On The Radar #79 Charlie Moss

WHEN he released his debut EP #1, Brighton-born singer-songwriter Charlie Moss saw it shoot into the iTunes singer-songwriter top 30 in just 24 hours.

He introduces himself below.

“I started writing songs when I was about 16. I don't know if you could say they were songs as such, more words that rhymed. I tried to make a rhythm with them. Now that I've grown slightly older, and written a huge amount more, I pour a lot of emotion and feeling into my songs. Each song I've written tells a different story of what I feel or what I have been through. I've got about 25 unfinished songs in my songbook at home and I write more and more each day, it helps me develop my writing and also helps to create a better song!

“My dad always played the proper rock bands to me when I was younger, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix. That inspired me to want to be a “Rockstar”. As I grew older I got massively influenced by Ed Sheeran. My main influences are now heavily acoustic and from genuine songwriters. James Bay has really influenced the way I write as well as Bob Dylan, Lewis Watson and Ben Howard. Those artists prove you don't need a huge sound or backing band to entertain a live audience - I think it's inspiring.

“I started writing #1 in October 2014. I had been writing new songs every single day for about two months straight. It all started off with the song You Remind Me, which is the fourth track on my EP. I wrote the first track Oceans in a couple of days - Lewis Watson inspired me to write that song, it was my first proper song. 17 was a quick one to write, one of those 3am thoughts that I quickly scribble down in my notepad and finish the morning after! I kept writing, more and more each day, until I had ten more finished songs to pick from. The third track I'll Be Yours is a sort of love song. It's about meeting that someone who gives you a constant buzz, and wanting to do everything with them - it's a soppy one! My last track was a cover with a twist, of Ed Sheeran from his early EP Gold Rush. I threw a little bit of Three Little Birds in there to make if bit different, to try and stand out.

“I recorded it in a few days down at Brighton Electric with the producer Mike Lord. I changed a couple of my songs quite a lot, I added in backing vocals for Oceans and added a subtle piano track to I'll Be Yours. It was a weird feeling having written all these songs, most of them in the middle of the night, sat on my bed and now they were recorded and being put out for release, it's a good feeling, but a tough process. Recording is nowhere near as easy or stress-free as people seem to think!

“When I released #1 I really didn't know what to expect at all. I had an incredible turnout for my EP release hosted by Overhead Wires record label in Brighton and sold about 25 CDs at my launch, which as an unsigned, pretty much unheard of artist, was incredible! The night it got released on iTunes I just promoted the hell out of it. My whole ethic of the release wasn't to force it upon people, but to say to them, if you like what you hear, go ahead and buy it, tell your friends and get them to tell theirs! After a few hours I appeared at 107 in the charts. I was over the moon, and running around the house at that, until I woke up the next morning and I was at 67. I then promoted it a bit more, it bumped up to 50, then 40, and eventually it reached 30. I was sat watching my EP overtake Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Passenger and the rest. It was crazy, I couldn't believe what was happening! The reviews are honestly incredible, it makes me feel so overwhelmed that people like my music!

“I'm going to release another EP or two before an album. I feel I need to 'get out there' still. I've already started writing my second one. I'll continue to push with gigging every week, networking with more promoters and bugging more agents to listen to me.”

Charlie Moss plays The Brunswick, in Holland Road, Hove, on Thursday, August 6, for Overhead Wires Music, and The White Rabbit, in Kensington Gardens, Brighton, on Sunday, August 23.

Find out more:

www.facebook.com/CharlieMossMusic

twitter.com/_CharlieMoss

soundcloud.com/charliemoss-1