Meet Charly | Songwriter, Singer & Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Charly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charly, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I feel like I didn’t have a choice. I tried to convince myself to pursue a more stable career such as dentist or nurse. But I ended up abandoning this idea and came back to what always helped me to feel myself : Music. A creative career is not the most secure. There is always a moment when I don’t know why I’m pursuing this path. It’s hard, harsh, and complicated. But there is always a good reason for me to continue this journey. Creativity is what fulfilled my spirit and my heart. Creativity is what makes my life have a sense. Creativity is what helped me to continue in a society where I don’t always understand the rules and the standards. I pursue this career for my own happiness and health.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am indeed proud of my songs. But it wasn’t always the case. I am shy and not really confident in myself. And I added the difficulty of singing and writing in English, which isn’t my first language. And I’m dyslexic. Because I heard all my life I wouldn’t make it in France, I went to the USA and studied music and sound engineering in California. I was part of many bands, did hundreds of concerts, recorded songs for others and myself. My journey to go from the dyslexic young adult to my position today wasn’t easy, but I don’t regret anything. I met tons of people, learned new skills and composed songs I like and some I hate. Just trust your guts and do whatever it takes to be the best version of yourself. People will not believe in you until you don’t believe in yourself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First, I’ll make my friend stay up until 10pm to make sure they get over their jet lag fast. To do so, I’ll take them to Dave and Busters to win as many tickets as we can. The next day for lunch I would definitely bring them to Hot N’ Juicy on Santa Monica Blvd. We don’t have that kind of restaurant in France and it is always funny to see a French people struggling with the hot sauce and the plastic gloves. Then we would go to Santa Monica’s Pier and ride bikes to Venice Beach and back. At night I’ll take them to a music venue such as The Mint or The Satellite to enjoy some live music. I’ll definitely also take them to Griffith Park for hikes with my dogs, to the Observatory, to Malibu Beach, to Pasadena Gardens and maybe even an entire day in San Diego. For food, I mostly cook at home so I don’t think we’d go to a lot of restaurants but I love to take friends looking for touristy things to do to the Saddle Ranch on the Sunset Strip, to the Abbey and to my favorite coffee shop: Groundwork Coffee in North Hollywood.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My band for sure: Eric Reymond, Johann Lorber and Navneet Rao They’re more than incredibly talented musicians. They are real friends. The kind of friends that will tell you when you can do better or that you need to trust yourself. My wife is also a big support in all of this tho. But she is not a musician haha.

Website: https://www.charlysolo.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charly._music/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlysolomusic
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CHARLYSOLO

Image Credits
For the portrait one: Non applicable For the others (band): Guy Longstreet