THE LONG VERSION –
STARTING WITH THE PRESENT

2016-PRESENT – CRYSTAL MONKEY PROJECT and More

AFTER BAND LINEUP CHANGES IN 2016 AND COLLECTING NEW SONGS FOR RECORDING, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE MUSICAL EVOLUTION SOUNDED CLOSE TO “CHRIS KLIMECKY” BUT WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT…THUS THE “CRYSTAL MONKEY PROJECT” WAS BORN. A MASSIVE SELF-PRODUCED EFFORT YEARS IN THE MAKING, THE ALBUM CALLED ARE WE ENLIGHTENED YET? WAS RELEASED IN JULY 2021, WITH LIVE VIDEOS AND LIVE ALBUM FOLLOWING IN ’22-’23. HIGHLY EMOTIONAL AND A REFLECTION OF THE TIMES, THIS COLLECTION OF THIRTEEN SONGS IS INTENDED TO ENGAGE AND DELIGHT LISTENERS THROUGH A ROLLERCOASTER OF ELECTRIC, ACOUSTIC, AND EVEN ORCHESTRAL ARRANGEMENTS THAT HIGHLIGHT THE MUSICAL JOURNEY.

CRYSTAL MONKEY PROJECT IS:

CHRIS KLIMECKY – GUITAR, VOCALS

MARK CROUTER – BASS

ROB PEARSALL – DRUMS

CHRIS ALSO RELEASED A FIVE SONG SOLO ALBUM ENTITLED FALLING STAR EP IN NOVEMBER OF 2021 – IN TOTAL, EIGHTEEN SONGS AND NINE VIDEOS FOR THE YEAR! LASTLY, CHRIS JOINED RAYMOND HAYDEN’S GRIEVE THE ASTRONAUT BAND AND RELEASED MULTIPLE SINGLES AND PERFORMED LIVE SHOWS IN 2022-23!

2015 – Change the World…All For Charity

A SHIFT IN PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE BROUGHT NEW ENERGY AND INSPIRATION TO THE SONGWRITING AND RECORDING OF THE BAND. THE INTRODUCTION OF “BEFORE LIGHT BREAKS” SONG AND VIDEO TO SUPPORT THE CROHN’S AND COLITIS FOUNDATION DEMONSTRATED THE POTENTIAL AND DEPTH OF IMPACT THIS GROUP OF MUSICIANS COULD BRING TO THE TABLE.

2012 – THE CHRIS KLIMECKY BAND

THE COMPLETION OF THIS JOURNEY MOTIVATED THE DESIRE TO PUT A BAND TOGETHER THAT WOULD REPRESENT THOSE SONGS PROPERLY IN A LIVE SETTING. AFTER KICKING OFF AT THE HARD ROCK CAFE IN SEATTLE FOR THE CD RELEASE PARTY, THE BAND SETTLED INTO A REGULAR ROUTINE OF SHOWS AND WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL AS A TRIO, QUARTET, OR EVEN QUINTET AT TIMES. THIS HIGH ENERGY SHOW (ELECTRIC OR ACOUSTIC) BY SKILLED AND EXPERIENCED MUSICIANS WAS FILLED WITH FUN AND MUSICAL PASSION!

2011 – A RETURN TO MUSICAL FOCUS

TAKING A BREAK FROM THE VIDEOGAME INDUSTRY IN LATE 2010 TO FOCUS ON MUSICAL PURSUITS, CHRIS OFFICIALLY TOOK OVER SONGWRITERS IN SEATTLE AND AT HOME ACCOMPLISHED A MAJOR STUDIO UPGRADE. THESE TWO ACTIONS SET THE TRAJECTORY FOR AN EXPLOSION OF MUSIC IN 2011-2012, MOST NOTABLY THE RELEASE OF THE ALBUM THIS JOURNEY (2012). “THIS JOURNEY IS THE REALIZATION OF A ROCK SOUND I’VE HAD IN MY HEAD THE LAST TWENTY YEARS!” CHRIS SAYS, “IT IS FOCUSED, CONSISTENT, DYNAMIC, PRODUCED AND PERFORMED TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, AND REPRESENTS A VISION I AM TRULY PROUD OF.” WITH A PROFESSIONAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER RE-INVENTING CHRIS’S VISUAL PRESENTATION AS WELL, THIS JOURNEY IS A PACKAGE THAT TOOK CHRIS’S SOLO WORK TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

2007 – BANKRUPT GENERATION

LOOKING FOR NEW INSPIRATION AND OTHER MUSICIANS TO COLLABORATE WITH, IN 2007 CHRIS JOINED A SMALL LOCAL GROUP OF MUSICIANS CALLED SONGWRITERS IN SEATTLE, WHOSE SEEMINGLY RANDOM FEW MONTHLY MEETING PARTICIPANTS WOULD DISCUSS THE CURRENT STATE OF THE MUSIC BIZ AND PLAY A FEW SONGS FOR ONE ANOTHER. STICKING WITH IT, BONDING WITH LIKE-MINDED MUSICIANS, AND FINDING MOTIVATION IN THE MONTHLY MEETING “DEADLINE,” CHRIS BEGAN HIS RETURN TO WRITING, RECORDING, AND PERFORMING, ALBEIT AT A SLOW PACE. THIS EVENTUALLY LED TO THE RELEASE OF TWELVE SONGS RECORDED BETWEEN 2007-2009 WITH A VARIETY OF SONGWRITING COLLABORATIONS ENTITLED BANKRUPT GENERATION (2010). AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF SONGS, THE ALBUM OFTEN REFLECTED ON THE WIDER ISSUES OF THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AT THE TIME AND PERSONAL STORIES OF HEARTBREAK AND HOPE RESULTING FROM IT.

