Chip Davis
In 1984, Mannheim Steamroller, the brain-child of Chip Davis, released its first holiday album, “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas,” featuring modern contemporary interpretations of the sounds of the holiday season. Fourteen years and over thirty million albums later, the music of Mannheim Steamroller has become an annual tradition on the radio and in homes all over the world. With this year’s “Christmasville” on the shelves and a full-blown tour on the way, we caught up with Steamroller’s innovator, Chip Davis to talk about all things Mannheim.
How did the concept of developing Christmas music “Mannheim-style” come about?
I’ve always liked Renaissance music, and that’s the period most of our Christmas carols come from. So, I decided to arrange some of the songs on the instruments of that period. I had several done that way and thought I should balance them out by rocking out some carols.
The just released “Christmasville” is the ninth Mannheim Steamroller holiday release. How did the concept for this album come to life?
I was asked by our creative friends at Universal Theme Park in Orlando if I could rearrange some of the songs from How The Grinch Stole Christmas and a few others for their live production ofGrinchmas. That made almost a whole album, so I went ahead and did a few more to fill out the rest of the album.
The live Christmas shows have become a holiday tradition. Where will this year’s holiday tour take you and what can we expect?
Actually, I am not able to go out this year. I had extensive neuro-surgery on my right arm and hand and am currently rehabbing. But I didn’t want my fans to miss the tradition, so I placed a drummer with the original band. He knows the shows very well. He grew up around it and is a great musician. Also, we’ve had a second band for two years now. One band will be traveling the east coast and the other will be doing the Midwest. I’ll be out doing promotion for both bands and the records. Since I won’t out playing this year, for the first time in my career, I sat in the audience and watched a live Mannheim Steamroller concert. It’s the same music, same media, same light show, but only the musicians are different. Our website, www.mannheimsteamroller.com, has all the tour dates.
Talk about Mannheim Steamroller’s An American Christmas radio special.
I have many great friends in the radio world, and Kim Komando is one of them. Her husband,Barry Young, is a terrific producer and writer. We thought it would be cool to do a special that helped tell the origins of many of our traditions and Christmas carols. It’s also a nice way to give guys in radio a break during the holiday season.
Any thoughts on a new Mannheim Steamroller Christmas special for television?
A few years back we did the Christmas Angel on NBC which featured members of the Olympic Ice Skating team. It was very successful and the ratings were great. We did the same thing two years ago with our Halloween CD. We did a concert for PBS a few years ago, also. These things are quite expensive, so we can’t always do them
Has there ever been any thought on adding additional artists outside the Mannheim world to the American Gramaphone family?
I did that several years ago. We had nearly thirty at one time. In today’s slower retail market, it’s too expensive to launch new artists the way we did years ago. It’s a struggle to hold our Mannheim position, so we roll our assets back into brand extensions and new CD’s.
With the resurgence of vinyl, have you had any thoughts of doing any vinyl releases?
I still have a bunch in inventory!
Will we be seeing a new Fresh Aire release in the near future?
Fresh Aire 8 was always planned as the last one. Every classical composer that wrote a 9thsymphony seems to die. Call it self-preservation!
Aside from your obvious love of classical music, what other artists influenced or inspired you?
Growing up in the sixties, I always loved the folk singers. After college, the studio bands like Toto, Steely Dan, Moody Blues and Supertramp really got my attention. The musicianship was just so good. When I heard “Classical Gas”, that really got me charged up to focus more on the eclectic side of music.
Beyond the music of Mannheim, your website features other lifestyle goodies like food, books, clothing and bath/body products.
I enjoy creating other sensory products to go along with my music. Try the hot chocolate, it’s awesome. It’s called Mannheim Steamroller’s Cinnamon Hot Chocolate and is now becoming available in most retail outlets.
Beyond the music of Mannheim, your website features other lifestyle goodies like food, books, clothing and bath/body products.
I enjoy creating other sensory products to go along with my music. Try the hot chocolate, it’s awesome. It’s called Mannheim Steamroller’s Cinnamon Hot Chocolate and is now becoming available in most retail outlets.
In an interview you once said, “In 1984 I was advised not to release a Christmas album, that it was not a respected genre and was usually viewed as the last stop before your career crashed.” After selling over thirty million albums, did you ever think Mannheim Steamroller would be as successful as it has become?
Nope. And they did say, “Don’t do it Chip, it’s the kiss of the death.” Oh well. I’ve been very fortunate to have such a long career doing what I love and still being able to create new successful products. We have three for this year: Christmasvillewhich is the biggie, then Walmart has an exclusive on A Candle Light Christmas, and of course our platinum Christmas Songfrom last year will be back.
For over thirty years, American Gramaphone has stood the test of time as an independent label. What have been your keys to success and what advice could you offer to today’s indie labels?
Don’t start, it’s a bigger job then you think. No seriously, to give advice in today’s world is a tricky thing. It’s whole different landscape now. Retail is much smaller and digital is the thing, but nothing beats hard work. If you have a band and you can tour, get out there. See where you have built pockets of sales and play to your strength. We’ve always put postcards in all our CD’s, and now we have a data base of 750,000 fans. Direct marketing is very effective. And have as much control over the product as you can. I believe no one can look over your stuff as good as you.
*** QB Content by Mark LaSpina ***
