We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Charlie Bahama a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Charlie, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

This is a tough question to answer because it all depends on how your career is going at the time, but more importantly, how you perceive your career to be going at the time. As with confidence in our creative ability, it is all in our head. When things are going well and everyone is returning your call and your schedule is full into the unforeseeable future and people seem to love your work, you are grateful and satisfied that you made the right choice to pursue your dreams as an independent creative. Every day is fun, although hectic, and you’re putting out more fires than you have creative water, but you are still doing something that you love. If you don’t love it, then it’s time to get a ‘regular’ job. As I tell everyone who moans about the creative or entertainment line of work, “Hey stop complaining or taking yourself too seriously, we’re not curing cancer and we’re not digging ditches. We basically have a fun job. I never wonder about getting a ‘regular’ job, but I have wondered many a time, if I should work for a big entertainment company instead of owning my own independent film and entertainment company. The answer is the same as before, depends how things are going at the time, but I always am grateful that my time is basically my own. If I decide not to take a gig, I realize that I won’t make that money, but it’s my choice…at least I think it is. Now you guys have me wondering if I made the right choice.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have many years both in front of and behind the camera. I started behind the camera as a photographer and tv ad/ music video director, but back in The Bahamas, where I grew up, I saw television was missing a good entertainment show. So, I started my own with an ad and marketing agency, The Counsellors Ltd, and ‘Electric Air’ was born. I was not very good to begin with, but quickly gained confidence, and soon my laid-back style of interviewing shined through. I interviewed many icons of today from Beyoncé to Biggie to Aaliyah to Morgan Freeman to Diddy to Lenny Kravitz and hundreds in between. I went on to being a VJ on the first International Caribbean Network (CSN, The Caribbean Satellite Network) and also directing bigger and bigger Music Videos and photographing major album covers.

My love for directing and photography slowly had me more behind the camera instead of in front of the camera, but being able to do both kept me working constantly. I learned every aspect of Film, TV and Photography from creating the concept to filming or photographing to editing and even developing my own B&W photographs in the dark room.

‘Electric Air’ was iconic with many of the biggest names of the 90’s coming on the show. I have many people subscribing to my Charlie Bahama YouTube page to see clips from many of those interviews, with many more being uploaded as we digitize them. In fact, for years, many fans would ask me to bring back ‘Electric Air’, and finally in 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic I started my brand-new TV show, ‘The Charlie Bahama Show’. So, I am now back in front of the camera, and quite frankly it is much easier for me in front of the camera, and we are growing The Charlie Bahama Show to go global, with our laid-back interviews, where celebrities and personalities come to “Kick off their shoes and let their hair down…”

Have you ever had to pivot?

I would say when I moved to mainly behind the camera when the Network, I was a VJ on, folded. I also hosted my own show, ‘Electric Air’, but it was harder and harder to secure advertisers, and it was less fun for me. Luckily, I had studied photography and I also learned on the job, how to shoot video and film. I would also stay back on the graveyard editing shifts to learn how to edit. I wanted to know every aspect of TV and film, and it paid off, because when things got slow with on camera gigs, I was able to direct and shoot album covers, TV ads and Music Videos. I now also direct Documentaries and film, but if I did not take the time to follow and watch the camera people, editors and directors at work, I may not still be in this business today. Another tip I live by is to keep learning and watching, and even though I’ve been in this biz for over 30 years, I am still learning today, especially the ins and outs of Social Media from the younger folks coming up and those just breaking in the biz. One thing I learned from the young creatives, is to make sure and tell people to Subscribe and Follow, so make sure you Subscribe and Follow the Charlie Bahama YouTube page

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

We need to spread the wealth and resources better. We have the very few raking in Millions and then the ‘regular’ actor, director and creative having to fight for much smaller budgets. We need to have a minimum so that folks in this business can make a decent living and not give all the budgets and resources on the few ‘big names’.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.earthbeat.com
• Instagram: @charliebahama
• Facebook: @charliebahama
• Linkedin: charlie bahama smith
• Twitter: @charliebahama
• Youtube: @charliebahama
• Other: Threads @charliebahama

Image Credits
Howie Sonnenschein Amada Egan CSN Neko Meicholas John Gomez