Exclusive interview with CHARLIE O'CONNOR

Taking inspiration from the poetically charged works of Patti Smith, Amanda Palmer, and Florence and The Machine, she’s been cocooning and developing her proudly DIY project throughout the pandemic, and now it’s time to unleash the wildly empowering, emotional, witty, and occasionally outrageous art upon the world.

Charlie O’Connor has been expanding her offline and online audience, and her first performance, Folklore Records Showcase in August was a sold-out event with people waiting in the corridor to hear. Previous musical endeavors (Charlie Melrose, Screama Ballerina) have won music accolades; Exposure Music’s Best Overall Act, Amazing Radio’s Best Rock Act, as well as receiving airtime on BBC Introducing, BBC 6 Music, and securing a support slot for The Buzzcocks on the main stage at Rebellion Festival.

“The New Rebellion” is the debut single for unheard and unheard voices. It is for social-change advocates and climate-change opponents. The piano-based, ocean-power-driven, vocally raw and explosive stomper is an anthem for the granddaughters and allies of the witches they were unable to burn. Check out the song and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR: Sure, so I am a bit of a celt, raised in Cornwall and Scotland in the UK, I have Irish heritage too, the only Celtic place in the UK I’m not related to is Wales, a place I love and where I filmed a music video for my debut single The New Rebellion.

In terms of where this project began, well in past projects I used to feel pretty constrained to having to have a songwriting partner. I often found myself in studios full of men/boys and sometimes that made me feel like I was supposed to be there you know?

Plus, I wanted to be more independent and feel confident in being able to communicate my ideas. So in 2019 I decided to quit my last project, focus on myself, build up my musicality to match up to my singing, which I had been doing for most of my life, hunker down on the piano and guitar and empower myself to write songs on my own.

Which was handy because not long after this covid happened and lockdowns meant a lot of time by myself, I would’ve really struggled if I couldn’t write alone!

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR: A bit of both really. I’ve had vocal training here and there, at college, and at BIMM and within the Estill Method. I was a bit rebellious towards it really as I never wanted anyone to change my own unique voice, but over the years I’ve started to really enjoy training, coming at things with a bit of a recovering perfectionist mindset these days, I find I actually relish in the fact there is always more to learn… plus I found an incredible vocal coach who makes me laugh and feel so comfortable and really helped me when I had overused my voice and needed support to get it healthy again.

Also, I’m a vocal/music coach now too and I love it.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘CHARLIE O’CONNOR’?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR: Ooooh! Great Q but I warn you the list is endless! Very first influences… well I was a kid in the 90s and Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls is where it all started for me! I used to LOVE her and copy her clothes and high kicks and always thought she was the best singer… as I grew, I got quite into rock and new-age punk in my teens in the early 2000s but some of the artists that made a huge impact on me in my musically-formative years were Wallis Bird (only her album Spoons really) because I was 17 and was falling in love for the first time and so was she on this album. There wasn’t a song I didn’t resonate with, plus musically it had interesting rhythms (Tori Amos-esque), she’s Irish so it felt like home to me, I loved the acoustic instrumentation, how some music was hilarious and others punchy and others delicate. I think I’ve always loved it when music can communicate a multitude of emotions.

Another was Regina Spektor’s album ‘Soviet Kitsch’ I had that on non-stop and love the rebellious anti-folk anti-‘normal’ songwriting style and the sound of the piano. Again, I found myself connecting to Regina’s heart and soul through it, finding so much I could resonate with even at a young age.

Some others have to be Patti Smith, Amanda Palmer and Florence and the Machine. I love it when the artists are sort-of poets too. I’ve always written a multitude of things wherever it be poetry, stories, plays, short-films and I really think all art intwines, I see that in these artists too. In the early 2000s there was a sort of indie/singer/songwriter thing going on that was stuck with me too I think, Florence was within that realm, I also LOVED Amy Winehouse (still do) and Kate Nash.

