Chris started playing the guitar at age 13 after several years of piano lessons and growing musical interest. He spent the next 10 years playing in various rock bands including Kalimari, Aberration, and Mezzanine Stair while also playing in jazz ensembles well into college where in addition to earning an engineering degree he studied music theory. After college Chris joined the band Bryl King and the Little Dab'l Do Ya's (BKD) and led efforts to incorporate more complex music into the set list. 3 years with BKD further influenced Chris to seek out or form a band with an emphasis on crowd pleasing harder rock. Chris met Brett in the fall of 2007 and after several months of auditions, planning, and hard work, Blackwatch was formed.