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| The Charming Youngsters at Spazz Fest Photo credit to Daniel Ely Rankin |
TBS:
Over the past few years you've evolved quite a bit as a band, between the addition of Kathryn and dropping the Nolan Smock from the band name and just becoming The Charming Youngsters, plus the addition of the acoustic guitar back into the forefront. What's lead to these changes?
Nolan:
Dropping my name was a no-brainer. So was adding Kathryn. I think it's just the dynamics of having a group of people working together. The acoustic guitar was fun and I'm listening to The Lemonheads a lot and everyone humored me but now I'm playing electric since my amp came out of the shop. I had missed it! We try those new ideas out in front of an audience and just see if they stick.
TBS:
You came from the humble beginnings in bedroom recordings like many other artists and since then your songwriting has developed into something much more fleshed out and has begun to fall into it's own little niche, what artists do you think have had the most influence on these songwriting changes
Nolan:
The rest of the band. My early bedroom recordings were scattered and just a lot of nuggets of ideas. There's only one real "song" out of those dozens of tracks in my mind, "Inaudible Chatter". So once Eric came along, he has this real knack for the dramatic journey of a song and it forced me to write a lot more second verses and flesh out the ideas. Then Sean and Lloyd join with a chemistry of their own from Hot John Stockton that worked well with me and Eric. A little more indie rock to go with our art-folk.
The rest of the band. My early bedroom recordings were scattered and just a lot of nuggets of ideas. There's only one real "song" out of those dozens of tracks in my mind, "Inaudible Chatter". So once Eric came along, he has this real knack for the dramatic journey of a song and it forced me to write a lot more second verses and flesh out the ideas. Then Sean and Lloyd join with a chemistry of their own from Hot John Stockton that worked well with me and Eric. A little more indie rock to go with our art-folk.
What's the general songwriting process for a Charming Youngsters song?
Nolan
I come up with some little melody and I put chords to it (or the other way around). Once I've got a solid verse and a chorus, I drunkenly leave it on Lloyd's answering machine. Haha. We try it out as a band and rehearse it until it clicks. Sometimes it works right away, sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes a bridge will appear magically! Sometimes I demo the songs first but I'm pretty lazy with all that. Every now and then we'll spot a reference the song is making and explore that, even if the reference is something we might feel a little weird about taking seriously, like Third Eye Blind. It works out though.
I come up with some little melody and I put chords to it (or the other way around). Once I've got a solid verse and a chorus, I drunkenly leave it on Lloyd's answering machine. Haha. We try it out as a band and rehearse it until it clicks. Sometimes it works right away, sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes a bridge will appear magically! Sometimes I demo the songs first but I'm pretty lazy with all that. Every now and then we'll spot a reference the song is making and explore that, even if the reference is something we might feel a little weird about taking seriously, like Third Eye Blind. It works out though.
TBS:
Tell me a bit about this EP, I know you guys did the recording for it a while ago, do you have a projected release for it yet?
Nolan:
We recorded it last winter in Asheville. The studio, Altamont, was beautiful. Great gear, since the owners of Smashing Guitars owned it as well. Both are closed down now. It's really sad. A place like that should stay open forever. We finished seven tracks over a snowed-in weekend and sat on them for a year, waiting for someone to help us mix it, produce it, release it, whatever. It was pretty naive of us but we decided in January to finish it ourselves and we're about 95% done. Lloyd has been doing all the mixing. We'll put it online as soon as we finish and definitely have a physical release out by our show at Motorco on May 6th.
We recorded it last winter in Asheville. The studio, Altamont, was beautiful. Great gear, since the owners of Smashing Guitars owned it as well. Both are closed down now. It's really sad. A place like that should stay open forever. We finished seven tracks over a snowed-in weekend and sat on them for a year, waiting for someone to help us mix it, produce it, release it, whatever. It was pretty naive of us but we decided in January to finish it ourselves and we're about 95% done. Lloyd has been doing all the mixing. We'll put it online as soon as we finish and definitely have a physical release out by our show at Motorco on May 6th.
TBS:
What are your favorite NC venues to play and who are your favorite up and coming NC artists?
Nolan:
We've played The Pinhook twice and I love it there. That might be my favorite. Slim's is number two? As far as artists go, Justin Flythe (Lonnie Walker) has an amazing set of songs he's been working on under the name Nieces & Nephews. We're all really into them. Woozy bedroom pop. I'm excited about his upcoming DiggUp tape so I can carry it around in my pocket all the time.
We've played The Pinhook twice and I love it there. That might be my favorite. Slim's is number two? As far as artists go, Justin Flythe (Lonnie Walker) has an amazing set of songs he's been working on under the name Nieces & Nephews. We're all really into them. Woozy bedroom pop. I'm excited about his upcoming DiggUp tape so I can carry it around in my pocket all the time.
TBS:
What's coming up for The Charming Youngsters this year? Any big plans in the works other than the EP?
Nolan:
We decided this year to focus on the Triangle instead of touring and it's been great. That's where we're at right now. We'll throw a big show in Greenville this summer and then start on The First Record.
We decided this year to focus on the Triangle instead of touring and it's been great. That's where we're at right now. We'll throw a big show in Greenville this summer and then start on The First Record.
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