26 Mar Interview- Charlie Winston « I wanted it to be colorful and express this feeling of home» (English Version)
Charlie Winston is back with his new album Love Isn’t Easy . Which is by the way, a great title — because love definitely not easy. Charlie talk about this new album with the envie of exploring love in all its forms — romantic, friendship, family, even self-love. Soundofbrit got the chance to meet him and talk about this new Charlie Winston era.
This new album feels very personal — beyond love obviously , what were you really trying to understand or express through it?
Well, there’s different avenues of expression when I make an album. And the first avenue for me, and it’s often the first avenue. It’s kind of like a visual image, but it’s very, very blurry. And so I had one for all my albums. I would more say not a visual image, but like a sensual image. It was all the senses, but I couldn’t really, I couldn’t, it didn’t exist. So for me, but what I knew, what I could put into words was that I wanted it to be funky and beat driven.
And there always being a feeling of a beat, but it didn’t have to be, I wanted it to be, I wanted there to be more high energy songs, but it just didn’t work out that way. But I wanted it to feel like a more like a sort of soulful album, like Bill Withers or Marvin Gaye.
I wanted to have that, but I knew that from the beginning that I wanted that. I was quite inspired by Anderson Paak as well in the first writing phase. And then I wasn’t necessarily thinking about love in terms of a theme.
Like, I really want to express this, but then I just started writing songs and I had two sections, two writing phases. One, when I wrote 12 songs during the summer of 23, when I was on tour with my band. And at that moment, I thought that was going to be the album.
But then I spent January, February, March, April of 2024 writing another 12 songs. And then I kind of presented them to my manager and record label. And in discussion with them, we sort of chose what we thought were the best ones to take to the studio in 2025, early 25.
And then, you know, life was happening in that period of time as well. And there’s lots of ups and downs in my life. And I realised that, like, contrary to As I Am, which is much more introspective and much more about my life, my internal life.
The songs, I was writing, was more about the interactions I was having with myself as well, but in a different way. And in more of a way, like Perfect Conditions, for example, is a song about, opens the album, it’s a song about, like, loving yourself in the way of understanding that nothing will ever be perfect. You just accept the way things are and run with it.
So, and then there’s songs about me and my wife and, you know, sort of daily, quotidian sort of way. And then other songs about how I feel about the planet, you know, going to Mars and everything like this. And then other songs about my relationship to music.
And when I put them all together, and especially with the song called Love Isn’t Easy, it just felt like it was a really good theme to create this umbrella for the album.
I started writing songs, when I was like 12 years old. And my parents, they were songwriters themselves, they said to me » everybody writes about love. Don’t just write about love, it’s like, it’s the most written thing about, write about other things, and love will automatically be a part of that. »
So I always sort of stayed away from talking directly about love. But then now at my age with kids and, you know, a long-term marriage and so many other kind of relationships, also including my relationship with my own family and my country of origin, it seemed like appropriate to talk about it.
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First I wanna talk about the cover : it’s a bright red it’s bold, alive, and of course reflects your signature. How did you come up with this cover? And did you have the concept directly or how, yeah, was it step by step?
For the cover, when we did the photo shoot, what was really important for me was colour. And so it’s good that you talk about colour first. I have this pair of socks that I bought in Canada when I was on tour in Canada in 2022. And these socks were like the inspiration for the entire visual signature of the album.
And they were kind of like 60s style, retro kind of « blaxploitation » sort of colours. Olives, terracotta and mustards, all the colours that are very earthy and very much, I think, you can relate to homey colours . A heart colours. And so I wanted these kind of deep colours.
That was really important. And so we actually did lots of photos on that shoot with different backdrops with those colours. We had four, I think we had four different backdrops we could change around. And with my clothes as well. And the jacket that I’m swinging is kind of a bit of an olive, a green, olive green.
So that was really the only requisite that I had. I wanted it to be colour and I wanted it to express this, this feeling of home, meaning comfortable. I’m comfortable where I’m at. And I wanted that, I wanted the whole album to have this feeling. Just be like, this is who I am, I’m comfortable with who I am and I want to project that.
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I feel a real connection between Hobo and this one, with the picture. Like a link between them.
Yeah, it is, because I didn’t really think too much about that. But when we did the shoot and I saw all of the photos, I think the photographer sent me 40 photos out of them, like 100 or 200 pictures in total. But when we took that very photo, I said that’s it, that’s the one. That was just the same thing with Hobo. Same process with the cover of Hobo, I had like 40 pictures, I saw that one and I said, that’s the front cover.
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And so when you look back at the journey you have, is there a moment that really changed the way you see your music today and did that influence the way you approach this new album? Like something you don’t want to do again?
Well, yeah, there was something. I just didn’t really overthink anything. I kind of sort of almost waved the white flag. I’m just, I am what I am. I’m going to turn up to the studio and play whatever feels natural to play on the piano or the guitar. So unlike As I am, where I really wanted to play elaborate piano arrangements, I didn’t do any of that on this album. I just played simple chords and just sang the song.
So I think it was a much more simple, humble approach, which is possibly how it was on Hobo as well. Because I was just playing what I knew how to play. I didn’t really think about it too much, except for maybe like boxes or something. But in a way, I left a lot of space for the band to put their parts on it.
