How did you start playing the bass and what were your main influences?
My Father was a semi-professional double bass player and I started on the upright bass – playing with dance bands and jazz. Up till then I played guitar and sang with my own rock group and earlier with a skiffle group. Then I bought a second hand electric bass – the one I used to record ‘She’s Not There’ when I was asked to join the Zombies, and that is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland USA. My main influences were Bill Haley, Early Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly (the Buddy Holly foundation just presented the Zombies with a copy of Buddy’s guitar) and also Miles Davis and modern jazz.
What is the secret of being active as a musician all these years?
What else can I do? Music and writing/producing keeps you young. I studied at Art College before for four years but artwork was transformed into creating/writing music. One must keep creating new music.
How do you adjust yourself to the current status of the music industry?
I am a musician from the 60’s. The music business is always changing – but good songs last forever.
What is the current status of the band “The Zombies”?
Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone got back together this century. They now have a touring band with three great musicians and are still writing and recording new material. To celebrate 50 years of the album ’Odessey & Oracle’, we four original members (out of 5 – Paul Atkinson died in 2004) sometimes get together with the touring band (plus two others) and perform the album in its entirety- as we recorded it in 1967. We have remained friends since 1962.
How do you feel about the induction of the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
What an honour. To be recognised by our heroes and receive that award was one of the best moments in my life.
How did you join the band of Argent and how different was your role in this band compared with The Zombies?
When the Zombies finished (due to disinterest from the buying public – and lack of money) Rod and I wanted to continue writing and producing. I enjoyed writing and producing more than playing, so Rod and I formed a company and jointly wrote and produced ‘Argent’ and ‘Colin Blunstone’ along with several others. I stopped playing bass – Jim Rodford was a much better bass player than me!
You have a new personal album full of unreleased material and famous collaborations. Would you like to describe it?
Two of my sons, Jamie White & Matthew White, discovered that I had 50 years of tapes, cassettes etc stored in my mother-in-law’s attic. They suggested that they could go through them all, repair and release some unreleased songs and demos – and there are some great co-writes and singers on demos which have never been heard before. They plan to release about 8 CDs of new songs and some of my productions.
Why did you keep all this material unreleased all these years?
Over 50 years you have a lot of songs, co-writes and unreleased gems which have never been released. You forget about them and put them a metaphorical ‘fridge’ (as Paul McCartney called it). The Zombies induction in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame geared us into finding all this old material and finally releasing it.
What are your plans for the Vol. 2 compilation of unreleased tracks?
Jamie and Matthew already are working on volumes Two and Three, with the new album being released in August. They are the people deciding which tracks (out of about 180 songs) will be on the next CDs. There are some great performances in there.
Do you have any plans for touring?
There are no plans for touring The Chris White Experience just yet. But the original Zombies (along with the touring Zombies) are doing a USA tour in September this year with the Brian Wilson Band.
