Interview: Mike Christie

Mike Christie is best known as one quarter of the classical group G4. After the group decided to go their separate ways in 2007, Christie took two years off to enjoy life and decide on his next move. Now he’s back and has just released his debut solo single Why Not Today.

We caught up with Mike to talk about his new single, find out what it’s like to go it alone and ask if G4 will ever get back together. A thoroughly lovely and polite gentleman, Mike answered all of those questions and much more.

How’s your day going today?

Fine. It’s getting gradually less busy which is good. It’s been full-on for the last...I don’t know how many months really. It’s all good. I’m looking forward to my last Christmas gig on Friday but I’m also feeling a bit sad because I love doing all of the Christmas stuff. There’ll be a new tour in the New Year so it’s all exciting.

Your next tour is the Showstoppers tour. Can you tell us a bit about that?

It’s a lot of very well-known stuff from musical theatre and West End and Broadway. There are songs from South Pacific, Les Mis, The Sound of Music and there’s also some pop songs in there. I’ve got Elton John and some comic songs in there as well. I’ll also sing some of my own songs which will be on my self-penned album to be released at some point next year.

Why did you decide to do a tour of Showstoppers? What was the motivation behind that?

I love singing in different styles. Even at the Christmas gigs, where you think it’ll just be carols, I sing a lot of different styles within that. There’s some crooning in there as well as pop songs and my own songs then singing stuff with a bit more technique – more classical but quite light. I just love singing the variety and with musical theatre there’s so many different characters to get into. That’s what I like to do. I like to take the audience on a journey from the start to finish. For most of them they leave at the end and they’ve cried at one point and laughed their socks off at another point. It goes through every different emotion and that’s why I love musical theatre. It naturally lends itself to that and I love getting into the characters.

Is that the kind of thing you want to put into your own music?

Absolutely yeah. I think the way music goes, it’s very produced and becomes almost without human soul in it. I very much try with my music to put in the emotion and ultimately it’s all about stuff I’ve been through in my life that’s inspired me at the time to write. Those events aren’t special to someone else because they’re something we all go through but that’s why people seem to be able to relate to it. They’ve been through it as well or they’re going through it and they can appreciate it.

You’re releasing your new single ‘Why Not Today’. Tell us about it.

The single’s very special to me because it’s my debut solo single. I wrote it 2 and a half years ago and I ended up performing it on the farewell G4 tour and sung it on stages all over the country. I got such good feedback from it and it really seemed to connect with people. It’s based on that feeling when you’re at the start of a relationship with someone and you’re really into them but they’re just not into you back. That’s the frustration of Why Not Today. It’s happened to everyone at some point and that’s how it came about. It’s really special for me to be able to release it as a single because I’ve wanted to do that for the last couple of years. It just seemed to be the right point now to do that. Fortunately the response has been really good and when it’s been played on radio the feedback’s been great.

You seem to have a hardcore base of fans. How do you find that?

Ultimately it’s very flattering and that’s been the wonderful thing on the Christmas tour seeing so many familiar faces. They are just so supportive and it’s just so unbelievable how supportive they are. For me, I love singing and I want to sing for the rest of my life. It’s one of those things that when you enjoy something so much and other people appreciate it, it makes it so much more special because you can share it. I feel very much that because this is now me on my own and I’m finding my way, the fact people are appreciating it I feel  they’re coming on the journey with me. I think they feel special because they feel involved with that journey and so it works both ways.

You make yourself very accessible to your fans. Is that important to you?

I think it’s vital for me with what I do. I just think it’s important that people realise that you are a human being like everybody else and you go through the same emotions as everyone else. What I find really useful is getting feedback from them on things. Whenever I do a gig I’ll say ‘what was your favourite song? What didn’t you like?’ and things like that because it helps me progress.  I feel genuinely very grateful  to my fans for supporting me because without that I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. My way of thanking them is to be very much in touch with them and accessible as much as I can be.

With the dawn of Facebook and Twitter I guess you kind of have to.

Yes. It seems to be the thing of the moment. It’s a great way of keeping in touch with everyone. Particularly with Twitter you can just post up your status. I’ve only just got into that to be honest and I never really understood it before. It’s a good way of getting your music out there because there’s so much competition in the industry, particularly with The X-Factor.  There’s so many X-Factor acts, past and present, that are releasing things at the moment and it’s just such a competitive industry. Anyway you can get your music out there for people to hear it is great. Part of the problem when you’re starting out on your own as a solo artist, people just don’t know you’re there. They may love your music but they don’t know that you exist until you actually enter their world. Obviously social networking is a great way of getting into people’s worlds.

