‘How Can I Affect People?’: Charly Oakley Is Curating An Honest And Authentic Future
“I’m really interested in releasing music and presenting it in a way that is meaningful and innovative," rising pop artist Charly Oakley explains.
Charly Oakley (Credit: Annabelle Bahuth)
“I don’t think I’ve rehearsed more in my life for something,” Charly Oakley exhales over Zoom on in late October, at which time they are gearing up for their live showcase at the trendy Fitzroy club The Night Cat.
“I’m feeling on top of things. My stomach drops just before I go onstage, but as soon as I’m up there…” Oakley flashes a dazzling grin.
Charly Oakley is the harbinger of one of Australia’s freshest new pop sounds. The first pop artist signed to management company Voyager, the rapidly rising musician has caught the attention of some major industry names.
Jonathan Daniel, founder of CRUSH MUSIC (whose roster includes global icons Miley Cyrus and Lorde) introduced Oakley to acclaimed LA-based producer Xandy Barry (who has worked with the likes of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus). Xandy produced their debut single Against The Odds, as well as seven more unreleased tracks.
In Oakley’s words, the whole experience has been “surreal,” to say the least.
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“I think as kids in Australia you glorify America a lot – like, that’s where dreams are made of – but as soon as I got over there and started recording I was like ‘Oh, we’re all speaking the same language, they just have a different accent,’ you know what I mean?
“The same creative impulses that exist in a Miley Cyrus or a Rihanna exist in kids in Australia.”
Oakley is bubbly and thoughtful – conversations with them feature considered insight punctuated by bouts of their husky, infectious laughter. Against The Odds exhibits these same qualities: its sound is fresh and fun, buoyed by an indomitable drumbeat (the kind of song that is perfect to belt along to while your hands are clasped around a steering wheel), but its message is profound.
The song preaches the significance of community and friendship – or, as Oakley sings in their breathy, tender whisper, “Darling, you can run to me. Don’t you know we’ll always be against the odds.”
“Since I’ve come into my early twenties I’ve really actively been trying to pursue community,” Oakley explains. “Talking to strangers, getting to know every single person at my local cafe, looking people in the eye and feeling like the world has my back and I have theirs.
“I’ve been cultivating that so much in Melbourne, it’s been really important to me. And when I went over to LA, we were walking through Hollywood and Vine, and I just noticed that no one looked at each other. The City Of Angels was actually really aching and super isolated and individual and alone.
“And when we went back into the studio that day, that kind of gave me the impulse to talk about the duality of having so much love and community in your life, but also that deep, morbid feeling of being quite alone.”
The single’s accompanying music video displays Oakley crafting webs and spirals of red string against a gleaming white background.
“I was really inspired by a lot of Marina Abramovic’s art and installations – about proximity and intimacy and the space between yourself and objects. I wanted to create something where we could have a world, and destroy it then rebuild it again.”
The web of strings represents the “odds of life. And the opposite of that is the spiral we see at the end.”
With the music video, Oakley attempts to pose the question, “What can I build from the odds that are already stacked against us?” And then the answer: “I can make something beautiful out of something that maybe feels quite broken.”
Oakley admits that releasing personal, vulnerable pieces of the art into the world can be “scary.” They add, “But I think that’s a really good indicator to me that it’s something that should be out in the world: it scares me.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure on your artists to find their sound, and not as much pressure on them to find their voice,” they continue. “And I think they are two different things.
“And I’m really trying to find my voice, I think that’s more important to me. My sound will evolve forever, but my voice is something that I really want to focus on making an impact with. The more vulnerable I can be, the more I can get my art out in my own way, the better it will be.”
Oakley is only 22, still beset with growing pains, and likely to see an evolution of style and personality. But right now, they are classified as a pop artist. How does that label – one that has historically not always been taken seriously given its strong association with femme people – sit with them?
“Pop is pop culture. Which means that it’s everything and it’s nothing.” They cock their head, contemplating. “And it’s somewhat tied to how I feel about my own gender expression as well – because that label actually frees me to do whatever I want and be whoever I want to be.
“Pop is whatever is current in the moment; it’s an evolving genre. So I’ve really come to take that label as very serious.” It’s a label that gives them more freedom to evolve than some would think – something that is especially important to them as a genderqueer artist.
“Appearing more femme, conventionally – whatever that means, I have long hair, so I must be a girl…” They giggle and roll their eyes good-naturedly. “It’s so strange. Particularly when I’m onstage, I feel just, like, energy. I don’t feel like any particular gender when I’m performing, I feel like me. And I’m not really thinking about how people are perceiving me. I just know that the conversation has a long way to go in terms of the language we use.”
This has been an extremely exciting start to Oakley’s musical career, and they are currently working on a body of work. Laughing, they say, “I’m going to be really cryptic.”
Then they delve into some more specifics.
“I’m really interested in releasing music and presenting it in a way that is meaningful and innovative, particularly with this surge of AI that is slowly creeping in on us,” they explain. “I’m not really in the market for putting out a playlist of songs because I think robots are doing that for us, unfortunately.
“So I’m really trying to get into what is the most meaningful way I can present work in the world, how can I affect people and how can I tell a story?”
They want their art to be the most human it can be – artificiality, thankfully, is not at all on the cards for them.
“I’m looking at releasing this trilogy of EPs that almost forms an album when you put it together,” they explain. “Like a little puzzle. And detailing the human experience. The robots can’t take that away from me!
“I really want that first project to be a really anchored documentation of the human experience for a 22-year-old that’s witnessing the world around them and navigating their own internal world at the same time.”
The future is looking bright for Charly Oakley – but most importantly it is looking authentic.
Charly Oakley’s Against The Odds is out now, with more music and live performances expected to follow soon.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
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