In this interview, we dive into the intricate world of music creation and personal growth with the remarkably talented Charlotte Day Wilson. With her music hailed as a profound exploration of timeless emotions, Charlotte’s upcoming album, Cyan Blue, promises to be a captivating journey through themes of nostalgia, reflection, and hope. We uncover the inspirations behind her music, her evolution as an artist, and the impact of collaboration on her artistic vision. As she prepares to get ready for her tour, read along as we unravel the layers of creativity and introspection that define Charlotte Day Wilson’s musical odyssey.
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Your music has been described as capturing such a sense of timelessness and a lifetime of feeling. How do you approach creating such emotionally resonant music?
Charlotte Day Wilson: It just comes naturally, I don’t know anything different and it’s just what comes out of me. There’s no approach or intention behind how to do that. I’m happy to hear that’s how it’s made people feel.
Your upcoming album, Cyan Blue, explores themes of nostalgia, reflection, and hope. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind the album and how it reflects your journey?
Charlotte Day Wilson: Yeah. Something that I’m always working through and that I’m endlessly fascinated in is reconnecting with our inner child. I really believe that we are who we are from a very young age. For me, in my experience, things in my life that have brought me further away from that kid have always been the directions that make me feel really lost. Reentering and rebranding for me is always like a reconnection to like my inner child and who I have been and all along. It’s been an interesting journey, especially for me in the music industry where a lot of people want to know who likes who you are and they want you to be able to cement yourself and say, “Who is Charlotte and what is this music about?” I’m the same kid that I always have been. A lot of hurt and pain happened along the way. In dealing with those things and reconnecting with my inner child, I feel like I’ve found my way again.
You’ve evolved from self-released EPs and now you’re working with XL Records. So how has your musical journey shaped your growth as an artist? What lessons have you learned along the way?
Charlotte Day Wilson: I come from a place of being the main producer, instrumentalist, songwriter, and engineer on all of my previous work. This project, I was curious as to what would happen if I didn’t do all of the hands-on production and granular work involved in making a project. I worked closely with my friend Jack Rochon, who’s an amazing producer and really close friend of mine. I think all of the years of doing everything myself, gave me the skill set to be able to effectively communicate my vision to another producer. Those kinds of verbal skills now and my ability to communicate exactly what a vision is, has allowed me to not get so granular in the details and be able to sit back and hear a composition fully. Having a broader perspective on a piece of music and deciding where to fit in as a vocalist.
Would you say that you explore themes of relationships, both past and present on this new album? How do you navigate these emotions through your music?
Charlotte Day Wilson: Yeah, I think that’s definitely fair to say. I think what’s been nice about this project is that I’ve explored all of the different stages of grief, love, and loss. I was able to reflect and almost access the feelings that I had to go through in order to heal from previous relationships and grieve them. The anger involved sometimes with those relationships and then coming around to different stages of grief where it’s more of an acceptance and healing. Also, singing about the love that I currently have in my life. I feel like everything comes out naturally, there’s no like decision as to how to write and what to write. Music is such a cathartic thing for me that I think it always exposes to me what I didn’t even realize I needed to look through.
Looking back, how do you balance embracing the present and future in your music?
Charlotte Day Wilson: I would say, as an artist, I’m afforded a lot of time to reflect on things more than your average person would be able to, this is what I’m encouraged to do. I’m really grateful for that time and space with my job. It’s funny because the more time you have to reflect on things can be tough, it can sometimes turn you inward to the point of just wanting to burst out of myself. I like to balance it out with having a good, healthy personal life.
You have a few collaborations on your upcoming album. One with Snoh Allegra on “Forever”. How do you believe that collaborations enhance your artistic vision?
Charlotte Day Wilson: Collaboration is really at the core of this project. Working on everything with Jack taught me that like two minds really are better than one. That’s not to say that you can’t make something fabulous on your own, but for me, that is my approach with this project. With this phase in my life and in my career in general, my thesis is to just have fun. It’s really nothing other than wanting to have a good time doing these things because otherwise, what the f*ck is the point? What’s the point in getting this far in a career and in an artistic journey in life if you’re not having fun doing it? It’s a really lucky thing to be able to be a musician. It’s just more fun to work with someone else than to do it alone. It can be an isolating experience, especially for me with my previous album. I made it in the pandemic, by myself, all day, every day. The association with how a song comes to be is just as important as the product. If I didn’t have a good time making it, I’m not going to really have a very positive association with that song.
So looking ahead, what do you hope listeners take away from Cyan Blue and what can we expect from this album drop?
Charlotte Day Wilson: I hope people are able to process anything that I might be able to help them with, find comfort in the music. At the end of the day, I just want to connect and feel a connection with the world around me. So if the music connects with folks, I’m sure that brings me some pretty nice positive energy into my world and into my aura. I hope the music finds its home in many different places at many different times. The music will live on forever. Now, if it connects with people the day it comes out great, maybe a week later, great, maybe 10 years later.
What piece of advice do you wish someone gave to you or that you could give to someone starting out in the industry right now?
Charlotte Day Wilson: It depends on what the objective is but if it is to create a career that you generate income to sustain yourself on. Do your research. I think listening to music is just as important as creating it. Having a good musical knowledge of history is a valuable thing and then learning the business a little bit, take some interest in how it works. That’s literally more than 50% of the job, being an artist at this point for me, at least, the business takes up a lot more time and energy than just being an artist and making music.
Charlotte Day Wilson is preparing to go on tour for ‘Cyan Blue’. See her perform in a city near you:
Canada
https://admitone.com/events/charlotte-day-wilson-vancouver-9423591
Vogue Theatre — Vancouver, BC.
US
https://charlottedaywilson.com/Tour
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