How difficult was it for you when G4 decided to call it a day and you had to see that part of your life end?

We decided mutually that it was the right thing to do and it was then, and it always has been, the right decision. Obviously it was sad to think that we wouldn’t perform again but we did three years together and it’s not what we planned.  We went on The X-Factor to get a quote from Simon Cowell to go on an end of year poster for a concert and we just wanted something like ‘you’re good but you’re too classical’ or something like that. Then we got through each round and we ended up having a 3 year career out of it. It was full-on 24/7 and we didn’t really have a social life. We spent all of our time together and it got to the point where we thought actually we’d like to do our own thing. We’ve all got our own dreams and aspirations. I’ve been writing for a while and I wanted to do my own songs - that was my point of view. It was definitely the right decision. One of the guys got married in the summer and we all sang together again which was fun and brought back lots of memories. Now when I’m doing it on my own, it’s so different from G4. A lot of it isn’t classical or even cross-over stuff but there’s still that in there as well. I’m very happy doing my own thing now because I can do what I want, when I want to do it and do all the different styles which I was unable to express through the band because that wasn’t what we were doing.

Do you foresee a point in the future where you may record with them again?

Well, I would never say never and I’d absolutely love to record with them again – that would be amazing - and to perform with them again but the thing is because it’s now 2 years down the line and we’re very much engrossed in our own careers. We’re doing very different things – it’s all singing but very different. It’s hard to imagine that that would be possible but who knows.

What can we expect from your album?

It’s a journey of emotions. Songs that I’ve written and there’ll also be some songs possibly with co-writing. It’s something where there’s still decisions to be made on it but it’ll be pretty much my own songs that I’ve written over the last few years and it’s a real celebration for me of those songs and being able to record them and get them out there.

Do you know when the record will be released?

No. Not yet because it’s got to be absolutely right. As with any album that any artist creates, it could be your last album you ever make. It could be your first and your last because if people don’t connect to it then you won’t make another one. I’m very aware that I want to make it the best thing I could ever do so I’m really proud of it and it expresses what I want to. That’s the hardest thing in the world because as you record you have to at some point make the decision that that’s the final track – you’ve finished the mixing and the editing and that’s the version that will go out to people that they will listen to. Songs always evolve and you change a bit and listen to that bit and think ‘I’d rather sing it like that’. There’s just so many options. It’s also nice that you can set it in stone and come back to it years down the line and record it again quite differently.

Are you enjoying the opportunity now to really immerse yourself in the creative process?

Absolutely. I’m really enjoying it. After G4, I had a 2-year break and I knew I’d get back into it. I knew it was what I wanted to do but I just needed time to get back into life and see my friends and family again which I had missed for 3 years. It was great to do that and now I’ve got a real hunger for it. I’ve only been back in it since September but the gigs have gone really well and the reception’s been great. The way it’s going it’s looking like it’s going to go from strength-to-strength which is really exciting.

We talked earlier about the Showstoppers tour. Do you have any other performances planned or is it a case of seeing what happens?

It is a case of see what happens but there’ll definitely be another Christmas tour next year. There’ll be more dates and more venues . There’ll be a bit of a gap between the Showstoppers tour and the Christmas tour so I might well do another tour inbetween that as well. There are lots to look forward to. I just loving performing and it’s why I exist really.  It’s so much hard work doing everything. It’s full-on and I’d forgotten how much hard work it is in the industry but I’m loving it and really enjoying it. Because it’s being appreciated it makes it worthwhile and spurs me on to do more and more so it’s great.

Which artists really inspire you? 

I’ve always liked Stevie Wonder. I just think he’s got an awesome voice. Obviously the whole singer-songwriter thing. Alicia Keys as well. James Morrison because I love the vibe – it’s singer-songwriter. I listen to all sorts of music and different styles. I get influenced by different people and until you see an artist perform live it’s hard to really get them because recording is so different from a live thing. There’s so many wonderful shows all over the place. I just get inspired by any music really.

What are you doing for Christmas?

I’m going to be with my family which will be really nice in Devon because one of my sisters is from Devon. We all go down there to her house and I’m just going to be off. Not working, not doing anything for two weeks or something like that. It’ll be really nice because it’s been so full-on leading up to Christmas. It’s going to be nice not doing anything and just spending time with my family. I’m just going to enjoy it and recharge the batteries so I come back with lots of energy in the New Year.

‘Why Not Today’ is available to order now from www.mikechristie.co.uk