A quick chat with We Are Charlie

We Are Charlie are one of the acts who will be performing at Park Acoustics on Sunday. This rock trio from Pretoria have been around since late 2013.

Dylan (the lead singer / guitarist) met Wesley Reinecke (the drummer) in high school. The two have been making music together since 2008. After years exploration in the music scene they found a home in the sound of Indie and that’s when WAC was conceived. Rudolph de Villiers (bassist) joined the band in mid-2016 to further-enrich the notion of the WAC sound.

We Are Charlie have an affective energetic and up-beat indie sound. Their style is one which constants highly distinct guitar melodies, drums and bass are written and arranged to provide solid, groovy but yet a functional backbone and additional feel to the sound.

These instrumental elements become a foundation in which the band conveys their message through an honest yet complex approach to lyrics. This message is heard by listeners in the unique vocal style and tone of vocals. 

Each member has a unique taste in music and are influenced by different artists. This ultimately helps bring an interesting new sound to style of indie. The Band as a whole are influenced by artists like The Pixies, Modest Mouse, The Strokes, Fidlar, Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.

They have played along side bands such as aKIng, The Plastics, Thieve, Shortstraw, Desmond & the Tutu’s, Shadowclub, Sawagi, Xavier Rudd, PHfat and various others.

I recently spoke to the band via e-mail, this is what they had to say:

Where does the name “We Are Charlie” come from?

It was given to us as a Christmas present by the original We Are Charlie members. They are huge role models of ours and we thought it was such a great band name, mostly because they thought of it.

What have you been up to lately?

Stuff. We’re just writing, playing shows. We were in at High Seas Studio not too long ago to start recording a record. Yeah we’ve been happy.

What are your thoughts on the current state of SA Music?

It’s cool. The scene always dies and then revives. Bands get comfortable, act like everything’s good and tours happen and shows get fuller but then people move on, the bands freak out, fight for the scene to come back and it does. Then the new bands start the vicious cycle again.

You’ll be playing at Park Acoustics on Sunday, what can music lovers expect from your set?

We’ll be playing two new songs and we’ll probably record a live video for a little series we’re doing, “On Stage With We Are Charlie”. We’ll definitely be doing our horrendous dance moves and some deep meaningful eye contact with the crowd.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Interviews category on Running Wolf’s Rant.