Navigating friendships, becoming a musician from scratch, and wearing hearts on our sleeves with Charlie Pittman.
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‘i don’t wanna be here’ is a raw and empathetic introduction to Charlie Pittman, the singer/songwriter releasing their first single and I had the lucky opportunity to chat with him ahead of his performance with Drax Project in Sydney and a headline show in London.
Finally having the ‘i don’t wanna be here’ out in the world has been a huge relief for Pittman. Having sat on the single since 2022, Charlie shares how great it feels to “finally have that story out in the world.”
Initially written as a “product of the pandemic”, Pittman was facing the struggles of losing the short-but-sweet taste of independence of moving away from home and studying in the UK. Exploring and diving into the regression of moving that independence, Pittman explains how “COVID kind of jest reset everything. It was like, oh, okay, what do I do with my life now?” just like the lyric “back to square one, nothing’s clearer”.
I was intrigued to find out what got Charlie into music, as his family “are completely unmusical and not from the arts world.”. Despite this, Pittman shares how music was a big part of his life growing up, getting hooked on certain musicians like John Mayer, Ed Sheeran (the reason he bought a guitar), and Shawn Mendes. As he got older he “found clearer references and artists that I wanted to emulate, then I found my path and sound from that.” Also shared how he would turn up to school early to make use of the keyboards on campus and teach himself how to play.
Not having any musical history in his family, Charlie shares how being self-taught has left him with “shocking technique with both guitar and piano, but I just kind of work out what works for me, it helps me write songs and then I can worry about the technique afterward.”
Back to ‘i don’t wanna be here’, the lyrics dive into the complicated relationships with friends and navigating the maintenance of them. “Especially if you have your friends that you grow up with, you go to school or uni with”, Charlie found that a lot of them are “situational friends, and you’re only friends with them in the first place because that’s where you met them and see them every day”. Getting into adult life, Pittman discovered the difference when struggling to make the conscious effort of seeing those people and the effort he has put in to be better at this.
“Being in Australia and many of my friends in the UK, the time difference can be a lot, but it helps me value the time I have with them when I am back home.”
As someone in their 20s as well, it’s a pretty common experience, so I asked Charlie to share his advice on friendships during this period. “Mutual effort is a big thing” he shares, “real friends are going to be there for you when you need them and vice versa, these are friendships that you don’t face with stress and pressure”. Not being a fan of texting, Pittman has found that “FaceTime and voice call is the best form of conversation” when you are not with them in IRL.
Since the release of ‘i don’t wanna be here’, fans are already anxiously waiting for an EP. Pittman shares that there is music coming. Like the single, these songs have been sitting with Pittman since 2022, but “I really like the sound that this EP has sort of taken me, and i don’t wanna be here sets up the EP quite well in terms of the narrative and the sound it takes” in which the EP will expand on that.
With this new and exciting era for Charlie, I wanted to know if there was anything that he would like fans to take from this music. He explains that the most important thing is that he hopes fans can understand how much he wears “my heart on my sleeve” in his music, and “if people can connect with it in any way and take their own stories out of it, that’s all you can hope and dream for.”
Ahead of his shows opening for Drax Project in Sydney and his solo headline show in London, Pittman is excited as he values the time with his supporters “being able to connect with them and chat to them afterward, chatting about my setlist and stuff like that”. Sharing that performing live is the “best part of being able to make music, and I want to make an incredible and real experience for everyone watching.” So make sure you visit one of Charlie’s shows in your area when he stops by and listen out for some new incredible music to add to your playlists.
Source: Supplied
Unraveled is truly so excited to see where Pittman goes with his music career, and we are sure we will be hearing and seeing a lot more of Charlie as he releases more music. But for now, you can stream ‘i don’t wanna be here’ on all platforms here.
