Interview : Cristina Vantzou

"In 2003, Christina met Stars of the Lid's Adam Wiltzie and together they started The Dead Texan (Kranky). After several years of touring with The Dead Texan and a stint as a touring member of Sparklehorse (summer 2007) Christina started making music of her own. [...] Titled Nº1, it is the first installment of a planned series of recordings by Christina with an orchestra component."


1. Your first musical memories?
Dancing in the living room to a Tina Turner tape. Listening to Paul Simon in the car pretty much my entire childhood. Listening to Talking Heads at parties.

2. The best record you received as a present? / The worse one?
Best – Soundtrack to The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Nobody gives bad music presents.

3. The first record that you lost?
Don’t remember, but I remember clothes lost on tour, always the best items. I’m still hoping a jacket will turn up from my first tour in 2004.

4. The name of your imaginary band?
Quartz Crystal Quartet.

5. In which environment do you like to record music?
At home, in the kitchen.

6. What will music sound like in 50 years / 5000 years?
50 years – Over the next fifty years music will exhaust itself. There will be a revival of homemade instruments and technically skilled musicians will re-emerge. 5000 years – Our mental powers will have developed to the point that our minds will be able to manifest music without any need for tools or time or musicians. “Mind Music” will be released as soon as it has been thought up, and everyone will have they option to hear it, like a radio, but in the form of an invisible archive that you can tune into or not.

7. Which underrated album will start a new musical genre?
Ernest Gibson - Operator.

8. Which album should never have been made?
Never say never.

9. Your favourite album to have a drink?
I’ve never made a drink and put on a record. Except if you count making tea in the morning and putting on music. Sometimes I forget the music part and go straight to the computer. That sucks the life force right out of me. Somehow with music on a morning of work-related emails is bearable.

10. Your dream collaboration?
A residency with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra accompanied by the Swedish radio symphony choir with special guests Bradford Cox, Jim Guthrie, Harold Budd, and Igor Stravinsky.

11. The record that freaks you out?
Fuck Buttons- Surf Solar, in a good way

12. The record you would like to listen to right now?
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son Of Chico Dusty.

13. The film that tickles your creativity?
The Prophet

14. The little-known track that everyone should have heard of?
This is not little-known but…Claude Debussy - Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune.

15. An album or an artist you wouldn’t want to be?
I don’t know how to answer this question.

16. The cover version you would love to do?
Crystal Castles – Zee Crystal Lake and Daft Punk Tron Legacy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Overture

17. The mashup you would love to do?
Emeralds & Fourtet.

18. The text you would like to produce a soundtrack for?
The Swedish Dance History.

19. Have you ever had auditory hallucinations?
All the time. These are what we’ll be able to record as it’s happening in 5000 years. Can’t wait.

20. How would you like to die?
Sword fight.



Go to Christina's website, soundcloud and facebook. See her video and listen to The Dead Texan on spotify.