Singer-songwriter Christian French has just released his most recent single ‘head first.’ With a perfect combination of smooth vocals and electric guitar, French impresses fans with his charming lyrics and captivating vocal talent. The ‘By Myself’ singer has nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and continues to gain new fans each day. In an exclusive interview with CelebMix, Christian French opened up about his new single, fans and more.
How did you first get started with music?
I had a friend that came into choir class in 6th grade and showed me a cover he had learned on [the] piano from YouTube. I was so amazed that he learned the whole thing online so I decided to try, and within a few months I started to get the hang of it and began singing while playing. I had learned a bunch of covers, started posting them on SoundCloud and continued for a few years until I started writing my own music.
Once I got to college, I got a mic and midi keyboard to start recording a few demos. I met Mclean Trieglaff (triegy) and found out [that] he was a great producer, so we began working together on my first 4 songs: ‘fall for you,’ ‘dying alive,’ ‘by myself’ and ‘done from the start.’ From there, I began working on music out in LA during breaks in college and ended up moving out there last year.
What can you tell us about your new single “head first” and its message?
This song is meant to describe the feeling you get when a certain someone that you’re really into comes around. It’s the type of [a] high school crush where you guys aren’t in a relationship yet, but you are kind of obsessed with this person – [like] always thinking about them and wanting to be around them. Once they do come around, you have that warm, heavy heartbeat feel that kind of makes you nervous to even talk to them, but leaves you wanting them even more. You’re completely hooked on this person and they don’t even know it. This song is confessing these feelings in sort of a hypnotic way – being helplessly obsessed.
Who are your musical influences?
John Mayer, Jon Bellion, Jeremy Zucker, Gavin DeGraw and Khalid.
Your hit song ‘By Myself’ has over 20 million streams! What does it feel like to accomplish that and receive so much support?
20 million is a number that’s really hard to fathom. I opened with ‘by myself’ on the last tour, and I was always amazed at how many people knew the words at every show. This song has for sure had a huge impact on pushing my career forward, and I’m very thankful for how well it’s been received.
Speaking of support, what do you love most about your fans?
After two meet & greet tours, I feel like I’ve gotten a pretty good idea of what my fans are like and I’m so happy to say that they are the same loving and genuine people that I strive to be. I try to answer all of my dm’s every day, and through that I’ve become friends with SO MANY of my fans. I feel like I can be myself and don’t have to pretend to be someone that I’m not. I am very thankful for that.
Do you have any goals for the rest of 2019?
I’m excited to play my first festival this summer (Summerfest) – playing a festival has been a big goal of mine for a long time. Along with that, I hope to make it out of the country to start playing international shows at some point in the near future. It’s a dream of mine to travel to a bunch of different countries and experience different cultures and do what I love. Other than that, I just want to continue to better myself as a human and an artist every day. I realize that these things take time and I know it’s a lot of work, but I can’t believe how much I’ve learned this past year living in LA and making music full time. Overall, I just want to keep making music that means something to me and [that] has a positive impact on others. I want to improve my craft every day and continue to learn and experience life.
You’re going to be doing a headlining tour this fall! What can you tease about that?
There’s a bunch of new music coming for this next tour, so we’re looking to add a third band member to our live set to really give it a live band feel. This is the first time I’ve really been able to dive into my set and make it exactly what I want – I don’t want to give away all of the surprises, but there will be a lot more to it than my previous opening slot sets and I’ve never been more excited to perform!
What can fans look forward to in the near or distant future?
One of our main goals this year is to release music consistently. We’ve been working harder than ever and have an amazing lineup of music coming that I am very proud of. As I already mentioned, I’m going on my first headlining run this fall and feel that it’s going to open up another level of artistry for me since I’ve been an opening act up to this point. So be on the lookout for an announcement soon!
Thank you, Christian French, for taking the time to speak with CelebMix.
Listen to ‘head first’ here.