Ember Music Label (2011 – 2014)

The Beginning

After the live momentum of Drop Dead Famous, Chris began exploring a more introspective and experimental side of sound. That journey led him to the Ember Music Label an independent electronic collective focused on collaboration and creative exchange between producers and composers around the world.

Under Ember, Chris released a series of instrumental and concept pieces that blended ambient emotion with structured rhythm early sketches of the sound design sensibilities that would later define Nordmach.

The Ember Collaboration

“It was fascinating. We were all passing sound files back and forth across continents — reshaping them, reimagining them, and discovering new textures in the process.”
— Chris Blais / Nordmach

The centerpiece of this era was the Chain Album a collaborative concept in which each artist passed a single sound stem or sample of their piece of music to the next, forming an ever-evolving collection of reinterpreted ideas.
Chris contributed two standout tracks, “Krista” and “Angels to Anguish,” both rich in atmosphere and cinematic tone.

These works were not just songs they were sonic experiments in empathy and abstraction, built entirely from digital fragments shared between kindred spirits.

Tracks & Approach

Featured Contributions:

Krista - A reflective piece built on delicate synth layers and slow-building motion, written as a meditation on light and memory.

Angels to Anguish - A darker, textural exploration of tension and release; emotional yet restrained, hinting at the future Nordmach cinematic palette.

Label Concept:

Founded by Kurt Lorenz and William Bendrot, Ember Music functioned as a creative lab for ambient and electronic artists.

The community-driven label focused on originality, collaboration, and texture over genre boundaries.

Production Notes

Both tracks were produced and mixed by Chris at his home studio setup minimal equipment, maximum atmosphere.
The process focused on subtle modulation, emotional movement, and finding “feel” within precision lessons that carried forward into later Nordmach work.

Legacy Connection

Ember Music was the bridge between collaboration and introspection — the quiet shift that brought Nordmach fully into focus.

This period refined Chris’s ear for sonic storytelling and digital craftsmanship. It was a time of discovery the moment he learned how to use technology not just to create sound, but to express emotion through it.