Christopher Ellis

Legacy is a double edged sword. But if there is one artist that manages it well, it would be Christopher Ellis. The son of the late Alton Ellis, a reggae royalty, Christopher shares his craft with style. Kind enough to take time off from his busy schedule to entertain our questions, here’s Christopher Ellis, the rocksteady heavyweight of our generation.

N-F: Aside from touring, what have you been up to?

C.E: Apart from touring I've been enjoying life, lol. I've been writing music and spending time with my family, still learning things about myself and growing! also I play football regularly which is a big part of my life.

N-F: It has been two years, but still sounds so fresh. Take us through the journey of making 'Better Than love'

C.E: The E.P. was a very interesting process and will forever be a special time in my life. I basically sat down with the band in the studio and I would just hum and invent melodies as the band would follow me and find a pattern around what sound I was making, slowly I put words to the melodies and we found some real nice songs. Jr Gong was the man behind that idea, he told me to just sing anything that came to my mind and we recorded everything and ended up with the "Better than love" Ep. It's a piece of art that I will forever love!

N-F: Do you like the way reggae is being presented in the media these days? Do you think reggae is still relevant?

C.E: Reggae music is the most ORGANIC genre there is. It's real and it's natural with no glam or glitter so in my view the media is unable to affect it negatively no matter what they say, i do think it deserves more headlines and attention but it doesn't matter because we the fans feel so strongly about it that we will spur this music on forever! ......To answer the other question.... what Bob Marley did for our music has cemented the music into the world and has made it a phenomenon amongst the masses. This music is here to stay.

N-F: What do you think, is the biggest misconception people have on reggae music

C.E: The biggest misconception about reggae is that it's all about weed! Lol

N-F: I know you get asked about this a lot, but your dad has touched the hearts of many and he is a respected musical icon. is it hard to carry the torch?

C.E: Carrying this torch is the best thing that could of happened to me. It gives me purpose and gives me a joy that I can't express with words. Being Alton Ellis's son is a privilege and never have I seen it as a problem. Doors have opened for me and People are more welcoming to me because I'm his son and the only thing I have to do is make music of my own for them to appreciate Christopher Ellis and that is something I'm achieving very quickly!

N-F: If you were not doing music, what would you end up doing?

C-E: That's a good question! Lol!! To be honest I don't have a clue, I have liked to of been a footballer but so would millions of other men. I like aeroplanes and when I was young I was interested in being a pilot for a short time. I hope that answered the question. Lol.

N-F: Future plans?

C.E: My future plans are to make music that people will love and play 20 and 30 years from now. I want to have albums that will stand the test of time due to the quality. Look out for my album finally in 2016 and also look out for the "Christopher Ellis foundation helping under privileged children and mothers in Trenchtown" that will be up and running January 2016. We will be doing some great events. My site www.christopherellisofficial.com will have all the info. Thanks for this interview the questions were great. Reverence!

N-F: Thank you and much love