I didn’t walk into the room saying, okay, you play this, you play that. I just had the songs with the chord structures. And I just said, do what ever you feel. The thing is, is that I think not always, but often being a good leader is about it’s not a case of telling people what they should do. It’s telling them what the vision is.
And if they get the vision, then they have enough creativity and imagination to put their part into it. And so that’s what I did. I just shared the vision of the record, the sound, the feeling, everything like that. Then the band, they just knew what to do really. I like to do solo stuff as well, I really like it. But I just like bouncing off other musicians.
Actually, I think my next album might be without a band. I might just do a solo thing, just to change it up and try something different. Because I’ve always had a band. I’m doing a solo tour at the end of this year, from September to January. I’m doing like 30 shows. I like playing solo shows, but it’s a very different kind of animal. I don’t know how to explain it really. It’s just less sociable. I quite like to have a laugh. I just like to have mates around and joke and be an idiot a lot. It’s quite good to do that with a band. I’ve always had a band since I was in my first band when I was 14. I just think it’s very natural for me.
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Do you have a favourite track — or a few favourite tracks — on the album?
Well, Perfect Conditions, that was one of the first songs I had. I was really inspired by Bill Withers and Michael Kiranuka and stuff like that for this track. As soon as I wrote that song, I knew it was going to be on the album. So that’s one of my favorites. I would say that one and the last one, called She Woke Up, are probably my two favorites. Everything else is cool, but She Woke Up was the first song that I started writing. It was in like 2017 or something.
We don’t do that one, on stage because the thing is, it’s always the problem I have. I like to have shows with energy. I like people to go through different dynamics of energy. I had songs like I Do, or Exile, everyone love Exile. There’s also all these slower songs that I have to put in, and then putting that one in as well with the whole new album. It’s just too much. So it’s annoying, but in a way, I don’t mind.
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I think Kick Out of You is really the perfect song to reflect the energy you were talking about.
That’s probably my next favorite on the record. But She Woke Up, it’s a really strong song. I like writing songs from the perspective of other people, and this song was kind of like putting myself into the shoes of that person in a very difficult situation.
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How does songwriting usually start for you? Is it something that comes naturally, or do you think it’s a simple exercise?
It’s never really simple, no. I mean, the music bit’s simple. Well, no, not really either, actually. It just depends. It’s really different each time, but I don’t write every day. In fact, I don’t really write unless I decide that I’m going to do something specific. So I’m not very good unless I have a kind of destination in mind. Maybe since I become a family man, my priorities have changed. I try to find the musical language first. I mean, it’s music, right? That’s what it is. So the music has to say something first, I will try to go on that, and then I interpret the music lyrically.
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Since you said you wanted to explore all forms of love on this album, do you think it could inspire your next songs? I mean, like a conversation with your own songs — as an answer, a solution, or a way to continue the journey you’ve been living?
I’ve been thinking about it recently, and honestly, I have no idea yet. Like I said, it’s always blurry at the beginning. I know the musical language, i’ve got an idea about the sound, the feeling of the sound, but I haven’t got. I’d like to go a little bit more psychedelic.
Acoustic stroke psychedelic, and what I mean by that is more like into a sort of ethereal, imaginative place. I think I’ve been very candid and sort of talking about everyday things a lot, about love and everything.
Now I feel like I just want to go a little bit expansive on. But who knows? I mean, I can say that and do something completely different.
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What’s been inspiring you lately — not only just musically, but in general?
Funny you should say that. I’ve got a group of friends and I’ve just sent them a whole ton of albums. I’ve been listening to a lot. I just listened to the whole new album of Madison Cunningham, who I absolutely adore. And her new album, Revealer, is just a beautiful album. So I’ve really fallen in love with a singer called Martin Luke Brown with his last album. I absolutely love it. Also Ásgeir and his new album, Julia, which is amazing. And Lucy Rose. Her album called Red Face. And Flyte ! They’ve got a really great album. But also Hohnen Ford. I just discovered their tapes.
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So everyone keeps asking you about singing in French… are we finally going to hear a full French song, or should we give up? (Irony)
It’s possible. I always feel like I want to improve my French more. I mean, it’s getting better. But… Yeah, I’m actually considering doing French. Some French songs or a French album. But it’s getting closer.
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Can you remember the moment when you realized music could actually become your life? And if it wasn’t, what other job do you think you might have ended up with?
Well, I wanted to be an actor originally. And then I had a period of time when I really wanted to be a film director. Yeah, I’d still love to do that. But it’s not an easy thing to change into. I’d love to be a magician. My son is really into magic at the moment. And I kind of had this dream of doing magic with him and creating a duo. Anything creative, really. Even being a dancer. But dance is a bit intensive. I’m probably a bit old for that. To be a dancer, you have to be fit. My daughter wants to be a dancer. I warned her the other day. I said, be careful. Your body is your instrument. So you have to always be on full.
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And so we talked about the Olympia. It wasn’t your first time. This time it was with a full band and you brought some friends along. Do you feel different every time you step onto the stage? Or do you have any ritual before you’re coming on stage?
The only habit I have is like 20 minutes of warm-up, doing exactly the same warm-up every time and then drinking some rum or whiskey or something before going on stage. It’s what my parents used to do. It’s my thing with my band.
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If someone discovered you with this album, which song would you want them to hear first?
Kick Out of You.
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Click here to read the article about the Olympia’s show !
Love Isn’t Easy, still available owner label Tôt Ou Tard
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