I was born with it.

There isn't much of a live scene where I live, which doesn't bother me much. I prefer recording. The studio is my instrument.

Ideally the widespread downloading of mp3's will help kill off the overnight sensations and one hit wonders and force labels to focus more on genuine talent and artistic development. If nothing else, programs like iTunes could help revive the single. But thus far not a whole lot has changed, except for a few cheaper CD's and a few lawsuits. I'm not overly concerned about it either way. As long as I can get legal music at a decent price I couldn't care less.

Probably not. At this point I'm not even sure if I would sign with an indie label. I'm not in music for the money, and I like to do everything on my terms.

I began playing guitar at 13 and soon after took up bass and keyboards. I've been recording my music since 1998, starting out on a basic 4track and progressing to my current digital setup. For the first four years of my home recording career I recorded under the psuedonymn STS. In 2002 I switched to theNarrow, to coincide with my website, www.ginaric.com/thenarrow . After two albums as theNarrow I decided to drop the aninymity and record under my given name. My approach to songwriting has developed over the years, but I like to think that at the core I'm still doing what I always have - striving for lyrical excellence and solid, accessible songs without pigeonholing myself to any particular style or genre.

I've been influenced by just about everything, from classic post-war pop standards to heavy metal, disco to country, electronic music to 80's hair bands, jazz, Gospel, classical, you name it, I probably like it. My current influences are mainly indie rock and power pop, but that could change at any minute.

I really like NYC, San Fran, and New Orleans. I'd love to go to Europe and see all the historic sites and wonders of the world. But I also like nature, the creek running through my yard is a great spot too.

Fender and Washburn guitars, Yamaha basses, Roland keyboards, and a variety of digital music programs, samplers, and drum machines.

Streaming of 3 tracks from AACOTF: http://www.purevolume.com/chrisortega

Demo mp3's and more: http://www.geocities.com/thenarrow364/mp3.html

My hopefully soon-to-be-revived homepage: http://www.ginaric.com/thenarrow