2000 – WESTWARD HO!

MOVING TO SEATTLE AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM, CHRIS CONTINUED FORWARD ON HIS OWN, PLAYING AND RECORDING ALL INSTRUMENTS HIMSELF IN HIS HOME STUDIO FOR THE CD MAROONED (2001). THIS ALBUM WOULD BE THE LAST OF COLLABORATIONS WITH HIS BROTHER PETE AS LYRIC WRITER, AND THE LAST RECORDINGS OF SONGS WRITTEN DURING THE JESTER’S CROWN ERA. HIS FIRST SON WAS BORN IN OCTOBER OF THAT YEAR, SO IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT HE FOCUSED ON RAISING A YOUNG FAMILY AND ON HIS CAREER AS A PRODUCER IN THE VIDEOGAMES BUSINESS, INCLUDING LEADING THE TEAM WHICH CREATED THE CLASSIC HORROR-ACTION GAME “THE SUFFERING.”

1994 – JESTER’S CROWN

CHRIS SUMS UP THE STORY OF HIS MICHIGAN BAND: “IN THE MID-90’S MY BROTHER, MY COUSIN, AND I DECIDED TO FORMALIZE, PROFESSIONALLY RECORD AND PROMOTE OUR MELODIC PROG ROCK BAND, JESTER’S CROWN, WITH THE ADDITION OF A KEYBOARDIST. OUR FIRST RELEASE WAS ABOVE THE STORM (1995). BASED IN ANN ARBOR, WE TOURED FROM MADISON, WI TO TORONTO, CANADA, WITH MOST TIME SPENT PERFORMING BETWEEN DETROIT AND CHICAGO. AN ACOUSTIC EP RELEASE, WHERE DAYDREAMS PLAY (1996) REFLECTED THE MANY IN-STORE ACOUSTIC APPEARANCES WE WERE DOING AT THE TIME AND LED INTO OUR FINAL LARGE SCALE ALBUM, AWAY (1998). THE BAND BROKE UP ROUGHLY A YEAR LATER AFTER AWAY FAILED TO GAIN SIGNIFICANT TRACTION.”

1984 – THE EARLY YEARS

AS THE SON OF A PROFESSIONAL SYMPHONIC VIOLINIST, CHRIS BEGAN CLASSICAL MUSIC TRAINING EARLY. BUT IT WAS A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH VAN HALEN’S 1984 AT THE AGE OF 11 WHICH TRIGGERED THE START DOWN A ROCK GUITAR PATH. IT WAS QUICKLY OBVIOUS THAT ROCK WAS WHERE CHRIS BELONGED AS MIDDLE SCHOOL PERFORMANCES OF SONGS LIKE RATT’S “ROUND AND ROUND” AND OZZY’S “CRAZY TRAIN” MADE HIM WELL KNOWN IN HIS HOMETOWN IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN. WHILE CONTINUING HIS FORMAL MUSIC STUDIES THROUGHOUT THE LATE 80’S AND EARLY 90’S, CHRIS WAS PLAYING IN ROCK BANDS AS WELL AS WRITING AND RECORDING MUSIC, MOST OFTEN WITH HIS BROTHER ON BASS AND COUSIN ON DRUMS, ALL ACCOMPLISHED MUSICIANS AND ALL STUDYING MUSIC IN COLLEGE AT THE TIME.

INFLUENCES

CHRIS HAS A VARIETY OF GUITAR-ORIENTED ROCK INSPIRATIONS AND INFLUENCES WITH A MIX OF PROG ROCK, CLASSIC ROCK, HARD ROCK, AND MODERN POP ROCK. AMONG HIS FAVORITE BANDS ARE FOO FIGHTERS, SWITCHFOOT, GOO GOO DOLLS, GREEN DAY, COLLECTIVE SOUL, STAIND, TONIC, FUEL, ALTER BRIDGE, ALKALINE TRIO, BLINK 182, BREAKING BENJAMIN, RUSH, YES, GENESIS, VAN HALEN, OZZY OSBOURNE, STEVE VAI, AND JOE SATRIANI.

DISCOGRAPHY

– CRYSTAL MONKEY PROJECT: LIVE FROM VERGE STUDIOS VIDEOS (2023)

– GRIEVE THE ASTRONAUT (GUITAR): DARKNESS SINGLE (2022)

– GRIEVE THE ASTRONAUT (GUITAR): A BEAUTIFUL PLACE SINGLE (2022)

– SOLO: FALLING STAR EP (2021)

– CRYSTAL MONKEY PROJECT: ARE WE ENLIGHTENED YET? (2021)

– CHRIS KLIMECKY BAND: BEFORE LIGHT BREAKS SINGLE (2015)

– SOLO: THIS JOURNEY (2012)

– SOLO: BANKRUPT GENERATION (2010)

– SOLO: MAROONED (2001)

– JESTER’S CROWN: AWAY (1998)

– JESTER’S CROWN: WHERE DAYDREAMS PLAY EP (1996)

– JESTER’S CROWN: ABOVE THE STORM (1995)