Charlie Moss is an ever growing solo artist, who is a great example of what it is to be an artist from Brighton; a cultured inspired artist who wears theirs inspirations proudly with a sunny and DIY sound. With a variety of singles already under his belt, an interesting pop rock sound is developing and it was fascinating to hear from him about his musical journey so far!
Credit: Luke Bateman (insta: lbphoto.uk)
What were your earliest memories of music and do those memories still stick with you today when writing?
My earliest memory of music was probably starting to learn the drums from the age of 8. My dad always played classic rock bands to me in the car which inspired me to take up learning an instrument. Although I started off learning the drums, I picked up guitar and piano soon after and haven’t stopped since! These memories definitely stick with me now especially when I write music, as I draw huge inspiration from both my dad and the bands that originally got me into music.
How does Brighton impact your music due to it’s cultural and music significance now?
I absolutely love Brighton and the music scene it holds. I played my first ever gigs in Brighton doing the pub circuit as a solo acoustic musician which soon turned into clubs and venues when I got a band together. Brighton has some fantastic grassroots venues which are amazing for up and coming and emerging bands such as myself, its musical significance seems to be ever growing and becoming more popular which encourages me to get on stage as much as possible and also makes me proud to be from Brighton!
Your first single ‘Wait for You’ came out two years ago, how do you think you have changed since as a songwriter?
I released my first ever EP in 2014 as a solo artist and it was really acoustic / singer-songwriter based. After 2 solo EP’s I then realised that I wanted bigger and better and needed to get a band behind me. Wait for you was my first release under a band and I still play it live now. It was definitely the direction I wanted to head in as I was learning more about the complexity of writing both lyrically and musically, but I’d say I’ve changed since in terms of song structures and scales for sure. I try to mix it up a bit and have different sections and chord changes as opposed to just 4 chords going verse, chorus, verse, chorus, end.
‘Never Stop Loving You’ sounds very Manchester sounding melodically and it’s main riff, is that a fair reflection and how did that song come about?
This is probably one of my favourite songs that I’ve written. I wanted to write a bit of a heavier guitar track with a hook, heavily inspired by one of my favourite bands The 1975 (I know it doesn’t sound too much like them though). I feel like it’s a fair reflection because I’m heavily influenced by bands from Manchester and surrounding areas, I love the vibe they have going in up there in the music scene and the bands that they birth into the music world! The song came about just messing around in rehearsals one day. My guitarist Scott came up with the intro riff on top of some chords I was trying to put together whilst my drummer Ash was slaying the kit as always.
How has lockdown impacted on you creatively?
Lockdown has been a weird one. I’ve ended up trying to make as much content as I can for people to listen to, to watch and to enjoy as a form of escapism whilst they’re stuck inside. I’ve always been scared of making videos of myself, especially covers (for some unknown reason) and posting them online, but I have now taken the plunge into the wide world of Tok Tok! Other than that, I’ve been writing music in my home studio setup and trying to lay down some demos, so as soon as this is over I can jump in the studio and get some new tunes out as soon as possible!
‘I’m not Leaving’ is your latest single, it’s fantastic! Can you tell us a bit about it’s inception? There’s a great blend of indie rock of Catfish and The Bottlemen and classic singer songwriter influence on the track!
Ahh thank you so much! I think overall this is probably my personal favourite to have written, and I’m SO gutted that I haven’t been able to play it live yet, but when I do it’ll be big! I’ve always been a massive fan of Catfish, I’ve got the logo from their album ‘The Ride’ tattooed on me as it’s one of my biggest inspirations towards writing and playing as a musician, definitely in my top 5 favourites and this definitely inspired me to write ‘I’m Not Leaving’. I almost wanted to try and create a pop version of Catfish and blend them with The 1975, I try not to draw too much inspiration to the point that I’m copying other peoples work so I always try to be as original as possible. Once I’d got a tempo for the track and knew what vibe I was going for it came together pretty quickly. In the studio we actually completely changed the intro from what it originally was when I wrote it but I think it works so much better. It’s always a learning curve and new bits always pop into tracks during recording, that’s why I love it so much!
The current single by Charlie Moss is called ‘I’m not Leaving’. He can be found on all streaming platforms and on Instagram: ‘@charlie.moss.music‘.
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