Written by Malinn Welch
"Actually, I hate performing. You know, best case scenario, everyone's quiet.”
Although not the response I expected from an artist after performing live at Glasgow’s Great Western Festival, Joseph Innes speaks about performing in a wonderfully refreshing way, highlighting both the power of genre and his potential with an unconventional indie folk project like Carsick Charlie.
When asked about his views towards performing live, Innes spoke on the variability of live music, citing his shows as more of an “invitation to sit and listen rather than a mosh.” While we can all agree an energetic crowd can be very fun, the soulful folk sounds of Carsick Charlie invites another type of atmosphere. From little one-liners and multiple references to his mom standing in the crowd, Carsick Charlie aims to “communicate aspects of an atmosphere”, Innes stating his goal that “we are all comfortable in each other's company.” As an audience member, this atmospheric intentionality came through in a conversational, rather than simply performative, music style that is relayed not only in Innes’ energy on stage but his lyrics and sound.
Recently featured at the Great Western Festival, Carsick Charlie, with two singles and an EP, is producing sounds across indie, alternative, and folk genres. Most notably Finn from the EP “Angel” exemplifies this unconventional sound. Finn features a soothing guitar and melodious vocal arrangement. Bailey Greig, who sings on the song, represents one facet of Carsick Charlie. On a recent tour with the band Florist, Joseph Innes even experimented with a bag of rocks as part of the act.
“On tour, we did like backup and vocals and she also had a bag of rocks that she just jiggles at the end of one of the songs. It felt like a really good idea at the time. We felt really experimental and cool. But it was just a bag of rocks.”
In addition to rocks, Carsick Charlie often features multiple guitars, drums, additional vocalists, and other additive elements. At the Great Western Festival, Carsick Charlie consisted of not only an acoustic guitar and vocals but bass guitar and drums. Joseph Innes comments on this, highlighting the fluidity of the project.
“The driving force is just like an acoustic guitar and me and whatever else I can add is just ‘how can I make this more interesting’?”
In listening to the discography, although each song features something new, there is a throughline throughout the project and an overall cohesive sound of thematic and musical elements. Each performance is different, and each song aims to showcase something new, whether it's a musical bag of rocks or an acoustic guitar.
In asking Innes about the sound of his project he echoed ideas of an “edge” and a familiar unconventionalism that draws listeners back again, saying “I want to have a bit of an edge. I just don't personally have it.” From artists of inspiration like Sufjan Steven and Phoebe Bridgers, Carsick Charlie’s sound remains in that realm of undefinable indie folk goodness. Innes states, “I want to have a kind of weird sound but in a comfortable context, pushing you out of your comfort zone, into a different comfort zone.” These ideas of “comfort zones” come across in the music, allowing you as a listener to hear something familiar in the vocal arrangement but an unconventional backing beating or settled in the acoustic guitar and jarred in a good way by the bag of rocks.
In looking to the future, Innes expressed an aspiration to just create more. In the next two years he hopes for an album, or possibly another EP, but really just hoping to create:
“I’m aiming for maybe an album or something, however many songs come out and then if you get two good ones, that's what you get and if you get 15 then you have an album.” As an artist, Innes describes himself as someone who lives not for being on stage but for the production and the writing, saying: “Ilove when I enjoy {performing}. I think my musicality is bound in, it's like 1 am and I’m sitting with Logic and I'm like “I love that little beep.” That’s me.” Whether you're an indie folk fan, a fan of good live music, wonderfully produced and unique artists, or just a Sufjan Stevens fan like Innes, Carsick Charlie is definitely one to watch.
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