Chris Gill – författare

“The best rock book of the year.” — The Telegraph (five stars)

From the authors of  the critically acclaimed oral history of Eddie Van Halen, Eruption, a revealing narrative biography of legendary British guitarist Jeff Beck featuring brand new interviews with the icon himself as well as his famous colleagues, collaborators, and loved ones With his shag haircut and white Stratocaster guitar, Jeff Beck was an icon known and loved by millions. Yet somehow, he maintained the ineffable low profile cool of a cult hero as he glided through six decades of musical trends with nary a lapse in taste. Not to say he ever played it safe. What other guitarist can lay claim to performing with opera star Luciano Pavarotti, mainstream television personality Kelly Clarkson, and professional degenerates like Guns N' Roses with equal grace and wit? Or as Beck himself once quipped, “I'm an awkward son of a bitch when it comes to doing the expected.” In Blow by Blow: The Jeff Beck Story​, Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill return to chart the unexplored life of rock's greatest and perhaps most enigmatic instrumentalist. Culled from approximately 30 hours of interviews with the late guitarist himself, numerous conversations with those closest to him, and extensive research, the book sheds new light on the genius that Jimmy Page once said, “shifted the whole sound and face of electric guitar music.”

A collection of contemporary poetry by independent author, Chris Gill. Penned over the course of a decade, Verses details the writer’s journey into adulthood, as he reflects on his past, present and future. It also makes observations about the world on a social, political and spiritual scale, which will leave you deep in thought and often able to relate.

The collection is split into six parts that tackle issues on both a macro and micro scale. Kicking off with the confessional Catacombs, the book promises to take its reader on an existential trip as the author picks apart fragments of his memory. The book then continues with Escape to the Docks, a darker, even haunting section that presents the reader with a narrative of the writer’s student life. Expect themes ranging from hedonism to suicide.

The third part of the book, titled Home, reverts back in time to the author’s childhood. Here we’re given an intimate insight into the poet's early years through dream-like prose. The fourth section of the book, Wires, sees the experimental writer turn far more outward as he openly expresses his political views and concerns about the environment. This section includes the epic poem Wires, which takes the reader on a powerful exploration into the author’s inner psyche.

The final two parts, Oracles under City Lights and The Other Side, follow Chris’ life in both London and Sydney, with all the lessons taught along the way through the people he encountered and situations he found himself in.

If you think poetry is dull and outdated, Verses will open your mind and give you a taste of how contemporary poetry looks, sounds and feels. It proves that poetry, just like any other art form, exists to provoke emotion and empathy within its reader; leaving you enthralled and wanting more.