Chris Carter

by Michael Sutton
Chris Carter (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) turned a childhood hobby into a career. Born in Islington, London, England on January 28, 1953, Carter became enchanted with high-tech equipment early in his youth. When he was only a boy, Carter spent hours playing with a tape deck; his father would record family conversations and add sound effects to them, even changing speeds. At the age of 13, Carter fell in love with mixing electronic sounds. Carter joined a garage band called the Dragsters in 1967. A year later, Carter took drugs and saw Pink Floyd perform at a dive in North London. The group's visual presentation and acid-damaged pop left Carter spellbound. Inspired, Carter formed Orpheus Lites with his friend Chris Panayiotou, providing local acts with Pink Floyd-ish psychedelic light shows. Orpheus Lites eventually turned into an integral part of their biggest client, the outfit Willa. Carter joined Willa as a keyboardist, but he left in 1974.
In 1975, Carter made his solo debut, performing at Thurrock Technical College in England as Waveforms, utilizing synthesizers and keyboards. He then met future bandmates Genesis P-Orridge (vocals) and Cosey Fanni Tutti (guitar), both of whom were in COUM Transmissions, a performance art ensemble that disgusted and disturbed English audiences by torturing their genitals and licking their vomit on-stage. With the addition of Carter, COUM Transmissions evolved into industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle. In 1980, Carter released his first album, The Space Between. Throbbing Gristle broke up a year later, and Carter started collaborating with Fanni Tutti as Chris & Cosey and Creative Technology Insitute, otherwise known as CTI. They also created their own record label, Conspiracy International. Carter entered the journalism field in the '90s, writing music reviews; he also designed album covers with Fanni Tutti and remixed two songs from Erasure.