BIO: Chris Fournier

Chris Fournier has been releasing music in various rock and electronic genres since 1991. Much of this music has been under the Fonya pseudonym, but more recently he has embarked on other projects under various incarnations.

Chris grew up in Portland, Maine playing bass guitar in high school where he built up his musical skills playing in various rock bands. After graduation in 1981, he soon began making a living playing top 40 pop music as a bassist and keyboardist. This paid the bills for about five years after which Chris decided to start composing his own music. He bought a four-track cassette recorder in 1986 and began creating his own style of electronic rock.

Within the next year Chris began the task of getting an engineering education, in part to help finance his growing need for a full studio. Over the following six years he earned a degree in electronics from the Southern Maine Technical College and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maine at Orono. While in college, he continually upgraded his musical setup to the point where he controlled several keyboards, effects, drums, and a light show from his computer. His compositional skills grew considerably during this time as well. During his junior year at the University of Maine, he recorded his first Fonya CD, Wanderers of the Neverending Night, for the Kinesis (then Kinetic Discs) label. During Chris' senior year, he recorded his second work, Soul Travels, for Kinesis.

After college graduation in 1993, Chris worked in many United States locations as an electrical engineer for various microprocessor development firms and continued to release new music with Kinesis, including In Flux, Earth Shaper, and Perfect Cosmological Principle. He continued with his sixth release, Upper Level Open Space, on the Musea label in France. Chris also contributed tracks to the Italian Mellow Records label's Camel tribute, Harbour of Joy, their Gentle Giant tribute, Giant for a Life, and their tribute to Italian progressive rock of the Seventies, Zarathustra's Revenge. His seventh and last Fonya CD was a body of vocal progressive rock called Sunset Cliffs released in 2000.

With the Fonya project complete, Chris continues to expand his repertoire. In 1999, he released music in the techno/trance/fusion genre as Spaceman C. In 2000-2001 he acted as the driving force behind the heavy metal group Whackenhutt. Another set of progressive rock material under the Centric Jones banner was released on his Phase Rotator Retard album in 2002. As Chris continues to upgrade his recording hardware and software, he enjoys the exploration of new capabilities as a powerful creative catalyst. In 2004, he incorporated his studio as Earth Shaper Audio LTD and now engineers, produces, and masters projects for himself and other bands and artists.

Chris' main musical influences include Pink Floyd, Yes, Eddie Jobson, Genesis, Happy the Man, Tangerine Dream, PFM, Camel, Rush, Craft, and Kenso. Though these influences play a part, they are not the models for his music. His style combines electronic music, jazz-fusion, progressive rock, and romantic-era symphonic music to create a rich, multi-textured, and very original sound. Give it a listen and decide for yourself!

Email feedback@fonya.com with any correspondence. The latest update to this page was completed 12/21/2006.