Chris Cottam

Keyboards/Musical Arrangement/Mixing

Chris Cottam, like any young musician, started his music career by creating an overwhelmingly unpleasant sound with his Aulos recorder in junior school orchestra. Realising this may not be his forte he decided to take up the piano at the tender age of just 10 years old.

Charging through Grades I and II in record time his playing took a turn towards the improvisational. Always keen to make Beethoven that bit more interesting; 'Moonlight Sonata' in C#minor13#7b9 sounded like the perfect idea at the time!

Forming a band with Tim Metherell called 'Crafty' and using an Amiga 500 and OctaMED software Chris produced over 5 CD's worth of material in a Prodigy / Chemical Brothers style. Winning a few 'Battle of the Bands' competitions culminated in two very successful gigs at the Forum in Tunbridge Wells where the bass was so heavy peoples' contact lenses were vibrating!

Chris attended Lewes Tertiary College where he studied Music Technology and furthered his interest in production. During his two years at Lewes he also produced the soundtrack to the computer game 'Nitro Racers' for Torc Interactive; the soundtrack was very well received.

His years at Lewis Tertiary led to Chris being accepted into Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts where he graduated with a 2:1 BA Honours degree and the Yamaha / Kemble Keyboard Award.

Chris now works as a freelance musician producing radio jingles and mobile phone ringtones. His understanding of music and virtuoso keyboard skills have added a real depth and texture to the songs of Mark Wright and is an essential component to the make-up of the band as a whole.