With 11 tracks of raw, vulnerable, and honest emotion, Charlie Lane has shared her debut album ‘I’m Okay Now But I Wasn’t’ with the world and with it, a piece of her soul.
As a queer and disabled artist, Charlie Lane has a unique perspective on the world that she’s proud to share, and this perspective has fostered a base of passionate fans. With her iconic fusion of devastating lyrics and energetic music, she’s carved out her niche in the Melbourne music scene.
To celebrate the release of the album ‘I’m Okay Now But I Wasn’t’, CHARLIE LANE pondered 12 questions for us
1 What was the spark which lit your flame for music initially?
It all started really from us moving around a lot as kids. I would take my diaries everywhere and journal in them every day, after primary school or when we went on camping trips. Both parents had to keep buying me new ones because I kept filling them out haha. I just love storytelling and it never went away. When I was 14 I or thereabouts, I was listening to Pink on one of my many “So Fresh” CDs, and started copying her melody and song structure. I was already doing vocal lessons and wanted to know how to put all my words into a song as I was suffering depression and from then on it was really music or nothing.
2 An album or song that had a huge impact on you growing up?
Made Of Bricks By Kate Nash. This whole album was so specific in every song lyric. I loved that Kate didn’t shy away from being so authentically herself, she never really does and sometimes I miss that in the scene. But this album hit home in high school especially. It really helped me get on with everything knowing I wasn’t the only outcast out there, it was okay not to be the popular kid.
3 First concert you ever attended?
I think it was Kate Miller Heidke at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, one of the many I would attend. She signed my red frilled wallet haha. I kept it for so long. I’m not entirely sure what happened to it actually.
4 Which other person has had the biggest influence on your music career?
Probably my beautiful friend Christina who I was in my first original comical cabaret duo with in uni. Although we kind of just took the piss at the time and wrote songs about Richard Mercer and Frankston. Her taste in music was so impeccable. She introduced me to all kinds of Indie music that I didn’t know existed. This was at a time where I only really knew blues, soul and folk because of my childhood. She would make me mixtapes where I discovered Daniel Johnston, Elliot Smith, Feist, Nine Inch Nails, Sufjan Stevans, Soko, Liki Li, Sia ect
5 I’m Okay Now But I Wasn’t’ is your new album, are there any overriding themes?
I’d say mental ill health and fragmented family and romantic relationships are definitely strong themes throughout. However, other tracks like ‘Dance With You’ and ‘ I Can’t Do Much’ that are so full of hope and love.
6 What would you like your music career to look like in 5 years time?
I’d love to be playing major Australian festivals, supporting some bigger Aussie artists and touring overseas. It’s been a dream of mine to tour out of Australia. I love the music scene here, but really want to expand my horizons as a musician.
7 What would be your dream collaboration?
Probably Mark Ronson producing, co-writing the track with The National and then performing it with Kate Nash, and Amyl and the Sniffers. How fun would that team be!
8 Is there a track off the album which is closer to your heart than others?
Tears. I still haven’t been able to talk much about this song and I think that’s why I hold it close too. Some things are so much easier to sing about than talk about. In Short, this is a song about a long period in my life where I went through DV, including whilst writing the album. I am really lucky this album was able to be finished and will always be eternally grateful for the collaborators on this track too.
9 You’ve got live dates starting in November, how are the new songs scrubbing up for the stage?
I do! On the 15th of November we’ll be playing the Album launch at the Cactus Room in Thornbury, then on the 17th we head to Castlemaine to play a double show at Shedshakers Tap Brewery, after that we come back to play Mama Chen’s in Footscray on the 1st December and then a special acoustic show on December 6th for Over Our Dead Bodies at Bakehouse Studios in Richmond. Songs are sounding pretty great. We are in full rehearsal mode now that some of the band are back from touring overseas, so I really can’t wait to show everyone the new tracks.
10 If money was no issue, what would a Charlie Lane concert look like?
We all hopefully just saw what ability fest looked like? It’d look like that but in every venue in Melbourne and show instead of a big festival. I’d want accessibility, including wireless mics to not trip over myself and the band’s gear, interpreters, matting for wheelchair users, visual aids, a lift, the lot! If money wasn’t an issue obviously I’d have every instrument on the album onstage and not on tracks too haha.
