A Quick Chat with Charlie Lane

How has your experience of growing up in Melbourne and being part of its vibrant music scene influenced your sound and artistic approach, particularly on your new single ‘I Hate Me’?

Growing up in Melbourne and being around such a diverse range of music really enabled me to consistently grow as an artist and musician. From share house to share house on the northside of Melbourne, I listened to A LOT of music. Going out to local bars, and gigs is and was the best, and whilst writing and recording it would always inspire me to go home to my garage at the time and write down everything. I think ‘I Hate Me’ really shows the influence Melbourne’s music has had on me. It's quite punky in the chorus’ and I decided to do that after listening to so much Melbourne and Aussie Punk music. A bit of brit punk too. I was listening to a lot of Alex Lahey, Courtney Barnett, Amyl & The Sniffers and Press Club and I think I combined them all with bits of myself and it turned into ‘I Hate Me’.  

Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind your debut album’s title, ‘I’m OK Now, But I Wasn’t’? How does this title capture the essence of the music and themes within the album?

I tossed up between a few titles when I was in mid production of the album. I was chatting to my friend and digital marketing friend Marian who has helped me a lot with my music career. We both really liked this title as it was straight to the point of the album. No hiding behind anything, just straight to it. 

I’m also a huge Courtney Barnett fan too, and I got inspired by her first album's title called  “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.” Simple, honest and effective. Plus, a SICK album! 

My album explores many themes but a lot are quite dark. I did however want to acknowledge in my album title that I’m not in that place anymore. This album is a place of reflection, of moving forward and letting go to those things. Even in ‘I Hate Me’, the track is really about blaming yourself. I’m not in that headspace anymore, but I was a year or two ago, and I’m glad I wrote a song about the reasons why. I've met so many people going through self destruction and self hatred. I hope it reaches them and they can identify or relate. 

‘I Hate Me’ is a powerful and evocative song. How do you approach writing lyrics that are deeply personal yet resonate with a wide audience? 

I think in the end, I just really hope that my stories of my life can help someone else. It can be extremely anxiety provoking when releasing them, you know, not knowing how people will respond to the songs. 

Working with producer Rohan Sforcina and other talented musicians, how did their contributions shape the sound and feel of ‘I Hate Me’ and the rest of the album?

I was extremely lucky to work with Adam Heath and Rohan Sforcina both on production and Rohan also on mixing. You’ll hear in ‘I Hate Me’ a few different vocal effects and I was so happy as my voice is usually pretty clean. It was so exciting when Adam was wanting to get gritty with my voice on this track's chorus. All the musicians I worked with on this entire album are just so unique themselves, I mean when I first heard Jasmine Johnston synths, I just didn’t hear the way she plays anywhere else. Adam introduced me to her music and I really wanted Jazz on the album. Jazz creates the main electronic component and it was something important for me to have. 

Louis Spencely on drums, absolute gun! He is one of the most versatile drummers I have had the pleasure of befriending and working with, and because this album is so eclectic, I really needed him onboard, especially for ‘I Hate Me’, it has a really simple but dynamically diverse drum beat, and he really keeps me in check throughout the verses with just the kick. (especially performing live) 

Your music blends various influences from blues to contemporary indie. How do you weave these different genres together to create your unique sound?

Well it's funny you say that as this track I even decided to explore my punky influences too. I grew up listening to so much music, so many genres, and when I first started performing I was in cabaret. I found it very hard at first to weave genres together to find my identity as an artist at first, but I somehow managed to find myself along the way. I think I really had to go, okay, what are my FAVORITE genres, who are my FAVORITE artists and went from there.

How do your personal experiences and identity influence your music and creative process?

As I identify as a queer, disabled woman, I tend to draw from a lot of past life experiences, and in turn, there tends to be a lot to draw from in my music from having those three labels. My personal experiences have always influenced my lyrics, I also dig deep into my childhood experiences and lived experience with domestic abuse in this album. I think these are such important subjects, they often get neglected and although it's easy to look away at dark things, I feel the best way for me is to confront them with music. I do step on delicate subjects so I really hope that people can feel heard, that’s the aim .

With the release of your debut album approaching, what do you hope listeners will take away from ‘I’m OK Now, But I Wasn’t’? Are there specific emotions or stories you wish to convey through your music?

This album's stories are now, for me, a reflection of my past self. They talk of loss of identity, grief, childhood trauma and other mental ill health. There are also tracks of hope too. Really it’s an emotional rollercoaster that I’ve made and I want you to jump on. I really just hope my audience can listen and understand me a bit better not just as a musician and artist but as a person too. If I help a person going through something similar, then I’ll be really happy.