Just before starting her tour, dark-pop singer-songwriter CHARLES agreed to chat with me about her double EP SABOTAGE. Interview.
Unis Son: SABOTAGE is a deeply personal EP. When you listen to it, you can really feel that you’re emotionally invested. It talks about abuse, doubts, and various addictions. Did you see this EP as a form of therapy?
CHARLES: Yes, actually, music in general has always been a form of therapy for me. I released a first EP, an album, and now with this double EP, I’m still tackling difficult themes, whether it’s something I’m going through or something someone close to me is going through, and it’s my way of externalising. Not because I’m a negative person, quite the opposite. It’s really just that when I go through tough times, to move on and put it behind me, I need to write. But especially, I need to put it into music. That’s how I manage to move on or put a difficult situation aside in my life. Sometimes it takes five or ten songs on the same theme before I can put them behind me, sometimes just one, but it’s definitely my way of externalising.
US: You needed to express your own sabotages… You mentioned that you also talk about those coming from your closed ones. In the EP, are they mainly yours, or is it broader than that?
CHARLES: It’s broader, but it’s always about things that touch us in one way or another. I’m a highly empathetic and sensitive person. So, as soon as it touches those close to me, it affects me deeply too. I try to distance myself from it, but sometimes it’s difficult, and I need to externalise it at that point. Because sometimes, I lose friendships. I’ve lost friends because some people were caught up in some excesses, and I couldn’t save them, even though it wasn’t my role. But it still affected me.
Abuse, excess, addiction to drugs, addiction to partying – that’s part of my journey as an adult. At the start of the EP, I talk about self-sabotage in terms of anxiety: Covid, the bubble, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life, I don’t know what I’m doing with my days… I dive into music and I don’t know where it’s going. I arrive in Brussels, I don’t know anyone…
When we were finally able to go out and it was the post-lockdown period, that’s when all these excesses happened. We were eager to go out and experience things, and I discovered the nightlife and everything I hadn’t touched before. I found myself in a small group of friends who were also into excesses, and so, of course, we didn’t push each other up. That led to toxic relationships, which I talk about in the song silence/Inner Peace, and it led to addictions.
But it also led to personal growth, and to many experiences that made me question a lot of things. And above all, to know what I want and don’t want in life. It’s not all negative. These are complicated experiences, but many people go through them at some point in their lives.
US: There’s a sense of maturity behind your lyrics, and by the way, speaking of lyrics… You’re writing your songs in English, but now you’ve also decided to write in French. I would have thought you’d have put the EP in English first, on disk 1, however, disk 1 is in French. Why?
CHARLES: Because beyond the fact that I wanted to experiment with something different and learn new styles with French, there’s also a more strategic, territorial aim. I wanted to reach France a bit and branch out from Belgium. Since it was something new, I wanted to showcase it. And there are actually more French versions that I prefer over the English ones. I wanted to highlight the French versions.
US: What’s interesting with these two versions of the EP, is that it’s not just a translation, but a reworking, right?
CHARLES: Oh yeah, it’s impossible to just translate! It would sound awful, a disaster! It was a reworking process, and that’s what was really difficult to do. Because when I write a song, since it’s my way of externalising, it feels so freeing, and boom, I move on. But then I had to go back to the song, immerse myself again in the moment, the emotion, and what I was going through at that time… I’d dive back in and rewrite a text in a language I’ve never written in before, it was a very tedious job. And to be honest, I wouldn’t do it again!
But I’ve learned a lot. I worked with many people who have always written in French. Because I wasn’t going to pretend to be a poet overnight, so I wanted to surround myself with competent writers to do it with me. I wanted it to be done well, and to learn as well. Now I write in French by myself, I start songs from scratch, all alone, but I still do both. I think that if I do a project later, there might be both in the project – an album with songs in English, some in French maybe, but there will be none of that reworking thing. It was very enriching but really complicated.
Now Playing : miroir
US: But are you still potentially going to release songs in French?
CHARLES: Yeah, that’s a possibility. In any case, I’m writing some. I’m in the studio right now, always in and out of the studio. When I settle down, it depends on the studio vibe, but most of the time, I write songs in French now.
US: And why did you decide to make this EP in both languages? Why did it come to you now?
CHARLES: I realised over time that I was meeting more and more artists, who even became my friends, who were doing French music. And I found it really beautiful and poignant. I used to never listen to French music before, but now when I listen to artists like Iliona, like Yoa, I think it’s so cool. I thought I wanted to acquire new skills and try it for myself. At first, I couldn’t find my own style. Either you end up sounding very cliché with your words, or you become too metaphorical, and then no one understands anything, which is boring. I had to find the right balance.
When I first started, I immediately fell into French variety, and I had completely lost my own universe. It felt weird. And actually, the concept of taking songs that already existed in English and rewriting them in French allowed me to keep my authentic musical universe intact, to transpose it, and to say, okay, I can combine the two. It even works musically, it’s a bit of a transition. We try to see if my songs, my universe, match with French.
Now Playing : Red Light
US: You mentioned you’re currently in and out the studio a lot. What’s next?
CHARLES: Right now, the next thing is concerts. I’m really in pre-production for the live show. I’ve already done two weeks of pre-production, and now I have five days left of rehearsals with my whole band to set up the show. I’m doing a few concerts to kick off a little tour, which starts in April. I’m playing clubs in Wallonia, at the Botanique in Brussels, I’m going to Gent, Amsterdam, and then I’m doing festivals this summer. Even in Montreal!
I can’t wait, because that’s my favourite moment as an artist, it’s the culmination of all the songs we’ve written and poured our hearts into, and sharing them with people! There isn’t really a follow-up in terms of releases. I’m still a productive person with ideas, so I take advantage of that and create as much as I can. After the concerts, I’d definitely like to work on a next album. But we’ll see, nothing is set yet.
US: Alright, and do you have any concerts coming up in France?
CHARLES: Yeah, I’ve got one in Paris, on the 23rd of April, at FGO Barbara.
US: And my last question: what’s your first musical memory?
CHARLES: Oh wow, I love this question! My first musical memory is when… I don’t even know how old I was, maybe 2 or 3 years old, and I remember it so clearly. And I would play Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like a Woman on repeat. I was sitting on my mum’s lap, in front of the computer, I’ve got such a clear memory of that, and I’d ask her to play it again. I’d watch the music video on YouTube, and I’d ask her to play it again and again and again. My mum couldn’t take it anymore!
But I really had this image of this badass woman, with the guys behind her playing guitars and everything. It really left an impression on me when I was little. My very first musical memory is Shania Twain, on my mum’s lap, and it’s such a vivid memory. Even though I was really, really small, it made an impact on me, I don’t know why. It really made me want to make music, I think.
–
Thanks again to CHARLES for taking the time to answer my questions with such generosity and sincerity! Shout out to her team and Cassandre for helping organise the meeting! Don’t forget that CHARLES will be on tour this Spring!
