Chargr is an interesting lo-fi musician, creating pop music with a distinctive style. I had the opportunity to review his song Glitterball recently and loved it – hopefully you did too! If you somehow missed it, you can find the track at the end of this interview.
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a single titled Glitterball. What can you tell us about the track?
This is a song I wrote towards the end of 2020, and it was a little personal look back on the previous year and how I had done a little bit of soul searching after some difficult times. I’d discovered a meditation podcast called GABA, in which he would often say to have a mantra to self, and he would say something along the lines of, “I’m a glitterball of everlasting stardust”. That really resonated with me, and I just wrote personal lyrics around the idea of that – I suppose it’s just about checking in on yourself and remembering you’re responsible for how you feel.
How has the reception to Glitterball been so far, and where can the song be purchased?
Well, you can buy it from me on my Bandcamp or you could probably buy it from any of the streaming services that allow you to buy it. But I’m not really bothered about whether you buy it. It’s just nice if you listen to it. I guess because I built a Glitterball head and I wear it on stage, it’s kind of become my trademark song so it gets a few “woo’s” when I perform it. It’s been played a little bit on local radio and it’s had some good Spotify playlist coverage. That’s mainly because I spent money on one of those online promotion things which I kind of regret, but at least I’ve had loads of listeners in the Philippines.
Do you plan to release any more singles in the near future?
Yes I do. I’m kind of broke these days and this is a hobby for me, so I put stuff out when I can afford it. I’ve been working on a song recently that I’m collaborating with an artist called Bridget Kelly Quinn who is up in Edinburgh, I just love her voice so hopefully she sends me some of her vocals soon and I can send it off to Joel Harries to mix and then I’ll just dump it online and share it on my Instagram.
Do you plan to release an EP or an album anytime soon?
I’ve just put out an EP called Just Rust which features Glitterball and a couple of other songs I’ve already released, plus a couple of new ones as well. My friend Lauren Hubbard painted me porcelain man for the artwork and he’s just beautiful. My first album was a one-month album challenge. I might do something like that again, but I feel like music is mostly consumed as singles these days and I like doing one at a time more than holding on to a collection and releasing as an album.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
The pandemic facilitated my work! Chargr was born out of lockdown. I hadn’t done any music since something like 2015 and during the pandemic, I felt the urge to do something again so started making music on my own in my bedroom.
Why did you decide to release your music under the Chargr moniker, instead of under your own name?
For starters it’s a song title of one of my old favourite bands, Bearsuit, that my old band went on tour with many moons ago, so I thought that was a nice little nod to my musical past. Another reason is that there’s a couple of Charlie Woods out there. One is an American musician and the other runs a swinger website, so yeah. It also gives me the ability to expand it into a band if I wanted to… and I want to. I have a couple of people that have said they’d be up for it so that would be cool.
Your music is rather experimental, having elements of pop and indie within it. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
My summer listening was very pop. I absolutely love love love Remi Wolf! She’s probably my 2022 artist. I was also listening to a lot of Dora Jar, Still Woozy, poppy cool things like that. My favourite bands for the last 10 years have been MGMT and Metronomy. I feel like all of the artists I’ve mentioned influence me in one way or another, whether that comes out in the music or not, I don’t know.
You’re based in Kettering. What is the music scene like in your part of the world?
I’m now actually based in Northampton which I see as my hometown. I haven’t been here for 12 years. The music scene I think is pretty good. I am yet to discover more, but the people that I’ve met that are in local bands, and the gigs have been to have been a nice mix. I really enjoy a local artist called Eddz. He’s another solo artist and he’s just a really nice guy that writes cool ’80s style pop tunes (which I’m not sure if he’d agree that’s what they are, I’m bad at describing music). My house mate (amongst other projects) has an act called Irrelevant Devices which is real chilled electronic music featuring glitched out Game Boys that he’s modified. There’s a lot to discover and a lot of people to meet. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out and about in any music scene.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
Unfortunately, no. Who knows what the next year will bring. I’m working two jobs at the minute and I have my kids on alternate weekends, so I usually just wait to be offered the odd gig here and there. But yeah I’d love some more dates. I can’t imagine doing a tour though, I just have too much going on in my personal life.
Any last words for the fans?
Thanks a lot for listening. Thanks for following me on Instagram. Thanks for sharing my songs and posts. I hope you enjoy what comes next and it would be lovely to see you at a show in the future, I’ll let you try on my Glitterball head.