24 year old singer, songwriter, and producer, Charles on TV, premieres his second-ever single, “Strongman”. This R&B, synth-soul, and pop track delivers a “snapshot” of the injustices, political unrest, and authoritarianism that took the United States by storm this past year.
BTS: Introduce yourself to the readers.
Charles on TV: I would introduce myself, in terms of sound, as a “synth-soul” artist. I incorporate a lot of genres that inspire me into one sub-genre that is hard to articulate beyond being “alternative”. I think “synth-soul” is a pretty accurate term.
Right now, most instruments in the stuff I’m writing are straight from a MIDI keyboard. You’ll hear strings and flutes and synthesizers, bass guitar, and that’s all on the keys. The only instruments that are consistently “real” are guitar, which I play, and vocals.
BTS: What made you want to become an artist? What has your journey been like?
Charles on TV: I can’t answer that without mentioning my mom because she’s a singer. She would always sing to me before I went to bed as a child and I would sing along — she would sometimes harmonize with me. Vocally harmonizing was kind of the first way I got into music. I started playing guitar around age 8. I didn’t really get serious about writing music where I was actually making full on songs until the beginning of high school. During that time, I was doing a lot of YouTube covers, some with my twin sister who also sings.
In college, I joined an a cappella group from freshman year forward and it’s one of the best decisions I made. We were a very talented group. Then, I joined a band as their vocalist and we would perform all of the time at house parties and that got me really, really into performing.
My senior year of college, I formed a band from scratch and that music was closer to the music I make today. I left college feeling like I knew that I could execute my visions.
BTS: Who are some inspirations for your music?
Charles on TV: My mom and dad would strictly play their favorite 60’s and 70’s songs all of the time in the car, so I grew up being really into that music. For example, Paul McCartney and Wings, The Beatles, of course, and I’d say the group that really stuck with me and I just continue to love is The Beach Boys. Pet Sounds is the album I’ve probably listened to the most times out of any album.
Current artists that are inspiring me right now are Tame Impala, Tyler, the Creator, Solange, Gorillaz, and especially right now, Jerry Paper.
BTS: Your single, “Strongman”, follows the inauguration of now, Mr. President Joe Biden, the breach on the Capitol, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Tell me about the message and inspiration behind the song.
Charles on TV: I started writing the song around when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening around the country, and of course, it’s not the first time there were demonstrations, but this was a particularly large one, in part because of the pandemic. That’s part of what brought people out. During that time, I had already written this tune to the beginning of “Strongman”, but I had no idea what the song would be about.
I decided on the term “strongman” when I was having conversations about “strongman politics” with my family and friends. We’ve seen authoritarian tendencies throughout the Trump presidency, but this came around the time that we were seeing not just authoritarianism at the border, we were seeing authoritarian responses deployed, almost like martial law, to clear out peaceful protests.
The song is based on my reactions to that, the general Trump presidency, and conversations I was having at the time with both people of color and white people. This song is especially about masculinity, American masculinity.
It’s a dialogue song, and in a lot of ways, it’s me responding to my own hypocrisies and responding to other people’s hypocrisies. It’s less so giving answers or solutions to these issues and more so providing a snapshot. This is a snapshot of dialogue.
BTS: How did you come up with the name “Charles on TV”?
Charles on TV: I didn’t want to do “Charles Meyer” — I wanted a different last name. I was thinking about Charles Brooks, which is my middle name, but that kind of sounds like a law firm. I decided going down a path that included my first name, but had some sort of verb or preposition; I wanted a “three word” thing. I wanted to go with something that was an ode to the retro sounds I’ve grown to love and recycle in this music. I wanted something a little outdated. You hear that name and you don’t know what the artist sounds like.
BTS: What does the rest of 2021 look like for you?
Charles on TV: Instead of doing a nine song album, which was the plan, I’m splitting it into two EP’s. I’m working on finishing the first EP and releasing that in late March. And then the second EP sometime in May. That gives me a chance to group songs that are more part of one story than others because I have been writing these songs for over a year and a half and a lot has changed in that time.
And as we hopefully get back to live performances, I’m hoping to assemble some sort of band by the end of 2021.
To keep up with Charles on TV and his forthcoming March 2021 EP release, follow him on Instagram.
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