Dundee Culture Interviews: Be Charlotte
Andrew Batchelor interviews Be Charlotte, an up and coming artist making waves in the music industry!
Charlotte Brimmer has certainly made her presence as an up and coming music artist in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. Born and bred in Dundee, Charlotte, who goes by the stage name Be Charlotte, has already created the first ever songwriting camp for women in the country, signed a worldwide record deal and is now part of the line-up for BBC Radio 1’s Virtual Big Weekend which starts tomorrow.
I interviewed Charlotte and asked her some questions about what life is like as an up and coming singer, what her writing process is, how is COVID-19 pandemic impacting on her career and what advice would she give to ambitious singers/songwriters.
What got you into music and when did you start having a love for music?
I’ve always loved listening to music and have always been so inspired by songwriters and artists who put their complete self in to their music. I started writing my own songs when I was thirteen and loved the process of being able to put how I was feeling into a song.
To this day it’s still my favourite thing about writing songs. Its such a cathartic process and the content of the songs can help the artist as well as the listener to deal with whatever they are going through.
A lot of singers have influences from other singers, do you have any, and if so, who are they?
I love so many different artists but some of my faves are Tracy Chapman, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Milky Chance and Lizzo.
What is the writing process for your songs? How do they fit into the final product?
It’s always different for me as sometimes I might start with the chords on guitar and then shape the lyrics and melodies around that and then other times I like to start with a really clear concept of what I want to talk about in the song and let the rest flow from there.
I love being able to see the whole process of a song from the very beginning idea to the final finished product. Usually I will produce the songs a bit at home on Ableton and then ask a producer to add some finishing touches on it. It can be scary at first to collaborate with other people but the outcome can be so amazing.
There are a lot of singers who have been affected by COVID-19, how is it affecting you as a singer?
This is such a difficult time for everyone in the world right now and it’s definitely the first time in most of our lifetimes where we are experiencing something like this. I feel very grateful to have been at home in Dundee during lockdown.
It’s definitely taken some time to adjust to this new normal and of course shows and plans have been cancelled but that isn’t what is important at the moment. I hope everyone is safe and well wherever they are reading this from right now.
Do you feel music brings people together, especially in moments like now?
Definitely! Music is so powerful. Some days I can feel productive and creative and other days I don’t want to do anything…I think we’re all feeling that a lot more at the moment and music is such an important part of being able to switch off even just for a few minutes.
I wasn’t sure whether it was right to be releasing music at a time like this but my new single Lights Off touches on moments of feeling anxious, depressed and unmotivated. I hope the song can give anyone listening a little bit of inspiration or hope at a time like this. To know its okay to feel low right now but that it’s definitely going to get better.
I noticed you have been recently releasing a couple of singles at the moment such as Rumours Don’t Work, Do Not Disturb and Lights Off, are you intending/considering on making a studio album in the future?
I am going to be releasing an EP very soon that I’m excited for people to hear! I’ve been writing songs for the past ten years so there are a lot sitting waiting to be released.
I love listening to albums in full and hearing an artists idea come to life. It won’t be soon but there will definitely be an album at some point in the future.
Just a few months ago, you set up the first all-female singing-songwriter camp in Scotland. What was the experience like in creating it and what was it like working with those in attendance?
The songwriting camp was something that I had wanted to organise for a long time. It was the first time I had ever curated something of that size and I loved every moment of it.
For the first camp I wanted to invite some songwriters who have been inspiring me for a long time including Zoe Graham, Shears, Fourth Daughter , Stephanie Cheape and I knew it had to be hosted in Dundee.
It was a two day songwriting camp where we split into groups of three and four writing songs each day and sharing them at the end of the camp. The songwriting part was of course amazing but the part I loved the most about hosting this event was the fact we could all chat and share our different experiences with each other.
I only really knew everyone via social media before so it was so lovely to be able to relate, share and build a community with each other. I had hoped to run a couple more camps this year but I think that will be postponed for now but its definitely something I am looking forward to continuing to work on.
As an up and coming singer, you have been interviewed and have performed across the country and have shown confidence in performing in front of crowds, were you nervous when you started out and what is it like for you now?
In day to day life I would say I’m not a confident person at all, it’s taken me many years to build up confidence on and off stage. Pushing through the nerves and playing lots of shows has really helped me to develop ways in how to handle the nervousness. I definitely still do get nervous before certain shows (and live streams at the moment) but realising that its okay to have those nerves and dealing with them can really help.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into music?
Always stay true to yourself and follow your gut instincts, you are the one who will always know the best thing to do. And don’t allow other peoples negativity (in real life or online) ruin your creativity.
And finally, what makes you proud to be a Dundonian?
I’m so proud to be Scottish and from Dundee for many reasons but mostly because there are so many amazingly talented creative people in the city, we support our own and have a 24 hour bakery … if that’s not cool then I don’t know what it is!