11 An important life lesson someone gave/told you?
Don’t keep saying it. Do it. I know you can find so many obstacles and financial hurdles to not do the things you want in life, but you can use literally every excuse under the sun and I have used them too. A LOT. Thing is, there is always a way around it in most circumstances. Be a doer. (Thanks Marian and Theo)
12 What’s next for Charlie Lane?
Next is the album tour which the band and I are pumped about. We have the 15th November launch at the Cactus Room, Castlemaine November 17th at Shedshakers Tap Brewery, December 1st Mama Chens in Footscray and December 6th at Bakehouse Studios for Day for Peoples with a Disability for the Over Our Dead Bodies initiative created by Gordi and Alex Lahey and curated by Eliza Hull. Then I’ll be building a pillow fort and sleeping for the next month after I reckon.
We have some great shows and festivals coming up next year soon to be announced, so super excited for those. Going to be a great year ahead.
MORE ABOUT ‘I’M OKAY NOW BUT I WASN’T’
This album is a beautiful onslaught of undiluted emotion. Beginning the album strong with ‘Gold Drips’, Charlie Lane takes this track to reclaim her voice. An energetic, passionate chorus is partnered with pondering verses with themes about setting herself free. It builds up with groovy basslines with crunchy electric guitar riffs towards the end of the song as Charlie grows more confident and comes into herself.
‘Ginger’ follows next. Her first song, written at just 16, with beautiful string instruments and charming gospel backing vocals, is now featured as the second song on her debut album years later. It’s a testament to how far she’s come.
The third song on the album is ‘Fifty Shades of Bruised’. With acoustic guitar, strings, ghostly backing vocals, and Louis Spencely on tambourine, this is a sad, forlorn song with an alt-country feel. It explores how she doesn’t know if she deserves the love she gets. It questions whether she should embrace it or push it away.
Following that is ‘Dance With You’, a nervous but hopeful song, overthinking a rejection that hasn’t happened yet. With retro, sparkling synth, warm guitar, and yearning vocals, this song is an anxious, almost teenaged plea to be noticed by a crush.
The next song, ‘Gone’, is a devastating song about itching to end it all in a place where no one knows you, built on a cheerful beat. This song is a bitter pill to swallow, coated in a layer of sugar.
‘I Hate Me’ builds on that theme of internalised emotions, dwelling on self-hatred set to soft drums and gentle guitar riffs that melts into a pop-punk, high-energy song and back as the song morphs that self-hatred stays.
‘I Need Sleep’ is another forlorn song, soft and sad, based on her experience in a shitty share-house full of arguments and fighting that kept her awake. The synth builds up, but it’s taken back to just guitar in the final verse to play on how this sort of thing can always come back.
Following that is ‘Tears’. Charlie says that this is the toughest song she’s ever written – she never planned to release it in the first place. It explores her experiences with domestic abuse.
The next song was written during the COVID lockdowns. ‘Walls’ is about the agoraphobia that she developed, where everything was terrifying to her, and she felt like she had to shut herself away. The song itself is gentle, with reserved guitar and beautiful mournful vocals.
Then, ‘Why Aren’t You Listening?’ was written about being the black sheep even though she echoes the qualities of her parents and how being raised in a broken home and carrying that generational trauma affects her even to this day. The guitar and drums are bittersweet but catchy enough to tap your foot to.
‘I Can’t Do Much’ offers a gentle, positive end to the album; the song is built up on a groovy riff and beat that shifts to a more punk with amped-up guitar and drums, then shifts to retro synth and an 80’s rock vibe. It makes this song an upbeat end to the album, highlighting positive nihilism– she can’t do much, so she might as well enjoy what she can.
This final track is a careful piece of music, worked on gently by a group of musicians who helped Charlie bring it together. Because of Adam Heath, Rohan Sforcina, Jasmine Johnston, Louis Spencely and Jet Kalt, Charlie’s immensely proud of what this song turned out to be.
‘I’m Okay Now But I Wasn’t’ was a special experience for Charlie Lane, getting to collaborate with her friends to create the most authentic debut album possible. Take part in this experience when it comes out on Friday, October 18. Then, catch Charlie Lane performing live throughout Victoria in November and December; more details are below.
‘I’m Okay Now But I Wasn’t Album Tour
Friday, Nov 15 – Cactus Room, Thornbury
Sunday, Nov 17 – The Mills, Castlemaine
Sunday, December 1 – Mumma Chen’s, Footscray
Friday, December 6 – Bakehouse Studios, Richmond
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