Google+ Little Bird: Love Your Local - Charly Houston

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Love Your Local - Charly Houston


I have started doing some writing for 57 Degrees North (http://57north.org/), a local project aimed at promoting local music in the north east of Scotland. There are a lot of hidden gems up here and I think it's important that they have a platform to be heard.
I like to think I am honest when it comes to talking about music, and I am going to strive to give an honest opinion of the bands/artists I am asked to talk about.
The first artist I spoke to is a young singer-song writer called Charly Houston. My review for the 57 site can be seen here (LINK), but I also wanted to post a version here since I have a tendency to ramble... (jjjeeeeezzz, every time I write that word I start singing Led Zepplin, every bloody time....).
Charly Houston - Ella-Grace EP
Release date: 17th May 2013                                                                                                                Look out for: 'October'
Hailing from the land of the weegies, Charly Houston has travelled north to inject some soul into Aberdeen’s local music scene. She brings with her a laid-back acoustic sound, somewhat comparable to the likes of Emma’s Imagination, Amy Macdonald and even James Morrison; a very mature sound from someone so young. 
'I think the music scene up here is tiny, but with this comes a lot of hidden talent. I've played a number of gigs with different musicians, most of whom I can never remember the name of unfortunately - but I've been blown away. The venues are good if you get a crowd in, but it's a nice break to be away from selling tickets all the time and I think Tunnels is really cool. I appreciate the hard-work of many bands and artists up here because they want to get away and be known and I think that's pretty inspirational.'
Her voice is extremely soulful, with a beautiful tone through it and it’s refreshing to hear - something a bit different from the typical ‘Girl-with-an-acoustic’ act that we have all seen before (they're literally everywhere....).
I began to play guitar long before I wrote songs, almost 5 years between the two. I picked up the guitar initially because my dad is a guitarist (a very good one at that, though I'm biased) and I thought it was pretty cool to try and follow in his footsteps. I began writing at 12 and my thought process at the time was that I wanted to be super famous like my favourite bands and make a statement to the world - now I just write because I feel it's a good creative outlet for me” 
Charly’s new EP is set for release on the 17th May, which I feel is perfect timing with the ever brighter weather. This 5 track record feels like the sorta music you would listen to on a summer road trip, or whilst relaxing in the garden under the sun. It’s a deep, loving and sometimes sad record but ultimately I feel people will relate to this in one way or another. The songs are personal to her but I feel fellow students who have moved away from home for their studies will hear something familiar in her words.
“My new EP 'Ella-Grace' is named after my niece who was born last October. I initially had different names for the EP but I thought it'd be a nice tribute for when she grows up. It's different from a lot of my other work as I have 5 tracks, 4 of my own and a remix by Fake Noises. The EP is a timeline of significant events, titled by month; so there's August, October, November and March. Each song tells a story about my time being up in Aberdeen and in a way, it's my own memoir for when I'm older.”
Her mature attitude towards her music is sure to stand her in good stead for the future. Having listened to earlier recordings, you can appreciate how much she grows and develops as an artist from track to track (look out for ‘Brian’ on her Soundcloud by the way - awesome), and I feel she will continue to progress and it will be interesting to see what she brings us next. I would love to hear her really push herself vocally; there's a lot of soul in there yet! I know she has a laid-back singing style, but I really think she could do a looottt more with that voice -  I look forward to hear it develop over time. Her voice is soft with a bit of rasp and you can hear some lovely inflections throughout.
“In many of my songs I sing about things that have hurt me and shaped me into who I am, I don't seek sympathy as much as I want people to empathise and think to themselves 'god that sounds just like me'. I don't view myself as an entertainer as much as I do a performer but with that I do feel it's important that people enjoy my music, I want people to hear my stories and enjoy them - then put them on their iPods to blast at tea parties!”
I also asked her who she would have in her band if she could pick anyone in the world (just for fun!): i
'I think firstly for drums, I'd choose Connor the drummer of my own band 'The Little Kids' based on him being a spectacular musician but also someone I have a lot of musical chemistry. I would definitely have Kurt Cobain doing some lovely male vocal harmonies with me and Flea from the Chili's to play bass and offer some funk - I'd maybe even ask Bieber to join me in the band because well, he'd definitely earn us a few bob. '
So her new EP Ella-Grace will be celebrated with a launch night on Friday 17th May at the Tunnels, be sure to check it out and show local talent your support!

Soundcloud.com/CharlyHoustonMusic
charlyhouston.bandcamp.com/


H x

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