We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charlie John. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charlie below.
Hi Charlie, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
This is a big question for me since my parents have been my biggest cheerleaders for my entire career so far. My entire life up until I was 18 was all sports all the time – basketball and baseball. I LOVED it! My dad would coach me in both until high school and even then he’d coach me in the off seasons. It was so great, I had a natural talent for it and I really loved it and still do! All through high school I’d be in the chorus and choir, but that wasn’t my main focus. When I turned 18 and went to college, my parents noticed I was working more on singing and even learning some guitar. My interest in sports had waned at this point (due to some high school coaching, but that’s a different story). I went into my freshman year at NKU (Northern Kentucky University) and majored in Vocal Performance, which was unheard of as a freshman to declare that early. But, I’d gotten some pushing from my parents, who were in music all their lives and sang and all that. So – while my freshman year is happening my parents had been hearing me sing and play guitar alone in my room, still living with them – I was close enough to commute to school. They made me an offer, to live with them and play guitar, sing, gig and write music. To me, looking back now, that was the BIGGEST vote of confidence I could have gotten from anyone and I don’t think I knew then the weight of what they were saying. Anyway, I think about that often and I’m not sure I’d be in music if not for them and that offer they made me back then
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
So, I kinda answered this in the previous question, but my parents actually met in a band in the 80s and toured the country for 10 years! Dad was the saxaphone player, singer and lead songwriter and my mom was the lead vocalist and songwriter. This eventually turned into them having kids, then working in radio for a while and finally beginning their own Jingle and Voiceover company, which is still very active to this day! So, I grew up around music all the time. So think about that for a second. Every day coming home from school and hearing full-on jingles coming from the basement and a jingle is nothing but a GIANT CHORUS. This is what I loved and what I still love most about writing music today. So these giant choruses and parts of songs were just in my young, developing head every single day.
Today, I write music and produce music for myself and others as well as gig and play music around the country as my full time job. I couldn’t love anything more. One of the things that I am proudest of in my work and what sets me apart I think is my singing voice, my ability to play live and my ability to produce huge, giant hooks and songs from start to finish.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me the most rewarding part of being an artist is the live aspect of it and meeting people who’ve connected with your music. It’s such an amazing part of this job and what makes gigging so much fun for me.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
This is a big question especially now with streaming and all of music being available to anyone who can pay $10/month, which in turn I THINK devalues what people think of music. It turns it into an almost “background music” type of thing instead of a piece of creative art that someone poured their heart and soul into. Society can literally help out, by sharing with their voice. It’s a small difference between literally ‘liking’ a social media post and then sharing it too. I think a lot of people, myself included, really appreciate the sharing of their music WAY more than just liking it
Contact Info:
- Website: CharlieJohnMusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CharlieJohnMusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cjohnmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdYeT14xLbhJlVtI3-DZHuw
Image Credits
Sami Jo Prewitt