Chris Austin, known to many as Afro Chris, was a Chatham-based musician and a vital presence in the Medway music scene. Recognisable for his shock of black hair and total commitment to music, he worked closely with a circle of local artists who would go on to wider recognition, including Kid Harpoon and Lupen Crook.
Over the years he formed and played in several bands, including Hospital Bombers and Burn Paper Tigers, before becoming the driving force behind Tape Error. His first release on Dancing Turtle Records came in 2007 with Hospital Bombers, a 7-inch single featuring the tracks Phillipa Hut and Maid In Old Town. A guitar was rarely out of reach. Music was not something he balanced with other work but something he built his life around, pursued with intensity, focus and a quiet perfectionism that stayed with those who worked alongside him.
In 2013, Tape Error released their debut EP Perfect Conditions For A Cure on Dancing Turtle Records, introducing Chris’s songwriting and recording approach to a wider audience. Work on a full Tape Error album was underway when Chris died in 2013, aged 36, shortly after being diagnosed with liver cancer. His death brought a deep sense of loss across the Medway music community and left Tape Error’s planned album unfinished, with recordings stored on his home studio system.
A decade later, those recordings were recovered and completed as the debut Tape Error album, released on Dancing Turtle Records in 2023. Drawn from Chris’s final sessions, it brings his wider body of work into focus and stands as a lasting document of his vision.
This page stands as a permanent home for Chris Austin’s work, including Tape Error and the wider projects that shaped his place in the Medway scene.
