll give up
20:52But you come back you know
20:54Because it's it's what I've done
20:57Okay so your final song for us today
20:59White Rose
21:00Tell us a bit about that
21:01Okay so this is probably a darker song
21:05The White Rose is the name of a sort of
21:12Passive resistance movement in Nazi Germany
21:15So it was essentially a group of students
21:19Who distributed pamphlets against the Nazi regime
21:22And they got found out
21:24Take it away when you're ready
21:25Will you shine a light upon the millions in their sleep
21:34Will you shine a light upon the dreams they want to keep
21:41Will you shine a light that burns
21:45Long after you have gone
21:50Will you shine a light that keeps us all strong
21:56Will you show us the courage when we need a fight
22:03Will you show us your anger when you know wrong from right
22:10Will they know your sacrifice and what you had to do
22:18What were you thinking when you knew your time was through
22:25Shine a light, shine a light
22:28Shine a light, shine a light
22:32We won't be silent
22:43No, we just won't stand by
22:46And we will not let the darkness cover our eyes
22:54The trial was a circus
22:57The verdict was a crime
23:00Such a fine day
23:04Leave this world behind
23:07Shine a light, shine a light
23:11Shine a light, shine a light
23:14Shine a light, shine a light
23:18Shine a light, shine a light
23:22Like a bird in the sky
23:34Take wings and fly
23:41But in the sky
23:48Take winds and fly