Christen Lein

Thank you to my friends, colleagues and cohorts for telling the backstory better than I ever could.

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[Backstory #1]

Half Vietnamese, quarter Celtic and quarter Slovenian, using a bow, a viola, and an effects processor, Christen Lien’s unique fusion of East and West, classical and postmodern, acoustic and electronic, has created an entirely new sound that is both uncannily ancient and reassuringly contemporary. Not since Sigur Ros’s Jon Thor Birgisson have we seen an original musical genius of this nature. Christen Lien exudes an exalted vibration meant to lead us home in an historical moment that marks the end of empire and the beginning of a new dream of consciousness. Everywhere you listen, you hear suffering and surrender, rage and redemption, and ultimately, unity. Her name translates historically, and to us, as Christ Lotus. Her music is both beautiful to the ear and healing to the soul.

~ Camilla Griggers

[Backstory #2]

It’s no exaggeration to say a perfect moment unravels its divine silhouette every time with Christen.

Picture her own silhouette, outlined by the blue of night in a raging wind on an ocean cliff playing her viola fierce into the gusts — she’s been exactly there. Picture her playing on her knees for the gods with technotronica accompaniment in an art gallery with 40 foot ceilings. Picture her playing viola on a big-ass basketball court in fire-red 6-inch spike heels. Picture her playing in the forest with you on drums and maybe another friend on harmonica, long past bedtime and for the sweet sake of your stories.

Now hold gently a picture of her playing her viola in a gray-blue carpeted ’70s-style apartment in L.A. saying with big sad eyes that she wishes she played her viola more often. . . picture her heart swelling and breaking from the swell — with or without viola, or sometimes for the viola itself, or for every bit of everything beautiful.

(Yes: Ever.)

Another fraction of this story includes a young Ms. Lien and Viola wisely compelled by a shaman to take peyote in traditional native Ceremony under abundant and celestially committed stars. After receiving this ancient light together, they divulged to each other that they were both from different planets in other galaxies but marveled that they could both speak English in the American release. They were separated by a solar chasm and each suddenly saw a different star as Sun. Waves of heat and confusion bubbled under their two surfaces and though in the end each melted completely, this only served for them to emerge together intricately molecularly bound.

More importantly, if there is an infinitely important secret tunnel to be located in order to stoke the universe’s soul, perhaps, or inspire vital evolution, Christen will find it; figuratively and literally. Whether the path is through sound, stage, screen, board room, human systems, dreamscape, unknown dimensions, or deep underground, she will almost intuitively find it.

Also of note, Christen has been approached by the United States of America to become an F.B.I agent.* It happened in her late teens; this is much like having a kung-fu master tell you you’ve got Ninja written all over you, no? This certain nuanced ninja quality is evident in her music, not just by inherent nature but due to her personal diligence and fortitude: years of practice, turmoil, peace, and countless transformations.

Her works are easily likened to those of masters Bartok, Kronos, or Prokofiev (and obviously ninjas), but one resists defining her eclectic sound. Christen continues steadily intertwining with and exploring beyond the edges of what humanity keeps searching for: true art.

~ Shanti Sankar, musician & songwriter

*This is not an endorsement for the United States of America or its Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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[Backstory #4]

Bore from the barren shores of Lake Erie and reared on the true-grit streets of Cleveland, where one man’s life is another man’s meal ticket, Christen Lien grew up destined to be a hardened monster of a woman: cruel, heartless, possibly toothless.

But somehow, something in her, buried dormant in her soul, blossomed. It started subtly. She chose to use a fork instead of her hands. She didn’t stop to kick the homeless man who lived on the edge of the park. Then one day while watching the passing out-of-towners roll up their windows and lock their car doors she heard the faint melody of a viola concerto. To this day she cannot recall the exact notes, the exact tune, but the feeling is still there. It was that feeling that caused a rapturous explosion of feeling so deep in her bowels that she felt tremors the entire way home, the sound of the concerto growing louder and louder in her head.

As the weeks turned into years Christen Lien became like a woman possessed. Never venturing beyond the gated barriers of Cleveland she waiting for the opportunity to once again experience the sweet music she heard that day on the street. Before long, her chance came again. While ducking behind buildings to avoid the local bullies (everyone), she dipped behind a dumpster and fell backwards on to a curious item, but when she picked it up and plucked the frayed strings she knew she had found what she had been looking for.

I guess it’s not surprising that Christen Lien’s sound can range from the sharpest concerto to a mangle of shrills and drones produced when she runs her viola, not a violin, through a looping station. She spent those years following, what she calls, the Awakening playing any tune she could come up with. And with the help of a passing out-of-towner who did not rollup his windows in order to listen to Christen’s beautiful adept fingers picking rapid fire sonatas on her half broken instrument, she made it out of Cleveland and even out of the country.

She now resides far from those frigid shores, high on a hill on a Californian ranch, tapping into her tortured youth and the fire that was ignited so long ago.

~ Claire Skowronek

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[Backstory #5]

September 2004, deep in the bowels of a Venice Beach halloween party. The spirit of the holiday is represented by only half of the attendees who have donned costumes. Everyone is drinking with binge-like enthusiasm and listing side to side like rudderless lifeboats. Except for one.

I open with, “You certainly hold your liquor well.”

“I don’t drink. I’m allergic to alcohol,” was her response.

Immediately I convey my heartfelt concern. “That’s dreadful. I’m sure we’ll never be friends.”

Despite our obvious alcoholic differences, Christen Lien and I talk for hours about murder, adultery and various other skills required to become successful in the entertainment business. We also chat about how the shape of her eyes don’t quite match her last name. After she slugs me, I decide to steer the conversation towards the less violent topic.

In the following years Christen reveals an unfathomable talent and passion for art and music wrapped up in a singular wit. It is brilliant to watch her perform that instrument that’s not a violin. I could go on and on about how much I love this wonderful woman, but I’ve just opened the envelope that she gave me earlier and the denominations are a lot smaller than I anticipated.

~ Lou Lesko, loulesko.com

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