Why the name Charlie O’Connor? Well, it’s my actual name and I think it captures me and my music and my Celtic heritage well.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR: It’s raw and expressive, exploring what it’s like to be a human/woman/sensitive witch in the world. The sounds are ethereal, like mermaids are expressively dancing Kate Bush-style at an underwater mythical creature’s indie-rock gig. There’s folklore and acoustic instruments with a hint of indie-soul too.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as FOLK?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR:

Well.. I’ve sang in a lot of rock/punk projects before going down a more Jazz/soul/neo-soul route, but where I sit now feels the most me it’s ever been. It’s because I went back to my roots of those artists I mentioned that really moved me as a teen. I actually think I’m more in the ‘anti-folk’ realm like Regina Spektor, I don’t have that ‘folk’ voice… unless it’s protest folk. I think my adventure into soul/neo-soul route and maybe just the extra grit/soulfulness that’s in my voice, brings my music into a sort of alt-folk/indie soul/indie rock vibe rather than ‘folk folk’. Or maybe it’s not folk at all.. just an indie singer/songwriter. (Genre is hard!)

I actually started my creative journey in Performing Arts, studying acting, dance and musical theatre at college…when I also had my first band which was a complete mish mash of genres as college bands often are (We played songs by System of a Down…Kate Nash…Micheal Jackson and more!).

I loved my performance course, I’ve always LOVED drama so I feel that maybe that theatricality is also part of my music. I feel like my music is a kind of combo of Kate Bush/PJ Harvey/Florence and the Machine/Patti Smith… dramatic and artsy . I think my art is constantly evolving and I’m excited to follow the journey.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR:

OH GOD YES. Come all ye poets, let’s change the world. Ha! Art/Music/all of it has such potential to move people to feel things… to care about things…to understand things deeper…to feel connected as one. I 100% believe that music is hugely important politically and socially.. plus, even if you have written something at the time of a huge cultural shared experience, those poems/songs/stories will hold history, they will show what it was like to live through that time, deep truths, deep feelings during it, what it’s like to love through that time, to be a human at that time.

I feel like expressing yourself personally can be (and usually is) political. I tend to enjoy more overtly political songs if they have a kind of poetic nature of describing the thing they are describing rather than ‘to the point’ which is more how I used to write.

7. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR:

interaction with a live audience! Connecting with people gives me LIFE!

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR:

Sure, it swaps and changes really. I try to lead a creative life generally… like making some interesting new recipe… or doing little things that cultivate creativity like free writing most mornings… taking myself on an ‘artist date’ once a week (inspired by my creative writing lecturer and Julia Cameron).

These things ‘fill the creative well’ (Julia Cameron) and help me to stay creative. I still have lulls though. I find that when the ideas come they come all at once and it’s all I can do to capture them. I’m so grateful for the notes app on my phone, as you can put everything in there and then search your ideas again, I just try to write anything and everything when the muse strikes.

I sort of see creative ideas as little gifts, that I am channeling something gifted to me from something else, or someone else, and that way I don’t feel so protective of the work, I am more likely to share it if I don’t see it as a part of me, you know?

Sometimes I have complete song ideas that I record straight into my phone, sometimes walking down the street recording into my phone. Then later if the idea is still sticking with me (I think the good ones stick around and make you finish them) I will figure out the melody on to my piano and build chords around it. Sometimes I might be playing the piano or guitar and get the music idea before the melody/lyrics. Sometimes I do a bit on my own and then collaborate with another. When it gets to the professional recording part Ed Martin, my producer, will help me embellish things and hey presto we’ve got a release!

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR: I’ve been through a lot, but I think it’s best to put it into my music then necessarily talk through it all. I’ve had to do a lot of healing emotionally from a lot of trauma and some abuse. Music/art has been an incredible tool to help me move forward and find joy or just to let out what I’m feeling. I still struggle with various things, the UK is pretty dire right now, but art has always been a saving grace for us all to find solace and connection in, and that’s part of the reason I make it.

10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

CHARLIE O’CONNOR: Personal way, all the way! I think it’s nice for audiences to know a bit about why you wrote it, maybe, but to be honest I think the magic of music and art is people interpreting it in their own way.