Interview with Charlotte Jane.
Interviewed by: Sarah Evangelista
Just at 23 years old, Charlotte Jane has made a name for herself. Her music is one to be heard, and her lyrics are very well thought out.
She just released her new EP, Refuge, and we got the chance to talk to her, via zoom, about the stunning project.
Sarah: Do you have a fondest musical memory?
Charlotte: I think all of my fondest musical memories are from when I was a kid. I would probably say crashing the stage when my grandparents used to play gigs, like pubs, churches, and restaurants. Like when I was 3 years old, I just waltzed up on stage and picked up a tambourine and was like “this is my show now. I think that was a great memory of me being magnetized to the stage and wanting to be the center of attention {laughs}.
S: {laughs} The answer to that question always seems to be the earliest years, so was music always what you wanted to do with your life?
C: I probably used to waltz around telling my family that I was going to be a pop star from as soon as I could talk, but I don’t know if I ever thought seriously about being a musician as a job. I just loved it so I wanted to do it all the time. It probably took me until I was like 16 or 17 to say “I actually want to do this as my job, how do I do that?” It’s always been that one constant. I guess when you’re a kid, you pick up and drop things. I’d watch Ice Princess and decide I wanted to be a figure skater and then that would last like 2 weeks. With music, it was always constant - I never stopped wanting to do it.
S: And did you try the other things you mentioned?
C: Oh yeah! I’m famous in my family for being the person that would start a new blog every couple of weeks. My mom was like “you need to stick with this one”, and in a couple of weeks I was like “it’s just not for me” {laughs}. “I just want to do something else now”, but she always said she never ever had to practice singing. If anything, it was more like “can you keep it down a bit?”
S: I love it {laughs}. So we’re going to talk about your new EP, how are you feeling about it being released?
C: I’m so excited. Obviously, it’s been such a strange year. Up until October, I never experienced putting music out and not playing shows at the same time. So during the lead up to a release, I would’ve a) played the songs live, and have an idea that people don’t think that they’re rubbish, and also be hinting at the shows that they’re going to come out, and chatting to people about them - and them being excited. With this, I’ve been like so scared that no one’s going to care, because I haven’t had that human connection with people to the run up of the release. But when I released the tracklist, and people were excited I was like “oh thank god!” {laughs} It’s also nice to be more hopeful that maybe live shows are going to happen at some point this year, and that’s also really exciting me.
S: Have you been playing any virtual shows?
C: I tried. I think I’m allergic to them. {laughs] My hands get so clammy, my hands sweat, I say things I don’t mean, I forget who I am. Something about me being on my own, in a room with my phone - it shouldn’t happen. So I’ve done the pre-recorded live streams, and they’re a little bit better, because it’s not live. I don’t think Instagram lives are safe for me, I don’t know what I’m going to say.
S: I feel the same way though! You see people coming and going, and it’s like “am I doing something wrong?” {laughs}
C: Yeah! {laughs} “was it something I said? Like come back!” And like I really do rely on being able to read an audience. With live shows, when something went wrong, I love it. I love it when something goes wrong, it’s hilarious. And you all know something’s gone wrong, and you have to acknowledge it, and I miss that. On a live stream, someone it the comments is like “oh it’s frozen”, and it’s like that’s not funny. That’s just annoying, and I look silly, and I can’t tell if people are laughing or if they think it’s rubbish. It’s too much {laughs}.
S: And you mention when something goes wrong, what’s the funniest experience of something going wrong during your show?
C: Without any hesitation, I was playing a show with someone I loved as a kid. I was opening up the show, and there was a quite a few people there - which is quite a gamble when you’re the supporting act. I would just play in front of his set, so we didn’t have to take anything down from my performance. A part of his set was this huge hanging light bulb. It looked great, and then half way through my set, as I was playing one of my saddest songs on the piano, it exploded. It exploded right in front of my guitarist, and somehow he didn’t get injured from it. I finished the song, because I’m a pro {laughs}, and then at the end of the song I was like “so we all saw what just happened”, and we all started laughing. It happened maybe 3 years ago, and I still get messages from those people at the show, referencing the light bulb moment. I love that because we all had this mutual experience that brought us together.
