So how did this all start?
Chris Ostler was born and raised in Devon and from a young age, Chris was interacting with the world through rhythm and melody. Even before birth, Chris was responding to music in the utero, as his parents played music they could feel Chris kicking on the beat in response.
As a child, Chris found the world frustrating; feeling alienated from his peers, Chris found communicating in words was tricky. He felt increasingly lost. One day at school, he was tapping his pencil on the table to deliberately annoy the teacher, who realised he was tapping in time to something, something he didn't recognise, but that held his attention. His musically literate parents identified this as a talent and got him drumming lessons. This cemented Chris' natural rhythm with a more structured understanding of the music that had always flowed through him and more importantly, it gave voice to his frustrations.
Chris soon found that communicating was, rather than something that held him back, actually his greatest strength and he began writing the music that he has come to be loved for. His neurodivergence acting as a conduit for connections and relationships.
Chris has the eagerness and excitement to compose and perform in a variety of styles, as well as play covers in his own rocky manner. He is in his element both as a solo artist but also when performing with a band, with the live stage being his natural home.
So what has Chris done so far?
Chris has had the pleasure of opening for several well-known acts including Joan Armatrading, Martin Barre, The 3 Daft Monkeys, the Leylines, Adam Isaac, Yes Sir Boss, Sarah McQuaid, Luke Combs UK tribute and many others. His UK achievements continue with plays on the BBC radio and a range of independent stations. Chris is now starting to get international notice with his latest releases getting airplay across Europe, Canada and the USA.
Chris has enrolled some talented session musicians to complete a six piece line-up that adds an amazing new dimension to his performances. With all the parts and musical arrangements written by Chris, he layers his songs with a skill of a talented craftsman honing the sounds to perfection. The line up usually consists of Lead & Second Electric Guitars, Keys, Bass, Drums as well as Chris on his acoustic electric.
Chris’s work so far is completely self-financed, self-produced and independently released, His first EP, ‘Show me The world’, was followed by his first album CO1. Both have a full band sound with tracks that are a mix of powerful, country rock and pop music with hints of funk and folk thrown in between.
Lockdown severly hampered his work when only weeks before, Chris had given up his teaching ‘day job’ to focus solely on music. Despite this huge setback of nowhere to perform and no income, Chris managed to host some live performances from his spare room that became an expanding miniature studio. Taking this in his stride, he released ‘Cozy corner’. This studio has now become the main recording base for his 2026 releases, with Chris recording most of the instruments himself.
Chris has enjoyed playing at every venue he has come across. The live audience is his home whether it’s a huge crowd, in stadiums, for example, Exeter Chiefs Rugby with over 8,000, to the smaller stages in pubs and clubs as a feature artist. He has played live in many festivals including The Big Feastival, Wychwood Festival, Oceanfest, Oysterfest, Lakefest, and Glastonbudget, Foodies Festivals as well as the Sidmouth and Cornwall Folk festivals.
What does Chris say about his family and his music?
“I was raised by my parents and stepparents; all different, adventurous and individually unique in many ways; but fortunately, my birth parents both played music. My Mother was always singing and taught basic guitar chords at her primary school on top of being a Headteacher, but she would always try to sing to me every night before bed (the great family rituals!). My Father used to play bass guitar in a couple of original bands back up in the midlands, but after developing an interest in computing, his professional work led him down this path, although music was always in his life.
My brother, however, was very similar to me both physically and mentally. We both loved sport, played many competitive team games and events for our school, colleges and universities but we especially loved baseball- even got to play for Great Britain U19s! We both had a serious love of creating music and we used to try to play every band instrument! We both learnt to play drums, picked up on how to play guitar or bass to a standard that allowed us to not only be able to jam together and with our school mates. We had to all squash in the spare room to rehearse- wow, man that was fun!
Having parent's that enjoyed and played music helped massively for both them and me. I was certainly difficult child to deal with if especially if you were a parent or teacher, but I then developed the understanding of using music as a cathartic release both physically and mentally. The main activity when I discovered this was when I was singing in the shower! And to this day I still think the acoustics in the shower when singing is amazing!
I studied music at Exeter College with my A levels and then went on to De Montfort University to gain a BA Hons first class in Music technology and performance. It was here I really started getting into the more technical world of music recording and sound engineering and my learning has continued as things are constantly evolving.
I feel music is all about trying to express opinions, views, ideas and emotions freely, to share and connect with yourself and others. I believe that music can make us do more than what our body and minds realise. With the 'push' that music gives us, it makes us consider and play with our creative boundaries and evolve as thinking creatures who can do more than just listen to the music!
I truly hope that my music and performances can help make a difference to the lives of others: to help them see things from different perspectives, resonate with some of the emotions through the lyrics, melodies, and arrangements but, possibly most importantly, give them inspiration and confidence to be the person who they want to be.
Music can do so much to help and change things for the better ….”
Moving on...
2023 was a year of releases planned for Chris and culminated in him dropping three singles over the Summer/Autumn months, June, September and October. All three singles have a different vibe and have incredible music videos to accompany them that see things from a different perspective. ‘Funk In The Trunk’ a lively energetic number, ‘The Sun & The Moon’ a love ballad of two celestial bodies, and ‘Anxious Boy’, that sends a powerful message to all on World Mental Health Day. Not to give too many spoilers away, we see a funky robot dancing, a romantic campfire with dramatic backdrops, to a boy inside a television set!
The news for 2024/2025...
2024 was another exciting year with the release of the 7-track EP called CO2 after working with Momentum Studios in Plympton. Chris again designed all the artwork for this and this skill is one he has continued to hone. This year also saw the launch of his new merchandise, again designed by Chris. The inspiration behind the designs was the ‘Oscillator’ robot from Funk In The Trunk single, which appears on this latest merchandise. It is Chris’ desire to get the message across to others that everyone is unique and invites anyone to the party- you don’t have to conform, just be your awesome self! The merchandise is available at his gigs but also online at BANDCAMP so do check it out!
Chris also made a start to international dreams with a mini tour of venues in Toronto, Canada. He had an epic response there and made a few new friends, so look at for some possible releasaes from the ‘co-lab’ work with some Canadian talent!
It was amazing to be able to repeat the tour again in 2025. This year also included numerous festivals, many of which Chris was joined by his friend and band mate, Fintan May, after having broken a tendon in his chord hand and had 3 months in a splint! Luckily recovery was complete and he soon was able to play chords again.
So what's the plan for 2026?
- Festivals and gigs😊Do tell us of any venues and festivals near you that you would like to see him at.
- Releasing new music with a series of singles:
- ‘Whiskey Gold’ on April 10th
- ‘Right Kinda Love‘ on 3rd June
- ‘Red Head Halo’ in Sept/Oct…still recording…work in progress🎶
- Let’s add more music to the scene as well as introduce you to some amazing friends of mine!
And looking to 2027...
- Planning MORE festivals and gigs, so love the live stages and remember, do tell us of any festivals near you!
- Possible mini tour in the UK🚙Let us know where you are so we can come to you!
- Another trip to Canada? Let’s add more music to the scene as well as introduce you to some amazing friends of mine!
- And always working on some new tunes!