I was raised in the 60's when popular music was recognized as a powerful tool for personal, social and political change. Although my music is abstract in nature, and not intended to convey a particular message, I still feel the magical and powerful influence that music can have on the listener. For this reason, I carry with me the responsibility of what I communicate to my audience.

My earliest musical influences include the strains of classical piano played by my older sister, the Greek folk music sung by my mother and grandmother, and beautifully melodic and deeply mystical chants of the Greek Orthodox Church. As a child, I studied and revered the music of the Beatles who to this day serve as one of my greatest musical and spiritual inspirations. In the years to follow, those who seemed to impact my perspective on music the most were Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Elton John, Joni Mitchell and my beloved and lesser known cousin, Jimmie Spheeris.

By my early twenties, I was composing music and lyrics and performing with my dear friend Paul Voudouris who introduced me to the synthesizer and the early music of Genesis and Brian Eno. One day, my brother played for me a record by a Greek artist, Vangelis, who was to become my mentor in the new world of synthesized and electronic music.

My parents always encouraged travel and the experience of other cultures. Wherever we went, I listened, and what I heard grew into a vocabulary of exotic sounds and musical motifs. This helped me see what an amazing universal language music can be, transcending cultural and individual perspectives. I now see that the nature of sound is that it is meant to be shared. In this, there are no boundaries to this remarkable language that speaks directly to and from the human spirit.

I've been fortunate to be able to create with my closest friends Paul Voudouris, Chip Duncan, Robert Cory, Russell Bond, and it to be able to play with so many delightful individuals in the productions of my records and performances. I don't know if love creates the affinity for collaboration , or if collaboration inspires the awareness of love , but whatever the case, working and playing with these powerful beings has further reinforced my sense of music as a language of fraternity and love.

On the highest level, I am filled with gratitude and humility. My gratitude comes in every moment I create, every moment I live. I am grateful to be alive in this beautiful, multi-dimensional world of color and magic. I am grateful to be an instrument of creation and to have been gifted with the ability to make my living by communicating in a language that I love. I am constantly humbled by the magnitude of the great and unfathomable spirit that moves in and around me making this life a privilege to experience.

Chris Spheeris August, 2000, Sedona, Ariz.
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