There are some compositions that have the potential to hook the listeners in an instant. The latest instrumental single by Chris Jason, 10:50 pm snack run, is an example of this. Hailing from Chennai, India, Chris is a phenomenal guitar player. With more than a decade of experience as a session musician in the film industry, Chris is also a solo instrumental guitarist.
His latest single, 10:50 pm snack run, is an excellent rock composition. What makes it so special is the infectious groove it boasts. From the first moment, the song feels like a loop that listeners will surely enjoy. The drums and bass work like a solid rhythm section, on top of which the guitar shines.
Now, coming to the guitar. It is absolutely brilliant. What’s most appealing is its sheer artistry and tastefulness. Chris plays every note with utmost care and intent. The progression is very chill and instantly relaxes the mind. In addition, the main melody line is so catchy that you cannot help but hum it after you hear it once.
Also, the track builds gradually. You will feel the pulse and the rises and falls in the overall soundscape. That makes the song even more exciting. By the time the song reaches the solo section, you’re sure to feel completely lost in the track’s trippiness. The solo is beautifully composed and hits the rhythmic pockets perfectly. As for production, the song is absolutely flawless. You can hear every sonic element with utmost clarity.
We were lucky to speak to Chris. He was kind enough to share some details about 10:50 pm snack run. So, let’s dive right into it and check out what he had to say!
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1) Hello Chris! The song “10:50 pm snack run” is a great composition. It is very catchy and beautifully composed. Before we get to the song, would you share a bit about yourself, your musical influences, and your journey so far?
First of all, thank you so much. These days it feels like no one really checks out music unless it’s pushed on social media as much as humanly possible. So to have you guys check it out (and have good things to say about it) means a lot.
I am a 32-year-old guitarist from Chennai. I have been playing since the age of 9 and started working as a session musician and sideman for music directors and playback singers in the film music scene from around the age of 17-18. Since then, I’ve contributed to the songs and background scores of 75+ films and over 200 recorded songs for all kinds of clients and projects.
My influences have mostly been other guitarists from the start, especially instrumental guitarists like Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Guthrie Govan, basically anyone who’s ever played in a G3 concert.
A huge influence of mine has been Keba Jeremiah, who basically laid out the blueprint for how to have a successful career in the music industry. I went from learning his guitar solos from YouTube videos and gospel music CDs, to playing with him in the same church band, to now meeting up randomly in recording studios and discussing the state of the music business.
As of now, my influences also range towards more electronic producers and modern-sounding acts like Knower, Tom Misch, Flying Lotus, Underscores, and several others, which has also steered my desire to write music with a more “current” soundscape than instrumental guitar acts that generally have a 2-4 piece band and a more live sound.
2) We would really like to know how you came up with the compositional idea for this song. Were you in the flow of a jam, or did you compose it with a proper theme in mind?
The song has a lot of influence from Nightrider by Tom Misch, specifically the NPR Tiny Desk performance where John Mayer guested and played a guitar solo.
For a lot of the songs in this project (including 10:50 pm snack run), I started by writing loops and producing them with my producer Michael Timothy. I have a playlist of song references that I wanted to pull from, with ideas being as vague as “This has a nice vibe” or as specific as “I want my intro to have this exact oscillation/modulation”.
Once I was happy with the chords and the groove, I then moved on to looping it several times without any solid number in mind, just till when I felt it was long enough. I had a general idea for the structure of this song being the loop for about 3 minutes with a tiny breakdown/bridge in mind, so we locked that in and wrote the breakdown with a different set of chords and groove. After that, I agonize over it with a guitar in hand, writing the solo phrase by phrase.
3) Please take us through the track’s recording process. Was the whole recording done in one go, together with a full band setup? Or did you record it part by part?
We recorded the guitar parts and bass after we locked in the overall structure. Everything else is a part of the production. I recorded the backing guitar parts and first draft on another guitar several years back when the idea was pretty fresh. Michael then recorded bass, and we locked that in. I was not happy with the first draft because it didn’t feel like it had any direction; it just sounded like a guitar wailing over this beat we made.
I actually performed the song twice live before we even locked in the final version, and that actually ended up helping me understand how to keep audience engagement, when to be more energetic and when to chill out. Once I understood the arc of the song, I was able to finally settle on a version of the main melody that I was happy with.
4) During the process of writing and composing this song, did you have a vision of what the finished track would sound like? If so, do you think the result is similar to what you imagined?
The main loop and the overall sound, yes. It came to about 100% of what I was envisioning. The main melody, I think I needed time to understand some things about how solo guitar instrumentals work before settling on something I was happy with. I think I was genuinely surprised by where the latter half of the song went, and I feel like that part at least exceeded expectations.
5) That brings us to the official video of the song, which is thematically brilliant and so fun to watch. Could you walk us through the creative concept and shooting process behind the video?
In terms of a creative concept, I had always visualized a very urban night theme for this. The visual of driving under the streetlights at 3 am somehow equated with my memories of going out at night to buy snacks to eat before the shops closed, back when I was a schoolkid. I knew I needed to showcase Chennai at night and capture that vibe in my video. My co-directors and I then came up with the idea of a group of friends roaming around Chennai at night in search of something to eat.
As for the shooting process, a lot of it was determined by the fact that we had no budget. I was able to rope in a bunch of friends who are choristers from The Indian Choral Ensemble (a 40-piece choir from Chennai; do check them out!) and plan out a night of shooting in a few locations with a fairly loose concept.
I wanted people who were friends in real life. So that their chemistry onscreen would be obvious. After that, we imagined a bunch of scenarios where I “haunt” them individually, with the results varying from creepy to hilarious.
This has a lot of potential to go wrong. But luckily I have a very talented team that locked in when needed, and everything came together really well in the edit. This ended up being one of the most fun things to do in a long time. Now I personally recommend everyone to try and shoot a low-budget music video with their friends.
6) What can the fans expect from Chris Jason in the future?
All 3 of my fans can expect me to release my other songs as soon as possible. It isn’t easy working on indie music while also having a fairly packed schedule. Especially when indie feels like I’m pouring money into it while my commercial work gives me money instead. But I love the music that has come out of this project. Getting to play it live has been one of the most exhilarating experiences. So much, that I’ve done 11 shows this year in India and Japan, and it feels like I need to do waaaay more! Expect more rich-sounding songs with low-budget music videos; not sure what else I have to say here. And hopefully more live shows!
To stay up-to-date with Chris Jason’s musical journey, follow him on Instagram.
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So now that you know what this song has in store for the listeners, go ahead and check it out. You can listen to the track here:
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Writer by the day, musician by night!
