Chris Bathgate

Chris Bathgate was born in Ames, IA on April 21st 1982. His early childhood was set in Iowa and Kentucky, with the majority of his adolescence spent in Illinois. After moving to Michigan to attend U of M’s School of Art and Design in 2001, Chris emerged from the Ann Arbor local music scene. This strong local presence led to the attention of locally based label Quite Scientific and their release of A Cork Tale Wake (2007).

This album began Chris' foray into high fidelity audio, and bore one of his widely heard songs, "Serpentine". This song garnered the release of A Cork Tale Wake on UK label One Little Indian, and saw significant airplay on BBC Radio 2. This success beget several European solo-tours and a fast growing international visibility. Since, Chris has released 5 additional albums with Quite Scientific, including his most recent and prominent album to date —Salt Year (2011). This release saw Chris touring extensively across the US, performing for NPR (Tiny Desk Concert), and receiving bold attention at SXSW.

This long and active period of time was ended with the announcement of a hiatus in the summer of 2012. This absence from performing lasted 2 years. During this time Chris began work on the project SKULLLS, filmed performance videos, and continued writing solo material for future release. He became active again in the fall of 2014 and has continued to tour and film performances of unreleased songs. His new EP Old Factory will be released early 2016.