Chris T-T (born Christopher Thorpe-Tracey, 16 September 1974) is a retired English singer-songwriter based in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. In a 20-year career he released 10 studio albums, two live collections and a number of collaborations. He is also a speaker, piano accompanist, activist and radio presenter, and he has written for a range of publications. For several years he contributed a weekly column on the arts to the left-wing newspaper ''The Morning Star''. T-T's most recent album is ''Best Of Chris T-T'', a career retrospective double-CD released on 19 May 2017 by London-based independent label

Xtra Mile Recordings Xtra Mile Recordings are a British independent record label based in London, England. The label was founded in 2003 by Charlie Caplowe and they release an eclectic mix of genres with a focus on rock and folk. History The label first signed the ...

. While T-T did not achieve mainstream success, his influence as an underground artist is widely felt and his music was consistently praised by critics over two decades.

Biography

Early life

T-T was born and raised in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, England. After performing in school bands, in 1993 he began an honours degree in Popular Music Studies at

Bretton Hall College Bretton Hall College of Education was a higher education college in West Bretton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It opened as a teacher training college in 1949 with awards from the University of Leeds. The college merged with the Univ ...

(

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

). In 1996, T-T gained his degree and joined Norfolk band Magoo as bass player, as they signed to

Chemikal Underground Records Chemikal Underground is an independent record label set up in 1994 at Glasgow, Scotland by rock band The Delgados. It was set up to release their first single, "Monica Webster" / "Brand New Car" and went on to break many new Scottish bands in ...

. In May 1997, Chris T-T moved to London to work at the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

. In 1999, T-T's debut album ''Beatverse'' was released on his own Wine Cellar Records.

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academy ...

played the song 'Shit From All Angles'. Following ''Beatverse'', T-T signed to London-based independent label Snowstorm Records.

2000–2005

T-T's second album ''Panic Attack at Sainsbury's'' was released in autumn 2000. First single 'You Can Be Flirty', was panned in ''NME'' but in early 2001 second single, 'Dreaming of Injured Popstars' gained better reviews. In December he performed a live session on Steve Lamacq's Radio 1 ''Evening Session''. The albums ''The 253'' (2001) and ''London Is Sinking'' (2003) followed. Both highly praised, each featured in the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''Top 5 Albums Of The Year'' for that year. In autumn 2003 Chris T-T gave up full-time work and moved to

. In 2005, Snowstorm Records released ''9 Red Songs'', an album of political folk-protest songs.

2007–2013

In 2007, T-T signed to Xtra Mile Recordings and in 2008 his sixth album ''Capital'' was released, preceded by the 'This Gun Is Not A Gun' EP. With larger-scale production than his previous work, it included appearances from

Andy Burrows Andrew William Burrows (born 30 June 1979) is an English songwriter and musician. He's best known as the drummer for Razorlight from 2004 until 2009 before rejoining in 2021. He's also served as the drummer for We Are Scientists from 2009 to ...

(ex

Razorlight Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Delemo ...

drummer),

Phil Sumner Phil Sumner is a cornet, keyboard and guitar player for the Kendal/Brighton-based rock band Sea Power originally from Shrewsbury. Previous bands include Brighton/Stroud-based rock band Actress Hands, and appearances on record with Electric Soft ...

(

British Sea Power Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals ...

cornettist),

Jim Bob James Robert Morrison, known as Jim Bob, is a British musician and author. He was the singer of indie punk band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Biography Jim Bob played in various bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Jami ...

(

Carter USM Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style o ...

Jon Boden Jon Boden (born 17 March 1977) is a singer, composer and musician, best known as lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. His first instrument is the fiddle and he is a proponent of "English traditional fiddle style" and also of "fiddle ...

(

Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical style ...

and

Spiers & Boden Spiers and Boden are an English folk duo. John Spiers plays melodeon and concertina, while Jon Boden sings and plays fiddle and guitar while stamping the rhythm on a stomp box. Spiers and Boden were founding members of the folk band Bellow ...

fiddler) and

Emmy The Great Emma-Lee Moss (born 4 November 1983), known by her stage name Emmy the Great, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released four studio albums, ''First Love (Emmy the Great album), First Love'', Virtue (Emmy the Great album), ''Virtue'', ...

. Two further singles, 'A-Z' and '(We Are) The King of England' were also released. T-T recruited a stable band line-up, Hoodrats, including Ben Murray (ex Le Frange) on drums, Johny Lamb (Thirty Pounds of Bone, Lynched Recordings) on bass and long-term collaborator Jen Macro (

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Cox ...

, My Bloody Valentine,

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

) on lead guitar. Through 2008 and 2009 T-T toured ''Capital'' in the UK, US and Europe. This band lineup is ongoing. In May 2008, T-T joined

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

's touring band on keyboards, also accompanying Turner in a duo format. In July 2009, T-T performed on the

fourth plinth The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square in central London. It was originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds. For over 150 years the fate of the plinth was d ...

