Blue Eyed Christ

In 1991, while still in his teens, Chicago's John D. Norten signed his first international recording contract under the name Blue Eyed Christ to Europe's KK Records. The first CD, Leaders and Followers, was released that same year by Cargo in America. The CD received universally excellent reviews throughout Europe and America in numerous publications including Alternative Press, CMJ, Street Sounds, and Rockpool. The single, was a club hit in Europe. The old Blue Eyed Christ still enjoys a loyal cult following today.

In the next couple of years Blue Eyed Christ appeared on numerous compilations CD's on various larger independent labels including Restless and Cargo. John further perfected his engineering and production skills while working at Chicago's largest recording studio, Chicago Trax Recording, with members of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and several Wax Trax bands.

In 1995, John began working on the second Blue Eyed Christ Album, Crash. At the same time, he assembled an intense, visceral live band that created a buzz throughout Chicago. The band was playing packed headlining shows and getting airplay on Chicago's largest commercial modern rock radio station, Q101. John was meeting in New York and LA with major labels and performing showcases in Chicago.

In 1996, John relocated to LA on the heals of a major label recording contract. The deal fell through at the last minute. John became frustrated with "Occupation Rockstar" and decided to take some time off to begin producing other artists. He built Noize Factory Studios, a Pro Tools based recording studio in LA. He further reinvented himself as a mixer/producer by working with established LA artists. John also wrote two books during this time period!

Becoming increasingly frustrated with the current climate of the music Industry, John decided that now was the perfect time to redefine, reinvent, and resurrect Blue Eyed Christ. After writing and recording in isolation for nearly two years and demoing over 50 new songs, John emerges unscathed from the studio with a mind blowing new CD, American Whore, that is already gaining critical acclaim and interest.

The new songs mark an exciting new chapter, completely destroying peoples past misconceptions of Blue Eyed Christ. Blue Eyed Christ injects the stale modern rock format with the dose of hooks, intelligence, and originality it has desperately been searching for.

2002 also finds John currently employed at one of LA's largest recording studios, The Enterprise, with 7 SSL and Neve rooms! He is working on new Blue Eyed Christ material, producing other artists, creating music for TV and Film, and working on very different material for several new projects.