Christopher Lee “Chris” McCarvill (born 3 October 1971), is an American musician best known as the touring and/or recording bass guitarist and backing vocalist with arena rock bands Dokken

Dokken

Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...

 and House of Lords

House of Lords (band)

House of Lords is a hard rock/AOR band from Los Angeles, California.-History:House of Lords was formed in 1987 by former Angel member and keyboardist Gregg Giuffria from his solo project Giuffria...

. He is well known for his energetic and technical virtuosity on the bass and his heartfelt vocal performances.

Biography

McCarvill was born and grew up in Milford, Connecticut. He began playing bass at age 12, his first instrument a Peavey

Peavey Electronics

Peavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States.- History :...

 Patriot bass guitar.

Upon graduation of High School, Chris attended and graduated the Musician’s Institute’s (MI)

Musicians Institute

Musicians Institute is a privately owned for-profit music vocational school located in Hollywood, California. Although not a regionally accredited school, the school offers a variety of unaccredited Bachelor Degree, Associate Degree and Certificate programs in fields including contemporary music...

 bass school (BIT) in Hollywood, California. He met songwriting partner and close friend Craig Polivka in Hollywood.

After graduating MI, McCarvill and Polivka met singer Jeff Scott Soto

Jeff Scott Soto

Jeff Scott Soto is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the lead singer for the group Talisman from 1990 till the end of Talisman in 2007, the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and for stepping up to the job of lead vocalist for Journey on...

 (ex Journey

Journey (band)

Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...

, Yngwie Malmsteen). Chris and Craig recorded and played several shows with Jeff and his band Slam in the early nineties. The band was short lived and the two returned to their native Connecticut.

In May of 2011, Mr. McCarvill began teaching Bass at Route 1 Guitars in Milford, CT.

1990s

Chris began doing session work in Boston as a bassist and also landed a full time job as a graphic artist. He joined heavy metal band X Factor X, and continued to write with Polivka. During this time, Chris taught himself symphonic orchestration and developed his recording techniques, resulting in his renowned bass piece Demon Wheel.

2000-2004

Chris met vocalist Michael Vescera (Obsession, ex Loudness and Yngwie Malmsteen), and began recording bass on Mike’s solo material as well as new Obsession music. He also created album covers for several of Vescera’s releases. Other musicians Chris met through Vescera were: BJ Zampa (drums), Jimi Bell (guitar) and Robert Marcello (guitar). McCarvill met Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda, and began recording and playing live with Eddie’s Band Of Steel with BJ Zampa and X Factor X vocalist Andre Vanchot. Chris was tapped by the Rockhouse Instructional Method Company to record a series of Instructional beginner DVDs and a “Slap and Pop” DVD. His bass DVD are top sellers worldwide. In addition to the heavier styles he is associated with, Chris began to develop a taste for recording punk inspired pop music, along with more progressive musical pieces.

2005-2009

Chris had a chance meeting with Soto in California. He subsequently toured Europe and South America with Soto’s solo band. Soon after, McCarvill became a member of House of Lords, and began recording and touring Europe with Connecticut natives James Christian, BJ Zampa and Jimi Bell. In 2008, McCarvill was tapped to be the touring bassist for Dokken on their summer run with Poison and Sebastian Bach on the “Live, Raw and Uncut” tour. BJ Zampa was added on drums halfway through the summer. At the end of this tour Chris and BJ formed the Samurai Cab Company, with McCarvill on lead vocals and bass guitar. Chris also recorded a “masterwork” with BJ Zampa on drums called “Venus Supercharger”.

2010-2011

McCarvill and Zampa continue to tour and/or record with House of Lords. The latest album, entitled Big Money, is expected to be released in September with an accompanying European tour to follow in mid-fall. There is no information yet as to which musicians will take part in it.

Obsession has begun recording and playing shows again, featuring Mike Vescera, BJ Zampa, Scott Boland and X Factor X guitarist John Bruno. Eddie Ojeda has begun recording new material with McCarvill, Zampa and Vanchot for an upcoming release.

In addition to performing cover songs, The Samurai Cab Company has started recording and performing original music featuring most of McCarvill’s songwriting over the past few years. Their debut self-titled EP was released in August 2010 and sold out in just three weeks. The 4 songs are still available as digital downloads through popular online services. The band has written and begun recording new original songs for a future full-length album. The Samurai Cab Company consists of Chris McCarvill, BJ Zampa, Chuck Beckman on guitar, and keyboardist Jeff Baryla.

Family

Chris is married to Leah, whom he met when he was 12. They have one son, Alexander, born in 2001. They reside in Plymouth, Connecticut.

Gear

To make his playing more efficient, he built “ramps” for his basses. He had noticed BIT instructor Gary Willis’ idea of fitting a block of wood under the strings so the instrument felt like playing an upright bass. With Chris’ double jointed thumbs, he came up with his own solution of completely covering the pickup area with thin plastic, which he found, did not affect the sound. McCarvill has built and used his own ramps on almost all of his basses since 1990.

After his favorite bass (a magenta Ibanez

Ibanez

is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...

 RD707) was stolen from a car in Hollywood in 1993, Chris started modifying his next bass to fit all of his criteria. His new orange Ibanez

Ibanez

is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...

 RD707 ended up with a custom made neck, different pickups, electronics and hardware. Chris wore this bass out over the next ten years. As this bass began to age, McCarvill began designing his own bass from the ground up and built it with the help of friend and machine shop owner Mark Clapp. The result was his green 2005 Magbass which is still one of his main instruments. He also uses a red and black neck-through Charvel

Charvel

Charvel is a brand of guitar originally founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and then later, Glendora, California. Charvel guitars became popular in the 1980s due to their association with famous rock guitarists such as Edward Van Halen , Richie Sambora , Warren DeMartini ,...

3B that he customized and painted himself.

Discography

With Michael Vescera:

• MVP: The Altar (2001)
• Safe Haven (2002)

With Obsession:

• Carnival of Lies (2006)
• Order of Chaos (2011)

With House of Lords:

• Come To My Kingdom (2007)
• Cartesian Dreams (2009)
• Big Money (2011)

With Eddie Ojeda:

• Axes 2 Axes (2004)
• Untitled new album (2010)

With The Samurai Cab Company:

• EP (2010)

With X Factor X:

• X Factor X (1997)
• KUVRS (2003)

External links

• Official Chris McCarvill Website