Q&A: CRIS CHIL on Following Her Dreams, Finding Her Voice, and Creating Her Own Path
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SARAH RUIZ ☆
Photo by Roger Guarisma
CRIS CHIL HAS SPENT HER CAREER—writing and producing for artists like Kali Uchis, Sean Paul and Drake, moving effortlessly between the Latin and Anglo music industries as a Grammy-nominated and Latin Grammy-nominated composer. Originally from Ecuador, she carries her roots with her wherever she goes, representing musical women in her work.
Speaking with CRIS felt less like an interview and more like a motivational chat. The way she talks about chasing her dreams, and about walking away from a relationship to do it, is proof that when you fully commit to achieving your dreams, anything can happen. Nothing about CRIS’S place in this industry was handed to her. She earned her respect and built her name through her hard work and passion. Her story is relatable and is proof that you can accomplish dreams you envision for yourself. As she shared during our interview, nothing should ever hold us back, not age, not relationship status, not family, not anything else. "I feel like if you have that conviction and you have a passion, there's nothing that's impossible to do. I'm here as a testimony of that."
As a fellow Ecuadorian and woman in music, talking with CRIS was a reminder of how far conviction can take you, and that when we have a goal and vision, no one can take that from us. Listening to her speak about her dreams and the discipline behind chasing them, her tone and voice reflect how she writes music for artists and herself.
Luna spoke with CRIS CHIL about her new single “La Respuesta,” her debut EP “UMBRAL” and her experience in the music industry.
Photo by Roger Guarisma
LUNA: After years of working behind the scenes and collaborating with major artists, what made this feel like the right moment to step forward and release an EP of your own?
CHIL: I feel like writing music has always been for me. It came to a point where I felt my purpose was attached to my message. As a songwriter, you're helping communicate the artist's beliefs, thoughts, feelings, all of that, right? But as an artist, I felt like I had a responsibility attached to my purpose when it came to sharing my own message. The more I started feeling like I had something I wanted to say, the more I realized that's my little contribution to humanity. I always felt like I needed to say my message in my own way, my own words, my own style of doing it. It was very important for me to do that, and I made the decision to transition into now saying what I had to say.
LUNA: You’re originally from Ecuador. How has your upbringing and connection to Ecuador shaped the way you approach songwriting, production and your artistry today?
CHIL: Big time. I was born in Guayaquil, but I come from a very musical family. Ecuador is so big on baladas and pasillos. I really grew up around that, and I came to realize how much it really influences what I do. I am so grateful for that.
LUNA: You made the move to Miami early in your career. What do you remember about those first years of finding your place in the city’s music scene, and how does that experience compare to where you are now?
CHIL: That was literally like a baby being born. When I first got there, I literally didn't have any type of lead or connection. I didn't know anybody in the music industry. I just got there with a dream, passion and conviction. I was homeless, living on a friend's couch. I had just recently broken off an engagement with an amazing relationship, so it was a very tough moment to really understand that my purpose was right. I really made myself uncomfortable and left a very nice, comfortable situation with an amazing man to go and pursue my dream. To compare that to where I'm at now, it's just a confirmation that the feeling I had inside of me, that intuition, was always right.
I remember when I was living in Canada before with my ex-fiancé, and I remember, in tears, telling him, “I know this might not make any sense at all, but I just have this feeling that I was born to make big things with music. I see myself being nominated for Grammys and stuff like that.” I know it made no sense because I had no lead to get there, right? A couple years later, that exactly happened, and I was able to send him a message, in the most loving way, just saying, “Do you remember that conversation we had? It actually happened.” And on my journey, it was amazing to be able to share with someone what I wanted to do, and then be able to share that I did it. It was amazing.
LUNA: You manifested that story and it happened! It’s like you spread your wings and started to fly. You’re killing it out here.
CHIL: That's it, right? Spreading your wings and having that faith in the unknown. That's really what it's about. I feel like if you have that conviction and you have a passion, nothing is impossible. I'm here as a testimony of that, as long as you're willing to sacrifice something that's important to you. Because I wasn't in a difficult situation back then, or in a bad relationship. It was all great, butterflies, a fairytale story. I was just making a decision to really go and pursue something that I wasn't at all aware was possible.
