Born and raised in the coastal town of Bournemouth, UK, Charlie Hole’s story began when he heard Damien Rice’s ‘O’ at the tender age of 14. From that first listen, his desire to reach the same emotional depths became clear; realising his ability to create emotive and fearless tracks, learning and evolving throughout.
After a chance meeting with the well-respected guitarist and producer, Jim Cregan (Rod Stewart, Katie Melua, Family), the pair began working closely together, with Jim mentoring Charlie and teaching him about the world of songwriting while always pushing him to develop his own style and sound.
Finding comfort in beautifully crafted words over effortless melodies, Charlie Hole is one of the most exciting young singer songwriters around.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Charlie about motivations, challenges, the latest project and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Bournemouth in the UK, I grew up by the sea and I think that’s always fed into the music somehow. The music has all sorts of references to the sea and to water, I think the sea instils a certain clam in you. I suppose the music is classic singer/songwriter along the same lines of Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, but it’s got a country vibe and the songwriting is fairly Nashville.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
It wasn’t really anything I consciously chose to do, I sort of started and carried on with it. The motivation to carry on is something I’ve always struggled with, but with every set back or rejection or failure comes lessons and a fresh desire to stay the course. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
This time the release was heavily based around online promotion and Spotify. I think the industry has changed so much in the last 5 years and you just have to be constantly on top of trends and the ways people listen to music. At the moment that’s completely online and live.
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
Technology has disrupted every industry on the planet. Music is no different. You can either join the antiquated camp of bitterness and nostalgia and sit around moaning about robots taking your job, or about algorithms knowing everything about you, or you can embrace technology, and use it to succeed. I know which camp I’d like to be in.
Technology has meant that a musician can make an album, put it online and promote it using nothing but the phone already in their pocket. If that’s not something to rejoice about I don’t know what is. This is a golden age to be an artist.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
You can find me on Instagram, twitter and Facebook, or online at charliehole.com. All the music is on Spotify and Apple Music as well as other streaming services.
