Ben Christo

Ben Christo
Ben Christo playing with The Sisters of Mercy in Berlin, Germany
Background information
Born	22 March 1980 (1980-03-22) (age 38) Bristol, England
Genres	Industrial rock, alternative rock, alternative metal, gothic rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Associated acts	The Sisters of Mercy, Night by Night, Diamond Black, AKO

Ben Christo (born 22 March 1980) is a British rock musician, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, lyricist and session musician, he is best known for his tenures with The Sisters of Mercy, Night by Night and Diamond Black.

Early life

Christo was born in Bristol, England and began playing music at 7 years old, performing in a number of rock, metal and punk bands in his early to mid-teens. At 15, his school group, Balanced State, won the South West of England’s regional battle of the bands, leading to his first T.V. appearance.

AKO

He first saw national success in the hardcore punk/metal/rock band AKO, which he co-founded, whose debut album received favourable reviews in Kerrang! , Metal Hammer and Total Guitar. The band’s unique combination of punk, hardcore, nu-metal and melodic rock caught the attention of Tony Iommi’s management, who gave Christo one of Iommi’s old Laney amplifiers and arranged for the band to meet with renowned producer Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Shinedown, Rob Zombie), to discuss collaboration on their sophomore album. However, 9/11 severed trans-Atlantic links to such an extent that the plans were shelved indefinitely.

AKO released two more EPs and toured in support of Akaline Trio, AFI, Stiff Little Fingers, Avenged Sevenfold and Stonesour, amongst others, and were featured on Mike Davies’ BBC Radio 1 show The Lock Up at Maida Vale studios. The AKO song, "Tread Easy" was used on BBC 2’s "Football Diaries".

The band’s final show was at the 2005 South By South West Festival in Austin, Texas. AKO decided to call it a day shortly thereafter and Christo moved to London.

The Sisters of Mercy

Ben Christo playing at the Camden Roundhouse with the Sisters of Mercy

In 2006, Christo joined The Sisters of Mercy, as lead guitarist and backing vocalist. He has toured extensively with the band,^[1] headlining festivals worldwide such as Sonsiphere, Fuji Rock, Nova Rock, Tuska OpenAir Metal Festival, M’era Luna, Greenfield Festival, Spirit of Burgas, Amphi and Soundwave Australia.

Night by Night

In 2008, Christo founded Night by Night, where he was lead singer, guitarist, primary songwriter and key lyricist for the band. Their first EP, "Just Tonight", was produced by Paul Tipler (Idlewild) and released in 2009. Later recruiting an additional lead singer and expanding to a 5-piece, Night by Night’s debut album, "NxN", was released to critical acclaim in 2014.

Produced and mixed by Romesh Dodangoda (Motorhead, Funeral for a Friend) and John Mitchell and released on Sun Hill Production/Cargo Records the album was publicly applauded by several musicians including those with Def Leppard,^[2] Kane Roberts, Harem Scarem and Firehouse, claiming 6th place in Fireworks Magazine’s Top 10 Albums of 2014, alongside Mr. Big and Night Ranger. In his review,^[3] Classic Rock Magazine’s Geoff Barton scored the album 8/10 and made a point of commending both Christo’s lead playing (comparing him to Neal Schon) and lyrics.

In addition to substantial touring across the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Germany and Switzerland (including shows supporting Alannah Miles, The Quireboys, Lord of the Lost and Jettblack), Night by Night was selected as sole tour supports to both Europe and Y&T, and also appeared at Download (2013) and Hard Rock Hell (2012 and 2015) festivals. In June 2015, the band announced that they would be on hiatus until further notice.

Diamond Black

In 2016, Christo established dark-rock quartet, Diamond Black,^[4] with Finnish producer Jaani Peuhu. The debut single was released on 20 October 2017 and received public praise from Metal Hammer, W.A.S.P. and Deathstars, with Piggy D of Rob Zombie and Mark Thwaite of The Mission sharing the video on their social media. Sony Pictures Television channel Scuzz set the track on rotation and Bass Guitar Magazine ran a feature on the band. On 12 December a limited-edition physical copy of the single was released from the band’s website, selling out in 2 hours, which included Christo's hand-written lyrics as part of the CD package. In February 2018 it was announced that Diamond Black will be main support act to Cellar Darling on their UK tour in April.

Session and Other Works

As a studio session guitarist and vocalist, he has recorded with Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers), Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Pixies), Raymond Watts (KMFDM, PIG), Steve Lima (Corrine Bailey-Rae) and Bob White of NFD. He also works as a lyricist for various artists at Play Soho, London.

In 2002, Christo was selected as one of eight songwriters, alongside Jonny Kalsi, chosen from thousands of members of PRS for Music for their The Song’s The Thing workshop, led by Boo Hewerdine. Around the same time, he appeared in a promo feature for Roadrunner Records.

In 2004, Ben co-wrote and directed a comedy short, "Sold Out", with fellow University of Bristol graduate David R. Watson, featuring Ninian Doff (Kasabian, Royal Blood, Miike Snow, Chemical Brothers) as the D.O.P, Nick Gadd (Sherlock, TV Series) as starring role and John Heffernan in a cameo. The short won a Dazed national film award, selected by Rhys Ifans.

From 2008 to 2016, Christo has featured as a live guitarist and backing vocalist with Richie Faulkner, Therapy?, Mike Tramp, Chris Dale, Doogie White, Stephen Gilchrist, Chris Catalyst, Jon Poole, Boysetsfire, Claytown Troupe and members of Uriah Heep, Breed 77, Rachel Stamp, Ben and Jason, Dragonforce, Cradle of Filth and Sikth.

In 2011, Christo wrote and performed live for Lauren Harris’s band, Six Hour Sundown, when previous guitarist Richie Faulkner, who left to join Judas Priest, personally asked Ben to take his place.

In 2014, Christo composed and played guitar parts for Anzi Destruction’s "Black Dog Bias".

Whilst in The Sisters of Mercy, Christo has also played alongside Depeche Mode, Metallica, Placebo, Editors, Strung Out, Serj Tankian, The Cult, Faith No More, Marilyn Manson, Tricky, OMD, Machine Head (band), Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. He is also musical director, performer and promoter at Shot Through the Heart, a monthly rock club night in at The Lounge in London.

In May 2018 Christo accompanied Nathan Gray (Boysetsfire) on his solo tour of Germany in May, as guitarist, backing vocalist and keyboard player.

In June 2018 PIG released full-length album "Risen", on which Christo co-wrote and performed. The album also features En Esch, Tim Skold, Marc Heal and Mark Thwaite. The same month it was announced that PIG, featuring Christo on guitar, will support Killing Joke on the U.S.A. leg of their fortieth anniversary world tour.

Equipment/Endorsement

Christo uses Gibson & Fender guitars, Kemper ampifiers, Rotosound strings, DiMarzio pick-ups and InTune Guitar Picks, with clothing endorsements from Alexander Mcqueen and Dr Martens.

Recorded Works

The following represent the body of recorded works with which Christo has been involved:

References

External links

• Official Sisters Of Mercy Website
• Official Night By Night Website
• Official Diamond Black Website