MISTER CHORISTER

Your journey back into music after nearly 30 years is incredibly compelling. What changed for you personally that made this return feel not just possible, but necessary?

It stopped being a choice and became something I needed to do.

Songwriting became a way of processing a period in my life where things were unravelling. As everything else became uncertain, it was the one place that felt honest and grounding.

Once I reconnected with that, it became very hard to ignore. Initially, I thought I would just revisit and finish songs I had started 30 years ago. Spark is one of those ideas that stayed with me, strong enough to stand the test of time.

The Mister Chorister project is built around this idea of an internal dialogue or ‘inner voice.’ How did that concept develop, and how does it shape your songwriting process?

The Mister Chorister concept was born out of the songwriting, not the other way around.

When I returned to writing, I realised I wasn’t creating outward-facing songs, I was writing reflective conversations with myself and my observations of the world. That internal dialogue became the foundation of the project.

It wasn’t something that I set out to build. It developed organically through writing, performing, and collaborating. My process is still evolving, but that inner dialogue now acts as a kind of compass, shaping everything from the lyrics to the tone of the music, and helping me decide what belongs in the Mister Chorister world.

‘Spark’ explores the search for inspiration and the realisation that it often comes from within. Can you talk us through how that theme emerged and how it’s reflected in the lyrics, sound, and the animated video for the track?

Spark actually began around 30 years ago. I had the chords, the melody, and a couple of lines, including “I could be your spark”, but I never finished it.

I came back to it during a songwriting session in 2024 where the theme was “where does inspiration come from”. That question immediately brought me back to this original idea.

The song became a reflection of the frustration of not being able to start, and the realisation that inspiration isn’t something external that you chase, it’s something internal that you reconnect with in order to create.

That idea carries into the video. The character reconnects with a younger version of himself, using memories, imagery, and symbolism to represent both the loss and rekindling of that inner spark.

The animated video for ‘Spark’ introduces a strong visual identity to the project. How did the concept come together, and what does that visual world represent in relation to the song’s message?

The visual identity started with Brave, where I introduced the idea of the alter ego and it urging me to have the courage to take the next step forward.

Working with an animator helped bring the Mister Chorister character to life and shape the overall look and feel of the project, and that visual language has carried through into Spark.

In this video, we see a continuation of that world, but from a more vulnerable place. The character is still a guiding presence, but he’s also navigating uncertainty and trying to reconnect with his own source of inspiration.

It’s really about going back within to rediscover something that was always there.

There’s a strong sense of uplift and emotional openness in your music, even when touching on uncertainty or change. How do you strike that balance between vulnerability and optimism?

I think the optimism comes from how I’ve learned to deal with change and challenges in my own life.

I’ve experienced moments where it would have been easy to step away, but I’ve always had a tendency to lean into things and work through them. This mindset seems to naturally carry through into the music.

The songs of Mister Chorister don’t ignore difficult moments, but they don’t stay there either. They move through them looking for the silver lining. For me, vulnerability and optimism aren’t opposites, they’re part of the same process.

With early momentum building around the project, how are you thinking about the future of Mister Chorister? Is there a larger vision or narrative you’re working toward?

Mister Chorister is an ongoing exploration of an internal dialogue, both within myself and in response to the world around me. Each release is another moment in that conversation, different questions, different perspectives, different states of mind.

Sometimes I think of it as an ongoing series, each song a new chapter exploring a different moment or perspective.

I do have a project in mind to weave a thread through some of the songs and build broader narrative where music, visuals, and character all connect as part of the same world. I’m keeping this under wraps for now. But there are already songs in the waiting that look outward more, reflecting on wider themes, so the project will continue to evolve both internally and in how it connects with the outside world.