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

as part of

Anthony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pl ...

One & Other ''One & Other'' was a public art project by Antony Gormley, in which 2,400 members of the public occupied the usually vacant fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, for an hour each for 100 days. The project began at 9 am on Monday ...

project. In March 2010, Xtra Mile Recordings released T-T's seventh album ''Love Is Not Rescue'', accompanied by the single 'Nintendo'. Recorded in Norfolk and Los Angeles, this focused on personal themes. The second UK single 'Words Fail Me' was released on 25 April 2011. In early 2011 T-T wrote, scripted and composed the score to 'Imagine A Health Worker', a short animated film commissioned by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

's Global Health Workforce Alliance. The film opened their world conference in Bangkok and was then made available online. Through August 2011, T-T performed a one-man show, ''Disobedience: Chris T-T Sings A.A. Milne'', at

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. This comprised A.A. Milne's children's poems set to new music composed by T-T on guitar and piano. In October 2011 he self-released a download-only studio album of the songs. In October 2012, T-T gave a

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

talk at TEDxBrighton on the theme 'The Generation Gap'. The talk was made available online. In January 2013, Chris T-T was the inaugural Artist-In-Residence (Popular Music) at

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

. From March 2013, for six months he was the inaugural Blogger-In-Residence at Brighton's

Royal Pavilion The Royal Pavilion, and surrounding gardens, also known as the Brighton Pavilion, is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George IV of t ...

. Chris T-T's ninth album, ''The Bear'', recorded with his band Hoodrats, was released in October 2013. In 2014 Lindsey Scott (ex Le Reno Amps) replaced Johny Lamb as bassist in Hoodrats.

2014–2017

In September 2014, T-T joined Thee Concerned Citizens (Thee Cee Cees) as lead singer. In April 2015 Thee Cee Cees released their debut album ''Solution Songs'' on Blang! Records. In May 2015, T-T released a duo album of covers with folk singer Gill Sandell, ''Walk Away, Walk Away'', on Rowan Tree Records. T-T and Sandell also performed the theme song for horror film ''The Outer Darkness'', produced by BloodyCuts. In May 2016, T-T released his 10th solo album ''9 Green Songs'' on Xtra Mile Recordings, a sequel to his 2005 album ''9 Red Songs''. Through summer 2016 T-T was the inaugural

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Creative Fellow at

The Workhouse, Southwell The Workhouse, also known as Greet House, in the town of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England, is a museum operated by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust, opened to the ...

, composing ''A Ballad For Southwell''; a new set of ballads telling stories of workhouse life. In November 2016

released ''Jim Bob Sings Again'', an album of piano and voice versions of songs from across his catalogue, featuring Chris T-T as piano accompanist. In March 2017, Xtra Mile Recordings announced ''Best Of Chris T-T''; a double-album career retrospective marking his 20th anniversary, to be released on 19 May.

Giving up music

In April 2017, Chris T-T announced he was giving up his music career and that a farewell gig in London in autumn would be his final live concert. His final tour was the previously booked May 2017 solo tour promoting his ''Best Of'' double album. Chris T-T performed his final live concerts in London on 2 and 3 December 2017.

Other work

DJ work

From October 2014 to June 2018, T-T presented a weekly two-hour folk-oriented radio programme on Juice 107.2 called Midnight Campfire, which lasted until the closure of the radio station. In 2006 and 2007, he presented a weekly live radio programme on

Phoenix FM Phoenix FM is a community radio station serving the areas of Brentwood and Billericay, England on 98.0FM and online, covering an area of over 140,000 people. History The station was formed in 1996 and has been broadcasting full-time on FM since ...

which gave first live sessions to artists including Tom Williams & The Boat and

. T-T has been club DJ at live concerts by bands including

Dinosaur Jr Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ...

The Thermals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Okkervil River Okkervil River is an American rock band led by singer-songwriter Will Sheff. Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya set on the river Okkervil in Saint Petersburg. They bega ...

Jolie Holland Jolie Holland is an American singer and performer who combines elements of folk, traditional, country, rock, jazz, and blues. Career Growing up in Houston, Texas, Jolie left in 1994, moving to Austin, New Orleans, and San Francisco before en ...

Samantha Parton The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian folk music group formed in Vancouver in 1999. Their influences include folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they perform can be referred to as alt-country or Americana. History The Be Good Tanya ...

and

Efterklang Efterklang () is a Danish indie rock group from Copenhagen, formed in December 2000. The band has recorded five studio albums and are currently signed to the 4AD label, as well as their own record label Rumraket. In 2012, they released their f ...

Writing

In 2008, Chris T-T started a regular column in the Arts section of '' The Morning Star'' which ran for four years. He has written articles and short fiction for ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'', ''

Dark Mountain Dark Mountain, formerly also known as Black Mountain, is a mountain in the Tanzilla Plateau of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located northeast of the settlement of Dease Lake, near Cry Lake. Before 1937 Dark Mountain was k ...

