Artist Spotlight: Chris Freeman

Chris Freeman is a comprehensive, creative individual to say the least. Over the past decade, Chris Freeman has made his name known in the music industry. Starwave thrives to highlight artists that are passionately committed to their creative work, and artists who are not afraid to bend expectations to share their same passion for art as us. Starwave Magazine’s editorial staff decided on a write-up on Chris Freeman when his new songs from Extra Large Holiday Card were dropped. As soon as there was a glimmer of new projects on the horizon, the attention was pulled in, new music was released, and on Starwave’s end—continual writing to keep up with Freeman’s next moves!

Between Hot Mulligan, Extra Large Holiday Card (XLHC), and, his most recently launched project— June at the Apollo. As of this year, all three of his projects have had different releases.

The blinding bond between all three of these incredible individual projects? Chris Freeman. Well, what is Chris Freeman involved with? Who is Chris Freeman? What [more] is he capable of? Seemingly, nothing is out of his reach anymore.

Chris Freeman doesn’t only perform music; he creates it. Chris Freeman writes, performs, records, mixes, and produces a variety of styles of music, and that’s just the short version. With such diverse capabilities within his own talent, this man is unstoppable when it comes down to it. Within this ever-growing industry, Chris has stayed authentic, gritty, and passionate. 

The perseverance shown over the past decade, or so, does not go unnoticed; in fact, quite the opposite. Chris Freeman is most known for his work with Hot Mulligan (2015-Current), a midwest emo / pop-punk band that grew a fanbase way larger than their hometown in Lansing, MI— where it all started. Chris Freeman’s current main projects, as of August 2025, include: Hot Mulligan— as mentioned above, June at the Apollo— Chris’ new announced project, and brought back more of Extra Large Holiday Card. There is something almost distinctly special and specific in the way he manages toning down his rhythm. Keeping a steady distinctive voice, as Chris Freeman clearly has done, is a feat that not every artist can achieve. Although, it’s audible in Hot Mulligan, June at the Apollo, and Extra Large Holiday Card’s new releases from 2025 that each track carries the same amount of passionate energy the artist brings to the table. 

Just a glance at the work Chris has been a part of these past few months: Earlier this year Extra Large Holiday Card put out two new singles with 93 feet of smoke: “cavities” and “touch me and feel nothing”. The two singles, in collaboration with 93FEETOFSMOKE, have punchy, heart wrenching lyrics with a calm, catchy drift of rhythmic beats. The two tracks talk about intrapersonal relationships at surface level. June at the Apollo released “Powerball” and “Summer” this summer; giving listeners their new 2025 summer anthems. “And a Big Load”  + “Island in the Sun” ft. Free Throw dropped by Hot Mulligan leading up to their album release for The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still this August 21st. These two new Hot Mulligan singles, “And a Big Load” + “Island in the Sun” match Chris and Tades vocals capacities working seamlessly off of one another’s voices. This album is one to definitely keep an eye, or ear, out for! 

Not many artists can maintain the level of hard work that Chris Freeman does, within and outside of Hot Mulligan, especially while on the road. These singles were put out when Hot Mulligan was either on the road or in between; either way, the work is nonstop. The work he puts in deserves a major applause for how he has steadily been applying pressure and principle with every track he releases.

With Freeman having more of a creative capacity than just music, his art doesn’t stop with a guitar or his voice; he also captures moments of his own life and expresses that artistic freedom primarily with point and shoot photography. His photos are just another way his fans are able to use to understand the artist behind all the music they love.

Chris Freeman is someone that is well deserving of the recognition due; yet, his other amazing work seems to be shadowed by people talking about only Hot Mulligan. This is a common issue in the pop-punk/midwest emo scenes. People tend to have a harder time digesting new, or different, music due to a lack of appreciation for individual artistry, or, a lack of comfortability in listening to new tracks.

Not to worry in this case! All of Chris Freeman’s tracks flow so smoothly and distinctively across the board that anyone should be able to find something he’s worked on, listen, and enjoy it. 

Chris Freeman has a clear range in the arts, from playing sold-out shows with his custom turquoise glitter Reverend guitar*, to an old point and shoot camera, he truly encapsulates what being an artist full time is about and how to professionally break through the art and music industries’ barriers. His other writing and production can be heard on tracks by Scene Queen, Good Sleepy, Soft Silhouette and many more! He has a playlist, as a playlist curator himself, with all of the songs he has helped write, mix, and/or produce that can be found HERE. 

*The artist has a custom “Chris Freeman Signature” Reverend guitar (in three different colors) with specialized pickups made for the perfect balanced volume live!

Written by Allie Loven

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Starwave wants to showcase artists breaking expectations, like Chris Freeman is. We hope this covered the depths of his creativity to the most accurately possible extent while still shining a light onto his work and colleagues.