INTERVIEW: Charlotte Clark on latest single 'Warm Weather' - "Self doubt and imposter syndrome can eat you up sometimes even though you’re doing great."
The UK’s Charlotte Clark has been releasing music for a number of years under the stage name ARK but this year relaunched her career under her own name with the single ‘Disarray’. A warm, passionate track detailing the collapse of a relationship, it was followed last month with the single ‘Warm Weather’, produced by Odd Martin (Sigrid, Aurora) and co-written with fellow Aurora contributor Magnus Skylstad. A introspective song which explores feeling unworthy, its gentle beat and synth rhythms is complimented with soulful, piano led bursts of anthemic vocals and teamed by an utterly gorgeous chorus of lush melodies and harmonies. This is music with heart and Clark is an artist who can create music that both moves and intrigues and we can’t wait to hear more from her.
We recently caught up with her to chat all about her music and career.
Hi Charlotte! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. 2020 has been a bit of a crazy ride, how have you been coping over the last few months?
Thanks for having me! I’ve been like everyone else I guess. Just riding this wild, weird time out and trying to take it all as it comes.
Congratulations on your new single ‘Warm Weather’, it really is a beautiful track. You have said the song is about everything around you being perfect, but your inner monologue tells you differently. Can you tell us a little bit more about the story that informed the creation of the song?
That means a lot, thank you. I had been working 3 jobs at the time and hadn’t left London in probably about a year, until this writing trip to Norway. I was on the plane and was putting loads of pressure on myself to make sure what I made there was the best thing I’ve ever made, because I was spending money on the flight and Airbnb. As soon as I got there, I met everyone in the studio and was instantly put at ease, and the whole chorus came pouring out there and then. It’s about how self doubt and imposter syndrome can eat you up sometimes even though you’re doing great!
Perhaps more than ever in the times we are living in, the feelings of not being enough, or imposter syndrome, can creep into anyone’s head and really wreak havoc. Obviously you are not a professional psychologist but what are your thoughts on the best way to deal with this mindset?
I’m learning more and more that everyone feels this at some point in their lives/careers! Remembering that helps a lot. I also try to remind myself that if I didn’t feel these feelings then I’d probably be a very egocentric and not very nice person!
As you mentioned, you wrote and recorded the track in Norway, can you tell us a little bit more about the creative process for this track?
It was one of those ones that just happens and I don’t fully remember the process! It all felt so natural and fun. Magnus is a drummer so he was working on the drums to it, and I was ad libbing over the top. As soon as we had the melody, everything else fell around it pretty easily. I then sat with it for a few months and came back to record it in the same studio with Odd Martin. He asked me to hit a load of random things in the room and we used that for the drums.
Is this single part of a greater body of work we can expect to see more of soon?
It is! There’ll be an EP very soon.
You recently moved away from performing under the name ARK, what was the reason behind this decision?
I moved away from ARK as I felt like it was only portraying the emotional, romantic and vulnerable side of my personality. My own name is something that will always encompass every part of me, from who I’ve been, who I am and who I’ll become.
If we go back to the very beginning, what are your earliest memories of music?
My dad used to sing me and my sisters these little nursery rhymes where we would join in on certain parts, and I remember thinking it was soooo cool how he could play the guitar and sing. ‘Tommy Thumb’ was one of the big songs of my childhood! Very rock and roll.
Who were the artists you looked up to and inspired you when you were growing up?
My world changed when I discovered Joni Mitchell. Her music was the first time I heard someone singing about their own life in such a direct and raw conversational way. Her and Jeff Buckley were always on heavy rotation.
It’s no secret that the music industry has not always been the most welcoming for women, partially because it has been run for so long by older, straight, white men. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
I think it’s so important to constantly be pushing for gender equality in the industry. As much as it is improving with female artists, women are still viewed as ‘singers’ rather than musicians and artists, and there are only a handful of successful female producers. It’s so cool that I get asked these kinds of questions now in interviews as it shows the shift that is happening. I think we’re heading in the right direction but there’s
still some way to go.
What’s up next for Charlotte Clark?
More music very soon, and an EP!
‘Warm Weather’ is out now via LAB Records.
To keep up with all things Charlotte Clark you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