I remember telling him, “We're gonna get married, you wanna have kids and all of that. What am I gonna tell my kids, to follow their dreams, if I didn't follow mine at all? I'd feel like a hypocrite.” That was what made me realize I could not multiply myself, reproduce myself and tell other humans to be great if I don't have that story to tell them myself. I was able to put the work in and really manifest that.
LUNA: We need to have you on panels here in Miami. Your story is so motivational.
CHIL: That's something I've come to understand, that there's no time, nobody and nothing that can stop you. Sometimes people are stopped by age, or by where they're at in life, or relationships, family or friends telling you that you shouldn't do that. There are so many things that will block you from your blessings. But if you have a clear vision of where you're going, nothing can stop you.
LUNA: You’ve worked with artists like Kali Uchis, Drake and many others. What have those experiences taught you—not just as a songwriter and producer, but about yourself and the kind of artist you want to become?
CHIL: Huge. It's been amazing. I feel like my journey couldn't have been any other way. I'm so grateful for every artist that I got to work with because they've each added such a big contribution to who I am as an artist; they've helped me discover who I am. Writing from different perspectives, points of view, personalities, messages and getting to see every artist's real mission, vision, beliefs, all of that, has slowly shaped who I am as an artist and started making me realize who I really am, what I stand for, right? What I want to represent, what I want to say, what I don't want to say. I'm so grateful for that opportunity to have really built a career as a songwriter, because I feel like it gave me the advantage of building my own identity through understanding what it really means for an artist to stand for something.
I think that's the most important thing as a songwriter; when I work for an artist, that's what I think about first. What does this artist stand for? What do they represent? How do they speak? How do they communicate with their audience? How do they make their audience feel? When I started doing it, it's literally like school, right? You're doing it over and over again, and you start being able to realize very clearly what makes an identity. I feel like that is really what helped me shape my own identity.
LUNA: You’re also the founder of CHIL HOUSE. What inspired you to build something of your own, and what has the experience of running your own company taught you about yourself and the music industry?
CHIL: I've always been the type of person that just loves to create art in general. I like to call myself a creator of multiverses. I like creating many layers of art. I like creating universes for different artists. It's always been a talent of mine to be able to identify an artist and really help them develop, because I'm able to see who they are as people. I think I have a sensitive talent to really be able to understand people before they even understand themselves. I realized that writing for other people or even just developing my own artist career, wasn't enough for the purpose and the capabilities that I have. I felt selfish not really spreading that knowledge and helping others. When I decided to create CHIL RECORDS and CHIL HOUSE Studios, I came from a place where I wanted to help people develop their real art and their real talent, from who they are, without having a label tell them who they should be, without having other producers tell them how they should sing or what is cool or not.
My mission was to help artists across all different areas, from production to songwriting to artistry, to really find themselves, empower themselves, and help them, through my experience, to shape them into the best they can be. That had always been a dream of mine: to have my studios in Miami and start helping develop artists, as well as the publishing side with producers and songwriters. And so, I did that at the beginning of the year. I got the studio house. We have a beautiful studio house in front of the ocean in Aventura, Miami. I signed my first artist; his name is Angelis. He's an amazing artist, and we're making a very high-awareness message with his music. I think that we're living in a time where the world needs awareness, needs to wake up, needs that love. We're in a time of confusion for humanity. I've always said that music is the biggest influence there is, more than politics, more than religion, more than culture, more than anything. Music will always be the frequency that affects the masses. I've come to really take that responsibility personally, and I'm so happy to be able to help develop projects that really have that intention in mind.
LUNA: On “La Respuesta,” you self-directed and produced the music video. What was it like taking full creative control, and how did you bring your vision for the song into the visual world?
CHIL: It was so much fun. It was like I had no limits. I was able to do anything that came to my head. I wrote“La Respuesta” after I went through a very difficult relationship, once I moved to Miami, after my ex-fiancé. I had one of those relationships that almost ended your life, that type of situation. It almost broke me. It was one of those situations that had to make me or break me, and I decided that it was not going to break me at all. It was only going to make me stronger.
