Q. Who are you and what are you doing here?

A. My name is Chris Schuette and I am a Minnesota-based piano player, composer, and coffee drinker.  Indiebear Music is the name of my production company. Did you read my bio?  ’cause, I’m pretty sure I wrote one. I produce all sorts of music for film, commercials and web applications.

Q. Uh huh, and why is your label called “Indiebear Music?”

A. My wife and I have two dogs named (you guessed it) Indie & Bear.  Since we usually call them at the same time, the name Indiebear seemed kinda catchy.  Plus, I believe most businesses should be named after loveable canines.

Indie & Bear are the heart, soul and audio engineers of Indiebear Music. When not drooling, they have been an indispensable part of my recording process, providing much needed input on issues ranging from music theory to phrasing to kibble placement. Also, they literally work for dog food. Can’t beat that.

Indie & Bear chose to adopt me & Patty during two of our visits to the local Humane Society. Indie (the “hairy” one) loves food…any kind of food. In addition to her regular diet of dry food, she is just sneaky enough to grab the occasional unguarded piece of steak or pizza. We believe she uses some kind of “dog hypnosis” to pull that off. She’s also a world-class tug-of-war champ.

Bear (the “furry” one) claims to have perfect pitch, and although we don’t believe him, he just won’t stop talking about it. He also loves running and sleeping, usually at the same time.

I also realized that “Indiebear” is mis-spelled a lot less often than “Chris Schuette.”

Q. Yeah, about that. It’s obviously not a “stage name.” How do you pronounce “Schuette?”

A. Well, it’s pronounced “SHOO-tee,” When spelling it, I recommend that people not forget the “e” in the middle…or any of the other letters while they’re at it.

Q. What kind of music do you play?

A. I grew up playing Classical Music, but I also play Rock, Jazz, Blues, and everything in between.  If it makes people happy, I’ll find a way to play anything.   Although my original music contains no bird-calls or rain sounds, it will likely be categorized as “New Age.” Personally,  I find the term a little off-putting.  I prefer “relaxing solo piano,” which I find to be slightly LESS off-putting.  Tell you what, you can decide for yourself by listening to the audio samples.

Q. Hundreds & hundreds of intelligent people have said you also have a solo piano CD.  Is that true?

A. Why yes, yes it is.  After years of playing in a band, I decided it was time to release a CD of my original music.   The debut CD, All You Know is on sale now at my online store, and also on .  It’s just me and my piano…and possibly Indie & Bear sleeping on the floor next to me.  Hopefully, you can’t hear them, or else I need to re-do the whole thing!

Q. Where can I hear other stuff you’ve done?

A. Well, since you asked so politely, you can hear music I’ve done for other projects by clicking on the Music! page.

Q. For some reason, I have more questions, how can I reach you?

A. You can drop me a line at chris@indiebear.com.

Q. Hey, didn’t you used to have a blog here?

A. I still do.  You can check out the Indiebear Blog by clicking here.  All the old posts are there including the one where I have all the hair and the one where Indie ate all the buns.

Q. How old ARE you, anyway?

A. This interview is over.