Chris Paxton

Early life

Chris Paxton was raised in Union City, California. In middle school he befriended fellow students Brian Amyx, Ryan Finney and Jason Gunderman, all of whom would become long-term musical collaborators. Together they'd jam on music using various instruments, also playing in marching, jazz, and concert bands together. Early on Paxton focused on bass guitar and drums. Along with Finney he graduated from Ex'pression College for Digital Arts with BAS in Sound Arts/Audio Engineering.

1999-2001

A formally trained drummer since the late 1990s, in 1999 he played drums on the LP Blacklisted by the California group Blacklist. A year later he contributed drums to the album August by Razing Beauty, and in 2001 he was the drummer for albums by the James Logan Jazz Ensemble and James Logan Wind Symphony.

2004-14: Nexus band and studio

In the early 2000s Paxton continued to communicate with his former schoolmates, all of whom had stayed in the Bay Area and founded the informal band Nexus. Nexus member Brian Amyx switched from drums to vocals in 2002, allowing Paxton to begin playing bass in the band along with Ryan Finney. Writing original material that blends genres such as rock, alt rock, and reggae, the band lists influences as diverse as Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, NOFX, Beastie Boys, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Marley.

Looking for a place he could record projects for clients and for Nexus, Paxton purchased the defunct Microdot Studio in October 2005. A year later Nexus Audio Recording Studio opened as a public recording studio with seven rooms. Keyboardist Jallah Keyz joined Nexus in 2006, after an informal tryout at Nexus Audio. The first album from the new facility was released in March 2007, titled The Connection. Wrote Patch.com, "in 2007 neXusROCK released their 1st full length compilation album featuring clients and artists from Nexus Audio Studio, run by drummer and owner Chris Paxton and founded by the band in 2005 when they strived to find a place to record themselves." They band began calling themselves neXusROCK to distinguish themselves from the studio.

2008-13: Nexus Audio releases

While still recording drums and engineering various projects, Paxton continued to operate Nexus Audio in 2010. The Nexus Studio-recorded track "Hands Up" by Erk tha Jerk started receiving regular radio rotation on 106.1 KMEL in April 2011. Later that summer, Kreayshawn's track "Gucci, Gucci," recorded in a day at Nexus, received over 5,000,000 views on YouTube, and the artist signed with Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment. Nexus is frequently used by artists in the San Francisco Bay Area urban music scene, and recording acts have included Oakland hip hop artist Kreayshawn, Mistah F.A.B, Spice 1, Turf Talk, Clyde Carson and Shock G. People at Nexus include, among others, Andy Milonakis, Shock G, Kreayshawn, Rap is a Joke, AP.9, Clyde Carson, Turf Talk, Mistah F.A.B, Whogas, The Blacklist Project, Sister Carol, Hell Rell, and Dirt Nasty. As of 2013 Nexus was still based in Oakland.

Work with Kung Fu Vampire

Kung Fu Vampire, an American rapper from San Jose, California, formed a new genre-blending band based on the "kung fu vampire" concept in the early 2000s, with Paxton periodically involved as a drummer. In 2006, the live group was voted the "Best Local Band" by Metro Silicon Valley readers, and in an article written for Stubble Music Zine, Paxton asserted that Kung Fu Vampire "is horrorcore’s only full live band." However, within a few years the band had been reduced from a changing lineup of close to a dozen people, to two permanent live members, one of whom was Paxton.

In 2009, the Juggalo fan website Faygoluvers.net featured Kung Fu Vampire's music video "iCount" on the site, attracting the attention of Twiztid, who invited Kung Fu Vampire to perform as the duo's opening act during their 2010 tour. After returning from a 44 city national tour along with Twiztid and Potluck, Paxton and the band headlined the DEAD4Life Tour.

Kung Fu Vampire recorded Love Bites at Nexus Audio in July 2012, making the session into a short documentary. Paxton is featured on drums. As of October 2012, Paxton was still touring with Kung Fu Vampire and bassist[Jeremy Pollett, and Love Bites was released during their 47 date tour.

Touring with ICP in May 2013, Kung Fu Vampire continued to be joined live by Jeremy Pollett on bass and Paxton on drums for all his shows, with the sets frequently featuring Paxton solo drumming towards the end. With Kung Fu Vampire, Paxton also performed at festivals such as Burning Man and The Gathering of the Juggalos. Over a four-year period Paxton went on a total of six nationwide tours, also performing at international and national venues such as the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, Electric Factory in Philadelphia, and Rialto Theater in Arizona. His live drumming has appeared on networks including ESPN 2, KOFY-TV and Fuel TV.

2012-14: Recent touring

The 2012 Nexus studio album Blue Alert was written and recorded by the band under Paxton's leadership, who engineered and mixed beyond playing drums. As of 2013 the band had recently started touring, with five shows performed in the Bay Area. Towards the end of 2013, Nexus performed at the America's Cup. with members still including Paxton, "Tricky Myx," "Jallah Keyz," "Bass Man Finn," and "JSPY." In 2013 they participated in the Global Battle of the Bands, and they were in the Top 25 at the Hard Rock Rising San Francisco Battle of the Bands that year in San Francisco.

Also in 2013 Paxton was touring with Kung Fu Vampire, Conscious Souls, Whogas, and Rap is a Joke. In August 2014 he and Kung Fu Vampire again joined Twiztid on their This Way To Hell tour, touring through both the United States and Canada.

Style and equipment

Though Paxton originally focused on traditional genres such as jazz, as a bassist and drummer he also incorporates punk, alt rock, and hip hop, among other sounds. Sponsored by Amedia Cymbals, Axis Percussion and May International.

Personal life

As of 2014 Paxton is based in Oakland, California, where he continues to operate Nexus Audio.