We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charlie Rohlfs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charlie below.
Alright, Charlie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
King Whisker has always been a DIY band – but when the pandemic hit we found ourselves with a tremendous amount of time on our hands. We couldn’t play live shows – we couldn’t tour – and we couldn’t go to a recording studio to cut an album… so we decided to build our own studio, learn how to record, and self produce our debut album, Relaxing with Aunt Janine.
So we created our own studio, sound treated it with DIY panels and bass traps, built our own semi-analogue recording rig, took classes from Berklee, and hit the ground running. For four months, we met 4-5 nights a week to cut our album.
The first few months was just as much about learning how to self produce and album as it was about actually recording the damn thing… but the time we were about 1/2 way through we hit a great rhythm. By the time the album was released we ended up being pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s definitely a bit rough around the edges, and VERY DIY, but there’s an honesty to the album and the process that we’re proud of.
And we got nominated for Best Indie/Alt Album at the San Diego Music Awards, which was such a fantastic way to cap off the project. Now that the pandemic is a bit more under control, we’ll finally be able to tour the album that we released in October of 2021.
Charlie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
King Whisker is an Art Rock band – in a nutshell, that means the music is a bit more performative and maybe “gestural” than traditional rock. The goal is to create music that is an artistic expression beyond the exclusively musical elements of the song – akin more to musical theater than traditional rock. Whether or not we actually achieve that is up for the listener to decide – but that’s what we’re aiming for!
We’re attempting to be ourselves in the purest form – bumps, lumps, mistakes, and all. And for us, our progress and evolution is (hopefully) something our listeners can experience for themselves. We’re figuring this out as we go along – and I think our fans are experiencing that right along with us.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Go out an see live music – buy merch, tell your favorite bands that you’re happy they’re making music!
It’s been an incredibly challenging time to be an artist in any medium, and it’s never been more important to support the artists that you resonate with.
On a larger scale, we need a dramatic shift in the way new art is supported in this country. It’s exceedingly difficult to support yourself as an artist in a medium other than what is currently financially popular (hip-hop, rap, pop, etc). This means that a lot of amazing music is simply never getting heard (or worse, never getting made).
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Nothing – absolutely nothing makes me happier than meeting people after a gig who enjoyed the music. It’s even more rewarding when you start to see the same faces coming to your performances and chatting with you after shows.
It may seem like a small thing, but actually going to gigs is a real honest-to-god investment of time and money. When someone puts in the time to learn when you have a gig, buy tickets, show up, listen, cheer, tell their friends, and spend some time with you after the show… well that’s just the greatest feeling in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kingwhisker.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingwhisker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kingwhisker.yumyum
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/whisker_king
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_OtwQhCmro
Image Credits
Brady Cooling