S: That’s so funny, especially during a sad song - like a dramatic effect.
C: {laughs} I literally just got to the quiet bit, where I had just sang the chorus, and it was super emotional. Then it literally just went *light bulb breaking sound* {laughs} you couldn’t make it up.
S: Wow! So back to the EP, what’s your favourite track from Refuge? I know this is a hard question, and I’m sorry.
C: I know! But parents always say they don’t have a favourite child, but they do, deep down. I love them all, they’re all great, very different. I love “Baby Steps”, it’s not a single off of the EP. “Baby Steps” is like my one main love off of the whole EP, and I’ve been waiting to release it for a while, which is probably why I’m so attached to it. “Refuge” I love as well, but because it’s the newest one it’s like exciting - I feel very spontaneous that I’m dropping this one. I normally sit on songs for 2 years before dropping it, and this one I wrote in October.
S: I can’t wait for it to be released. Like you said before, “Refuge” is one of the songs off of the EP, Refuge being the title of it. How did you come up with the EP name?
C: Originally, the EP had a completely different name and “Refuge” wasn’t on it. So I hadn’t even written the song yet, and I went and did a writing trip in Stockholm in October. I wrote the song, sent it to my A&R and my whole team, and my boyfriend as well that night. He was like “holy shit, this song is really cool”, and I was like “thank you, you never really make that much of a big deal about anything I write”. The next day, I woke up to a bunch of messages from my A&R, and was like “this song is crazy”, and everyone was so instantly excited about it. I put it in the tracklist to see how it would go, and realized this song sums up the whole EP. I didn’t realize there was a missing piece, until this track. It was a really lovely thing for us all to be motivated by, because of the second lockdown that happened.
S: I also can’t wait to hear the collab with Jordan Mackampa. How did you two get in touch? I know a fan messaged you about wanting you both to collab, was it already in the works?
C: I sneakily screenshotted that, because I already knew the collab was happening, and thought “the person is going to be very happy”. One of my first shows as a support act was in 2018, and Jordan was I think the second person I ever opened a show for. I never released any music, he just took a chance on me. Which is just the coolest thing for any artist to do - when you’ve got no music out, and there’s always other options. I’m obsessed with his voice, and we wrote “Reassure Me” together about a year and a half ago. I just said to him “I love the way you write, and I’d love to see what we come up with”, and he was like “I feel the same”, and I was like “stop it, you flirt” {laughs}. We then got in the studio and wrote that song, it wasn’t supposed to be a duet, but with the old art of persuasion, he’s on the EP! {laughs}
S: So glad it worked out!
C: I know! And it works so much better as a duet as well. It’s one I’ve played live quite a bit, and people always cling to the lyrics, and hopefully people love the duet as well.
S: Which track was the easiest and which one was the hardest to make?
C: The easiest to make was “Get It Right” or “Baby Steps”, there was similar processes for those two songs. It was like a conversation, and the song was written. When it came to “Get It Right”, we barely changed anything from the demo - it was super easy. The hardest was “Down Days”. I was so close to not putting it out, because it was so hard to get the production. Thankfully, I managed to get in the studio with one of the producers, Phil, and he’s a genius and managed to sort everything out. When you go through so many versions of a song that you care about a lot - with me, I don’t know if I’m like too sensitive, it could really make you hate the song. I was getting to the point where I was like “I need to not heard this song for 6 weeks, or else I’ll throw it off a cliff”. “Down Days” was problematic, which is ironic, considering what the song is about. {laughs}
S: So glad you didn’t give up on it!
C: Me too! The timing on it was crazy, like when I put it out, I needed to hear it, nevermind other people, so I’m glad I stuck with it.
S: I know you love animals, so describe your music as one.
C: I mean it would have to be a turtle, because I’m literally sat in my studio right now, which is called Turtle Tune HQ. I just think chilled, slow and steady, and riding the waves. I feel like that’s me.
S: I love it! Last question, do you have any favourite artists you want to share?
C: Loads! I feel like I listen to more new music than ever. I love Matilda Mann, I love Giveon, Brent Faiyaz, and I love Olivia Dean as well.