Christian Savill (born 6 December 1970) is an English musician best known for his work as

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Slowdive Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on drum ...

Early life

Born in

Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the Historic counties of Englan ...

, Savill did not grow up in a musical family, but influenced by

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

(and specifically by

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

) decided to play guitar when he was around fourteen years old. To encourage his decision, his father bought him an electric guitar and it was at this point his family figured out he was left handed. Savill also stated that other guitarists influenced him: "Marr made me want to play the guitar, but also quickly made me want to quit because I realised quickly that I was never gonna be as good. William Reid then made me realise I didn’t need to be technically amazing. Just so powerful, simple and totally brilliant. Their bass player only had two strings on his bass and I loved that. Then

Kevin Shields Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-born Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the band My Bloody Valentine. They became influential on the evolution of alter ...

with the weird tunings and out of this world sounds.

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed ...

was also a big influence".

Career

Savill formed

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

band The Geeks with his friend Sean Hewson in 1989. This band became Eternal and the line-up consisted of Stuart Wilkinson (bass guitar) and Michael Warner (drums) and Christian Savill (voice/guitar). Sean Hewson played with them occasionally. Eternal released a single 7″, entitled "Breathe" in the indie label

Sarah Records Sarah Records was a British independent record label active in Bristol between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop, which it released mostly on 7" singles. On reaching the catalogue number SARAH 100, the label celebrated it ...

. Shortly afterwards, he joined

after replying to an ad where they were looking for a female guitarist. "I will wear a dress if it's necessary", he told them. With him on board, the band released ''

Just for a Day ''Just for a Day'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Slowdive. It was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records. Recording ''Just for a Day'' was recorded at Courtyard Studios, formerly known as Georgetown Studios, in Abingd ...

'' and the critically acclaimed album ''

Souvlaki Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with ...

''. By the time

released their third album, ''

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

'', (1995) things in the band were tense and Savill's input was minimum. As they were not getting any money either, he and bassist Nick Chaplin left the band to find a job. In September 2000 he relocated to London. Prior to that he spent a few years working in a software company and also running a Finnish football website. He and Sean Hewson had been doing music on and off during this time, but nothing really serious until December 1999 when they decided to actually make a record. Originally they wanted to call their band B-Movie, but after finding that to be the name of a pre-Soft Cell band they settled on their second choice, which was

Monster Movie A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall under ...

, inspired by

Can Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * C ...

's album of the same name. The band released their first, eponymous EP in 2001 through Clairecords and their first album titled ''Last Night Something Happened'' in 2002 through Clairecords in the US and Alison Records in Europe to very good reviews. In 2020, Savill formed a new band, Beachy Head, with Ryan Graveface (Dreamend, The Casket Girls), Steve Clarke (The Soft Cavalry), Matt Duckworth (

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

) and Slowdive bandmate

Rachel Goswell Rachel Ann Goswell (born 16 May 1971) is an English singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence as vocalist and guitarist of the shoegazing, shoegaze band Slowdive, which formed in 1989. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutch ...

. Beachy Head's eponymous debut album was released April 30, 2021, on Graveface Records."Beachy Head . Graveface Records and Curiosities"
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Discography

; Slowdive * ''

'' (1991) * ''

'' (1993) * ''

'' (1995) * ''Slowdive'' (2017) ; Monster Movie * ''Last Night Something Happened'' (2002, Clairecords) * ''To the Moon'' (2003, Clairecords) * ''Transistor'' (Mini-Album) (2004, Graveface Records) * '' All Lost'' (2006, Graveface Records/ArtOfFact Records) * ''Everyone Is a Ghost'' (2010, Graveface Records) * ''Keep the Voices Distant'' (2017, Graveface Records) ; Beachy Head * ''Beachy Head'' (2021, Graveface Records)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savill, Christian 1970 births Living people Creation Records artists English pop guitarists English rock guitarists English male guitarists Shoegaze musicians 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male musicians