Charlie Hanlon makes indie pop tunes mostly by himself or with his friends. He is 15 years old, from Ireland, now he lives in Downpatrick.
He first started gigging when he was 11 or 12. He had a little band where they played around in town just in the local arts centres. When that came to an end he started playing shows on his own at 13 and just kept at it since.
Charlie then started releasing demos that were made on his Ipad to YouTube and he eventually moved onto SoundCloud at the start of 2020. Some of the demos were picked up by BBC introducing and played on Atl.
What genre / style do you create in?
It’s hard to put my finger on it because I’m constantly trying to find a sound that suits me but I would say Indie pop / Indie rock maybe.
What would you be best known for?
Probably releasing the demo for my song ‘I Lost Myself ‘ and It getting played on radio.
What would you consider your biggest achievement?
I’d have to say aside from recording my debut single, making it to the final of Volume controls Clash of the new breeds 2020, and getting to perform on stage at the Oh Yeah Centre. That venue means a lot to me and it was one of my goals when I first started this project to play in that room.
What would you consider to be the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your industry?
I’d say, be yourself, and do it for yourself because people will gravitate towards you if you’re genuine about what you’re doing.
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
I have been lucky enough not to have any major challenges come my way as of yet, but I would say lockdown was a challenge in the sense of trying to find a way to promote my music and reach new people without live gigs.
Tell us a little about your personal life, are you married, kids, hobbies etc?
I’m currently doing my final year of GCSE’s and really outside of that my hobby and number 1 passion is music. I’m not really good at anything else other than music.
Tell us about your most recent work?
My most recent work is actually my debut single it’s called ‘Will You Stay Tonight?’. I recorded it with a guy named Cal Clarke up at the space in Bangor.
It’s just a fictional song I wrote when I was 14, it doesn’t really have any meaning but people can take what they want from it. Recording the track was super fun, we did it all in a few hours on valentine’s day 2020. I played all the instruments on the track, and Cal did all the Recording and Mixing.
The ideas and parts you hear on the track didn’t change much from the initial demo I had made up on my laptop in my bedroom.
What would you like us to tell people about?
My Debut single ‘Will You Stay Tonight?’ is out on all major streaming platforms Friday the 30th of October so check that out !!
Also, a live session I recorded with volume control at the Oh Yeah Centre is coming out on November 6th so keep your eyes peeled on all my socials to check all the stuff I’ve got coming up.
If you had to describe your work to someone who has never heard of you what would you say?
Good, fun Indie pop tunes to dance around to in your bedroom.
What’s the funniest experience you’ve had in your business?
I think when I played a festival in a local fisher town to me, that turned out to be a hot wing eating competition has been the funniest moment by far.
I was just playing my tunes and then the audience walked away, I carried on and when I looked around there was a guy with a megaphone and two lads sitting at a table just gulping down hot wings to a timer, while I was playing music, it was mad!
What would your advice be to young people hoping to pursue the same industry?
I’m still learning because I’m still young, but some advice would be, to be yourself and enjoy everything that comes your way. Don’t worry about being perfect just keep doing it for you.
Anything else you want to tell people about yourself or your work?
All there is to say is my single ‘Will You Stay Tonight?’ Comes out on the 30th of October and I have some demos on Soundcloud you can check out too.
Who do you look up to and why?
I look up to people like Declan McKenna and Alfie Templeman, because they started by making music in their bedrooms, and to see how far that has taken them so young, ss very inspiring as a young musician myself to watch.
If you would like to keep up with Charlie, you can find him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!