In “La Respuesta,” it’s the moment when you know you're not going to go back to a place because it was bad, because it was toxic, because it hurt you, because there's nothing there you should be going back to look for. But there's always this moment when you're vulnerable, when you're out with your girls, that first week, that first month, when you're still trying to adapt to this new life where you no longer share your life with this person. It's that moment of vulnerability when you're out with your girls, and it's like, oh my god, this song reminds you of him, or he texts you, and you want to respond. It's like you're about to fall, but you're like, “Nah, I can't do this to myself.” It's that moment you allow yourself to be vulnerable, but you still have the answer: la respuesta es no. That's what I was thinking when I wrote this song.
In this video, I just let the rage out, and this is probably one of my favorite songs in the project, because I’m welcoming a feeling that a lot of people tell you not to explore. A lot of people are like, “Don't be mad, go straight into healing.” But to be able to heal, you need to go through the process. You need to rage, cry, break and lose it. It's part of the process. In this song specifically, I'm just encouraging people to be vulnerable and to let the emotions be. For me, in that part of the process, it was rage. I literally wanted to just break everything and let all the anger out that I had, even more toward myself for wanting him than toward him, even though I knew that wasn't good for me. I had a blast doing this song, writing it and shooting it. It was great.
LUNA: As conversations around women in songwriting and production continue to evolve, what changes would you still like to see within the industry to create more space and opportunities for women behind the scenes?
Photo by Roger Guarisma
CHIL: I've seen the evolution of this topic being huge in the past few years. When I first started writing for other artists a few years ago, it wasn't what it is today. There were maybe one or two female songwriters really doing important stuff in the industry. But now, there are so many of them. They're super talented. I love to see a woman leading the room. I love to see the collaboration between male and female collaborators, and to see today how much respect has been built around a female creator.
I feel like I did live through the times where I had to earn my space, where I did have to go through a lot of stuff. I had a producer wanting to act funny with me, the first guy who ever wanted to teach me how to record myself. The first time he asked to teach me, and the whole thing, he came over to my place and asked me to sit on his lap. I went through all of it. Obviously, I didn't sit on his lap. I sent him to hell, and I didn't give a f***. But what I did learn was that as a woman, you're going to be the one who sets your value, who sets your bar and who sets the level of respect that they're going to give you.
I feel like in my process, I've always stood very strongly in my character as an artist, in what I had to bring to the table as far as music, and I never really wanted to take advantage of or use any other type of situation that could put me further ahead, because at the end of the day, that only blocks you from further opportunities.
Today, I see growth. I see growth for females in the industry. I think we still have a long way to go, but I'm happy to see that it's moving and evolving. I'm also happy to see that music is not fully revolving around women's sexuality now. I'm happy to see that women don't feel like they have to force themselves to be this sexual symbol or object in order to be considered in the industry. I think that now we're starting to open up more layers of, you know, female art, and that doesn't necessarily need to involve sexuality. So, to be honest with you, we still have a long way to go, but I think we're on our way there.
LUNA: Your EP is set to arrive in December. What can listeners expect from this next chapter, and what do you hope they take away from the project?
CHIL: An emotional roller coaster. This project was born from a post-traumatic relationship. That relationship almost breaks you, and I really felt a responsibility to share my journey, my emotional roller coaster, because I know that everyone, especially women, we all go through it, at least once in our lives, a relationship that really takes over our life. We lose ourselves. We forget our value. It blocks us from the truth and reality. I think that the women who come out of that are actually superheroes. What they really go through, it's insane.
I feel there are so many people today living that, or in the middle of that process, without knowing if there's light at the end of the tunnel. I really wanted to document, with this project, the whole process of feelings you go through while you're on your way to the light, while you're on your way to that threshold that is going to take you to the next level of your life, to the next chapter.
Expect a lot of emotion, all of it, from anger, sadness [and] depression to party, adrenaline and you're ready to go back to the streets. Expect all of the feelings you go through when you're in a healing process, and expect to have so much fun with it. Expect to cry with it. Expect to love yourself through it, and then, hopefully, like me, come out the other side stronger and better.
