 |
| Courtesy of King Charles, King Charles |
I interviewed Charles Johnston, known by his pseudonym King Charles, ahead of his gig this Thursday at The Sugarmill. He provided some intriguing insights into his world of musical surrealism.
Why
‘King Charles’?
By name, by
nature; naturally.
Are you
looking forward to The Sugarmill gig in Hanley this Thursday?
I certainly
am.
Have you
performed at the venue before? And what do you know about the Stoke
music scene?
It will be
my first time in Stoke. There will be local support from We Were
Evergreen so I’ll be able to find out everything I know about Stoke
on the evening, which I am very much looking forward to.
Who are
your influences?
God, girls,
furs, pearls, flesh, blood, polar bears, crocodiles, the city, the
wild, the end of time all keep my thoughts on their feet and my mind
in varying degrees of motion.
Who
would you compare yourself to?
The
highest, the wisest, the fastest, the brightest; the lowest, the
foolish, the slowest the darkest. Just so I know my place.
What was
it like touring with Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and Noah &
The Whale?
I have a
wonderful time with all of them, I have covered a lot of ground
across England and America, opening their shows, all forming an
enormously exciting cluster of moods, moments and memories. They all
showed me a lot and I hope to continue touring and making music with
them all.
Oversees
they seem to be interested and get excited about different things in
different territories which makes the shows all feel very different.
Touring abroad can really keep you on your toes because you’re
never sure how they are going to react and what they want from you.
What can
you tell us about your debut album?
It’s
called LoveBlood, it will be out on May 7th. I am
waiting fervently for its release as it has been a while on route to
the people and it will be a day of celebration. I am so excited I'm
even behaving cautiously just to make sure that I stay alive until
then.
There are 11 songs, beginning with 'LoveBlood', and finishing with 'Wilde Love'. The latter is my favourite because the lyrics are my favourite verses from ‘The Ballad Of Reading Gaol’ by Oscar Wilde and I am so in love with it and excited to have been able to make a song of it.
It hasn’t been easy making this album, I’ll never make another one like it. It will only happen once, and I am very proud to stamp my name upon the earth with it drenched in ink.
Below is King Charles' official music video for 'Bam Bam':
No comments:
Post a Comment