'', ''

Louder Than War ''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by journalist John Robb in 2010 and is now ru ...

'', ''ecnmy.org'', ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' and others. His ''Empties'' photo series was published in the book ''Dark Mountain Volume 2'' and his short story ''Five Dead Badgers'' in ''Dark Mountain Volume 3''.

#IAmSpartacus

In November 2010, Chris T-T was identified as the instigator of the #IAmSpartacus Twitter hashtag, an act of mass online civil disobedience to show support for accountant Paul Chambers, after he lost his appeal against a conviction for a joke he had made on Twitter, earlier in the year. Thousands of people copied Chambers' original message with the #IAmSpartacus hashtag and for a day it was the most popular Twitter hashtag in the world, attracting worldwide media coverage to the case. The tweet, including the 'Spartacus' reference, was repeated on the floor of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

Julian Huppert Julian Leon Huppert (born 21 July 1978) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom and former Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2010 to 2015. He succeeded David Howarth, who stood down after one term as an MP. At the 2015 gene ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Best Of Chris T-T'' (19 May 2017, career retrospective double album

) * ''9 Green Songs'' (3 June 2016,

) * ''Solution Songs'' (5 May 2015, as lead singer of Thee Cee Cees, Blang!) * ''Walk Away, Walk Away'' (23 March 2015, as Gill Sandell & Chris T-T, Rowan Tree Records) * ''The Bear'' (7 October 2013, as Chris T-T & The Hoodrats,

) * ''Disobedience: Chris T-T Sings A.A. Milne'' (28 October 2011, Lo Fi Arts) * ''Love Is Not Rescue'' (15 March 2010,

) * ''Capital'' (17 March 2008,

) * ''9 Red Songs'' (October 2005, Snowstorm Records) * ''London Is Sinking'' (October 2003, Snowstorm Records) * ''The 253'' (November 2001, Snowstorm Records) * ''Panic Attack at Sainsbury's'' (September 2000, Snowstorm Records) * ''Beatverse'' (1999, Wine Cellar Records)

Live albums

* ''9 Red Songs 10th Anniversary Night'' (live concert recording, February 2016, Lo Fi Arts) * ''Good Songs in Small Rooms: Live 2005–2011'' (live collection, February 2013, Lo Fi Arts) * ''Live Tonight'' (live collection, June 2004, Wine Cellar Records)

EPs

* ''Love Me I'm A Liberal'' (October 2016,

, download ep) * ''A Beaten Drum EP'' (June 2014,

, download ep) * ''Words Fail Me'' (April 2011,

, download ep) * ''Nintendo EP'' (March 2010,

, iTunes Exclusive download ep) * ''This Gun Is Not A Gun'' (November 2007,

, CDep) * ''500 Miles EP'' (March 2002, Snowstorm Records, CDep) * ''You Can Be Flirty'' (September 2000, Snowstorm Records, CDep)

Singles

* "A Hole Full Of Submarines (band version)" (April 2017,

, digital download) * "The English Earth" (February 2017,

, digital download) * "#WorstGovernmentEver" (June 2016,

, digital download) * "Bury Me with a Scarab" (10 February 2014,

, digital download) * "The Bear" (October 2013,

, 7"/digital download) * "Binker" (February 2012, Lo Fi Arts, digital download) * "Nintendo" (March 2010,

, digital download) * "We Are The King of England" (27 October 2008,

, digital download) * "A-Z" (10 March 2008,

, digital download) * "You Can't Stop The Machine"/"Bored of the War" (May 2004, Isota Records, 7") * "Eminem Is Gay"/"The Headcold Bit of the Winter" (March 2003, Snowstorm Records, 7"/CD) * "English Man" (March 2001, Snowstorm Records, 7") * "Dreaming of Injured Popstars" (March 2001, Snowstorm Records, 7") * "You Can Be Flirty"/"Sideshow Mel" (September 2000, Snowstorm Records, 7")

Split singles

* "''The Bear''" (October 2013,

, split single with

To Kill A King ''To Kill a King'' is a 2003 English Civil War film directed by Mike Barker, and starring Tim Roth, Rupert Everett and Dougray Scott. It centres on the relationship between Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax in the post-war period from 1648 unt ...

) * "''Tomorrow Morning''" (September 2004, R*E*P*E*A*T Records, split single with Cosy Cosy) * "''Cull''" (August 2004,

Wrath Records Wrath Records is a British small independent record label founded in 2002 and based in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Unlike some 'indie labels', Wrath does not feature backing from any major record companies. Originally set up by Steven and Paul M ...

, split single with stuffy/the fuses) * "''The Idris Lung/Strings''" (May 1997, under the moniker Duckyfuzz, split single with Faded)

References

External links

Official website

Interview from December 2007

Interview from May 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chris T-T 1974 births Living people Alumni of Bretton Hall College English male singer-songwriters English folk musicians Folk punk musicians Musicians from Winchester 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers