Band Profile: Charms

A little while back I was at a local bar in West Seattle called the Skylark to have a couple of drinks, and watch some local music.  Charms was the one of the bands there playing that night, and they definitely left a good impression.   So much so, that I wanted to get an interview, review, or something on this blog as soon as possible.  So after contacting Charms drummer Ray McCoy, here is an email interview for you all to enjoy.  Also, a heads up, Charms play Chop Suey June 12th with Chasity Belt, Acapulco Lips, and Shadow Walker.

Where did you guys meet?  How did you become a band?

- EJ and I played music and magic cards together a couple of times with some mutual friends and just sort of clicked. We started playing together on our own and eventually decided we needed another person to round out the sound. Josh and I had been playing together previously in a psych-rock/improv project called Young Doctors as well as our indie-pop band, The Hunting Club, and so we brought him in to fill the traditional bass player role with synth and keys. Now we're all in love.

Have any of you been in other bands before?

- I played in several hardcore/metal/post-punk projects back in Vermont, where I moved here from, usually on bass or guitar. This is my first project playing drums. EJ played in a bunch of bands back in the day as well, and Josh used to make beats and such. We're also all in several other projects currently - we're all the live backing band for Emma Danner's Red Ribbon project, and Josh and I are both still in The Hunting Club, and I also play in Lena Simon's (of Tomten/Pollens/Throw Me The Statue) solo project, Kairos, as well as a heavy grunge-pop band, The Holy. Busy dudes.

How long have you been playing together?

- A little over a year.

What are your influences?

-We're all over the place. We all devour a lot of music, and have since we were young, so there's all sorts of stuff deep inside us. As far as the more conscious influences for what we're doing now, we like a lot of artists that can balance being fun and energetic with genuine creativity and weirdness. Deerhunter, HEALTH, Battles, Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall (and tons of other garage pop), The Dodos, METZ. I'm sure our history playing in much heavier bands and low fi solo experimentation and hip hop production finds its way into this stuff.

I hear that you are currently, or will be working with Erik Blood.  How did that come about?

- We got lucky and played a really fun, amazing halloween show with him and our buds in the Tea Cozies and Kithkin last year. We heard he dug us and some mutual acquaintances connected us. We crossed our fingers and asked if he'd record us and he was totally down. We did a couple songs for a 7 inch with him.

Do you have a set date for your next release?

- No exact date, but we'll have the records back in time to put them out in early August.

Where have you played so far?

- Seattle, mostly. Comet, Chop Suey, Sunset, Black Lodge, Columbia City Theatre, houses, etc. Played a rad house party with Two Bar productions out in Wenatchee recently - shooting to get outta town more often soon.

Other than the Sunset, do you have any other future shows?

- Our next show is June 12th at Chop Suey with the fan-fucking-tastic Chastity Belt, Acapulco Lips, and Shadow Walker, and then we're playing on the 22nd at Blue Moon with our buds in Swamp Meat.


- Ray/Charms

http://charmsrock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/charms.sounds