It’s been a full on first couple of months of 2023 for fast rising artist Charlotte Sands. The alt/pop rock act recently spent two and a half weeks on the road with Maggie Lindemann and PVRIS, hitting Manchester Academy amongst other venues.
In the midst of the tour, she also released her latest single Alright, a track which wrapped up raw emotion and pop punk within a ballad.
In the aftermath of her rousing set at Manchester Academy and the release of Alright, we caught up with Charlotte Sands to chat about playing live, releasing singles whilst on the road and what’s still to come this year.
Front Row at Maggie Lindemann – Manchester Academy – 22 January 2023
Hi Charlotte. Thanks for your time with this Q&A. You’ve just finished a tour of the UK and Europe. How did it all go?
It was the best time of my life. I had such an amazing time and am already so excited to come back!
I was at your excellent Manchester set and I think it’s fair to say you bring a lot of energy to your shows. How did you prepare for the tour?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Before any tour I try to be consistently working out and doing some sort of cardio to make sure I’m able to sustain my energy onstage as well as my vocals. I try to go on runs while singing the entire set through the instrumental to get my body used to it and to practice correct breathing. Then we go into rehearsals a few days before the tour begins and run the set a few times to make sure everyone feels comfortable before we get on the road!
You definitely grabbed the audience at that show – what goes through your mind whilst you’re out there?
Most of the time I’m on stage I’m genuinely thinking “I don’t want this to be over yet. How many more songs do we have? Oh no, it’s going by way too fast!” over and over again. I have so much fun on stage and love being able to experience the show with the audience and interact with everybody, I can’t wait to do it forever.
What was the highlight of the tour for you?
There were so many highlights, I don’t even know how to choose. I loved our show in Paris as well as the shows in Germany so much because I had never been, and so many people were singing the words to my songs which was so cool. Overall, the entire tour was a highlight and it will forever be one of the best times of my life. I’m so grateful to get to do this as my job.
Whilst on tour you also released your latest single Alright. How did your approach to releasing that track differ given that you were on the road at the time?
Being on the road with a 6 hour time difference from my team in the US was definitely challenging but we pulled it off! I had to change my schedule to better fit my socials and audiences both in the US and UK/EU, which was difficult at times, but overall I’m really proud of what we were able to accomplish. Balancing being a touring artist as well as an artist who is consistently present on social media isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth it.
“I was experimenting with multiple different genres and styles”
Alright saw a subtle shift in your musical style, was that a deliberate approach or did it develop organically?
I think the main reason “Alright” feels different than some of the other songs I’ve released is because I wrote it almost 3 years ago when I was experimenting with multiple different genres and styles. I wanted to keep elements of the raw production and vocals and maintain the vulnerability from the day we created it. This song is so special to me and I will forever try to make decisions based on what is best for the song and not what feels necessary to fit into a certain genre.
Can you talk us through your song writing process?
I constantly record melodies and phrases into my phone and a lot of my songs started from that! We’ll either start with a track and see if any of my voice memos fit over it or start from scratch and create something that does. I usually will sing random melodies over guitar loops until I find something that feels interesting to me and then fill in the lyrics!
What do you find to be the biggest challenges when you are writing and recording?
I think the biggest challenge is making sure the song will translate in a live show. I try to be super intentional about every song I write and release knowing we will be performing it live, and we have to write it with that in mind.
“Our show was created to bring people together”
You’re heading back to the UK and Europe over the summer to play at Slam Dunk Festival and also the iconic Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Germany. For fans who didn’t catch you on your recent dates, what should they expect?
I am so excited for these festivals and I am so grateful I’m getting to perform at them! You can expect a lot of energy and to hopefully have so much fun. Our show was created to bring people together and feel like a celebration for anybody who needs a break from reality.
There have been hints that there are some big plans for 2023. Can you give us any reveals about what’s coming or what you’re working on?
All I can say is that there will be a LOT of new music and a LOT of shows, I can’t wait to tell you all the details very soon. I am so excited for this year and I am so thankful to get to experience it all.
Thanks for doing this Q&A, we can’t wait to catch you live again!
Thank you for having me!!
Image of Charlotte Sands courtesy Acacia Evans
