edited by courtney marie
For quite some time {probably forever?}, we’ve been aware of Charlie Moore's awesomeness as a musician. He’s been drumming with local acts like the wonderful Kim Nall and The Fringe for years and has always harbored a creative streak. He's also one of the few musicians in town that is consistently dedicated to supporting and exploring the intricate and vast array of musical talent in Denton. We really, really dig that. As if there weren't already enough reasons to love Charlie, last year he charmed the internet with a new collection of songs he was working on, revealing a new layer of his capacity for songwriting and storytelling. The project was released on ReverbNation under the moniker White Trash Noir, where you can find a demo for the track we're about to share with you today.
Charlie's natural abilities, his passion for music, and his dedication to the creative spirit inspired us to invite him into the studio as the newest recipient of the Spiderweb Salon + Shiny Sound Songwriting Scholarship, and the product of this collaboration is everything this project is supposed to be: people creating honest, beautiful music together.
We asked Charlie to tell us a little bit about his background, inspiration, and what's in store for his next creative adventures. Read away while you groove to "Put a Record On," the song Charlie brought to our half-day of music-making in Shiny Sound Recording Studio on February 10, 2018:
Tell us a little bit about your journey with music.
I've been playing music intentionally since 6th grade (as far as "choosing to play music," not just "it's 4th grade, here's a recorder, now SQUAWK!!!" playing music). I started on trumpet in middle school and moved through the brass instruments, finally settling on tuba in 10th grade. I basically quit playing instruments after high school band until I bought a drum set around my 20th birthday.
While I was out at Texas Tech I (sorta) sang and rapped in a country/punk band (The Annihilators) with a few friends from the college radio station I worked at. I'd been writing poetry and lyrics since I was about 11, but it was my first opportunity to perform in a band setting. Along with my co-writer/guitar player/roommate, we got together a couple dozen songs and performed around Lubbock here and there for about 4 years. The songs were kinda all over the place, from alt country to 50's style do-wop, to, like, 80's hardcore punk. It was a weird band for a weird place and a weird time, and it really got me excited about writing music. I also first performed on drums during my college years with Nadia and Afro Blue.
Charlie & spiderweb co-founder courtney marie at Spiderwed Salon, May 2016
Those projects came to an end when I moved back to Denton in 2010; and, at that point, I began concentrating my energy on the drums. I basically made a new year's resolution for 2011 that I would play my drums everyday, and I only missed a handful of days that year. The next year, I helped start Dare to Fight (Emo), and joined The Crypt Creeps (Horrorpunk) and Levi Cobb and the Big Smoke (Folk/Americana). I kept writing lyrics for myself while involved in the other projects, and was inspired during my time with Levi Cobb to pick up the guitar. I've been playing consistently for about 2 years now, and am getting close to being able to perform my own full songs in front of an actual audience! In addition to working on my own songs under the nom de plume White Trash Noir, I'm currently performing on drums with Kim Nall & the Fringe (Country), Autumn's Amber (Folk/Rock), and Brian Lambert and the Mirandas (Rock).
When you knew you'd have a half-day at Shiny Sound to record this song, how did you feel about it? What were your anticipations for recording?
recording crew at Shiny Sound 2/10/18
It was a very exciting opportunity! I was super excited, but I WAS VERY NERVOUS!!! I hadn't performed a full song in front of anyone but my partner...EVER! I didn't even have the song picked out until the night before! I had an idea of what to expect with the actual recording since I've been in the studio with some of my other groups, but I wasn't sure how the writing process would go. I'd never really collaborated in that way with other musicians before.
What was the recording process like for you?
It was awesome!!! I really enjoyed crafting the song with two musicians as talented and creative as Corbin and Jacob. It was really neat to hear the song slowly take shape and lead into the directions it went. The environment was super chill, and I think that came through on the actual recording. Conor and Courtney were there chilling out and providing moral support (and Conor laid down some magic whistling on the track), Caitlin brought Detroit-style pizza, Geoff brought a few Tragically Hip records...it was a pretty great vibe.
Can you give us a little background about your song, "Put a Record On"?
It was weird...usually it takes me a while to get a song together...I'll have a few lyrics here and a few there, and eventually it comes together...this one came out in maybe 20 minutes. I got up late one Saturday and I didn't have a whole hell of a lot to do. I'd been having some bad mental health days, and I generally felt the worst when I didn't have plans. This particular day I was feeling pretty anxious, and I tried to drink it off (which didn't work)...while I was trying to get up the energy to take out the trash, I put on 'A Wonderful Life' by Brian Fallon, and I got stuck on this 'Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh' thing that starts the pre-chorus...and words just started to come out! I put together some chords for it a little later in the day, and it was pretty much done! The last two lines in the bridge didn't come to me til maybe a month later, but it all worked out eventually!
What are your interests and passions outside of music?
I love to spend time with my partner and my friends and family. I'm a casual reader, mostly American/Middle Eastern history and music-related ethnographies. I'm more of a T.V. watcher than I really should be (Netflix/Hulu would say that I'm very interested in Bob's Burgers, 30 Rock, and Shows with a Strong Female Lead). I enjoy cooking, eating, learning about and talking about good food and drinks.
What or who are some of your influences as a musician/artist/writer?
I've always been into a lot of different kinds of music, and I can hear different areas of my music experiences seep into my songwriting a lot of times. I've got a few songs with a really heavy folk-y Bob Dylan thing going on, and some with kind of a Lou Reed vibe from when I was super into his solo stuff. I've even got a couple songs that were really influenced by Minus the Bear, and kinda angular and talked through. I've also been really influenced by country radio over the years. I didn't get into country til I was away at college (Johnny Cash's America IV was my first country record), but when I did I fell really hard for it, and that attachment grew through listening to Texas country and red dirt and that kind of...stuff...that winds up leading you to really great, interesting songwriters and performers if you take the time to look for them. Lately I've been trying to expand out further. I asked my Facebook friends what singer-songwriters that AREN'T primarily country that they're into, and I've got a list of about 80 different artists I'm working through.
What would you like to accomplish creatively this year?
I'm hoping to put out an EP of my solo stuff this year...maybe even one recorded in an actual studio. If not, home recorded on my laptop would do just fine! I'm also hoping to start performing at open mics around town sometime this year. To that end, I also plan on getting some lessons in hopes of improving my guitar playing. More than that, just making/playing more music with more people is one of my new year's resolutions each year, so I'd like to continue working on that.
Now that you know a little bit more about the project, don't forget to read the lyrics (if that's what you're into!) and listen to Charlie's new hit track "Put a Record On" here.
Charlie Moore performing at Spiderweb Salon's 2017 Harvest Masquerade
If you loved the concept of this project, YOU'RE IN LUCK! We got to wondering, why don’t we do this all the time, with many different musicians, to create a whole catalog of new songs and sounds? With that simple idea, Spiderweb Salon’s Songwriting Scholarship has been born! We’ll be working with Shiny Sound Recording Studios, a lineup of professional studio musicians, and a new musician every month to record an original piece of music to share with the world. If you’re looking to get involved, send along a submission, and if you just need an awesome place to record your next project, look no further than Shiny Sound.