Photo: Jonathan Mannion

Listen up girls, we have a song that’s sure to become an instant favorite:  it’s called “Good Girls,” the reggae ode to good girls everywhere by Cris Cab. His blues and reggae sound is a breath of fresh air in the music industry, and while you’ve probably heard his covers, his own music is even better. We had a chance to chat with the sweet and charming artist about where he got that addictive sound, first instruments, and why an artist has to produce a few covers to get a career off the ground.

ELLEgirl: You’ve said that you’ve been singing since you were born, but when would you say that you started playing music seriously?

Cris Cab: I’d say about thirteen or fourteen. When I was about eleven years old I had a friend at school who was playing guitar and I just thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I begged my parents for a month to buy me a guitar and then I just wouldn’t stop playing it.

EG: What was your first instrument? What do you play right now?

CC: I took piano lessons when I was younger because my mom made me, but I wasn’t too cool with it, but I actually play piano now and I love it. I play guitar, bass, keyboard, piano… pretty much anything that makes noise I’ll mess around with and figure it out.

EG: What/who would you say your influences are?

CC: A lot of old school music: Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Dave Matthews, but mainly bob Marley. The way I got my reggaeton sound was when I grew up we had a house in the islands and since I was 8 or 9 years old we would go there every month. It was pretty much a second home, so I grew up listening to reggae.

EG: What is your creative process like when you create your own songs?

CC: I’ll just start singing anywhere, really. My favorite thing to do is freestyle, so I can just sing about anything.

EG: You’ve done covers and your own songs, which one do you prefer to write and play?

CC: Definitely my own songs. With the covers I was just trying to get people familiar with my own sound through a familiar song. But I’ve been busy writing my own stuff, so there’s a lot of new music coming your way.

EG: What happened when you were discovered by Pharrel?

CC: It was sort of one of those friend-of-a-friend stories. He heard I made music through a friend of a friend and he brought me into the studio and said, “I love your sound, you need to just fix x,y, and z.” I worked on what he said, he heard me again, and he loved it. He’s just kind of guiding me right now, showing me what I need to do, he’s a really humble guy and and he’s great to work with.

EG: What bands/songs are currently getting the most play on your iPod?

CC: I literally listen to everything, but mostly old school music right now. The last song I listened to was ‘So Lonely’ by The Police.

EG: If you could perform or collaborate with any artist, living or deceased, who would it be?

CC: Bob Marley for sure, without a question.

EG: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

CC: Just stay focused, keep working on your sound, and if you believe in your music enough someone’s going to hear it.

EG: Fill in the blank: You love when a girl wears _______.

CC: I love when a girl wears sweatpants. Check out Cris’ ‘Good Girls’ video here!