NO MORE SECRETS: Q+A WITH LE CHARME

Writer Stella Feinstein spoke to NYC-based duo Le Charme about their sophomore single “To a Secret”:

Stella Feinstein: This is only the second song you’ve ever released — how did you decide what song to put out first? When is a song “ready” to you?

Kevin Hyland: Our musical relationship began as making silly songs together in a bedroom with limited recording equipment. Although there are certain sounds that are difficult to achieve within this limitation, we also found it to be freeing to have to shed traditional pop or rock arrangement limitations or “band sounds.” Both of us have put out a lot of music prior to this project so in some ways it kind of felt like moving backwards on the production side of things. We’ve recorded maybe 20 songs over the last two years, and now it really feels like we are finding a groove of what we like and what works for us. Overall, we are trying to be a little less precious about what we put out (even though it’s only two songs so far). We’d say that a song feels done when we feel excited to show it to our close friends. 

Lexie Thomas: Deciding what song to put out first hasn’t really been the hard part of the release process - jumping to the second part of your question, putting out a song when it feels “ready” is kind of how we have been functioning. “Running Suicides” came out when we felt like it had reached its maximum potential, same with “To a Secret.” It is super easy to sit with a song for months and months and continue to tweak it; so getting to the point where we are ready to share a song with the world can take a while (sometimes an unnecessary amount of time). Now that we have been working on music together for so long, it has been easier when we sit down to record a song. There is less of that uncertainty in what we think sounds good, and we’ve been able to find our rhythm more. I think that comes with time; building trust and just getting better at playing music with each other. The music has been sounding more “ready” than ever, and this is helping as we work toward longer form projects, such as an EP or album. 

SF: Is writing a collaborative process between you guys for both instrumentals and lyrics, or do you each have strong suits?

KH: We both have a lot of respect for each other’s individual songwriting. It’s definitely what drew us together in the first place. The project started as both of us bringing in more or less completed songs. Nowadays, we are writing everything together from the beginning a lot more. We’ve built up a lot of trust to let eachother spitball ideas and give constructive feedback. Lexie is definitely a very strong singer and I like to think I’m a strong instrumentalist, but we both play a lot of instruments and produce. Any decisions about a song usually happen with both of us in the room and it’s often hard to remember who initially thought of specific ideas which is very rewarding for us. 

LT: Writing and recording is definitely a collaborative process for us. We initially would come in with pretty much completed songs, adding in different harmonies or guitar riffs while working on putting together a drum beat. Now we spend a lot of time writing together, recording together, and building things from scratch. Some of the best stuff I think we’ve written has started as a silly idea that we were playing while sitting on the floor. Once we get into the zone of writing and recording it’s often hard to differentiate who did what. It really feels like the songs are coming from both of us equally, which is awesome.

SF: What do you find the most inspiration in when writing? Any feelings that you tend to feel/pull from a lot? Were you at all nervous about putting out this song with (little bit of) a controversial topic/lines? (I’m in love with your best friend / So entitled to a secret / You can break it, you can keep it)

KH: We certainly pull from our own experiences when writing lyrics, but we do not put a lot of emphasis on being particularly earnest or confessional. Often throwing a line that’s a little batshit or out of left field can make the song more surreal, but also more relatable. I really like lyricists who can switch effortlessly from being poetic to pulling from what sounds like seemingly stupid conversations that you’d overhear at a bar. 

LT: Pulling in topics from our own lives or the lives of the people around us is huge. I love writing songs that feel like stories you would tell a good friend you haven't seen in a while, or confessing something to someone you probably shouldn’t. Saying things that sound a bit crazy, but presenting them in an earnest way is a fun line to toe. But at the end of the day, inspiration can come from anywhere. I’ve written songs about having a bad day at work, or about an episode of a TV Show I'm watching. 

KH: I think when we wrote that chorus we were laughing a lot, but often when we can both giggle about a lyric we know we like it.  

LT: Getting a reaction from the things you say in a song is always fun. This line in particular is so cutting, but also probably so relatable to a lot of people who hear it. There weren’t really nerves in regards to the content of the song, more like a, “I wonder if this is going to hit for anyone out there listening?” 

SF: As we’re starting to break free from the shackles of winter, what are some of your go-to "spring is springing" albums? / What have you been listening to a lot lately?

KH: Definitely the band The Sundays and their albums “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic” and “Blind.” They are one of my favorite bands because their music is so conflicted emotionally. It’s melancholy and it’s so longing and I think those are two emotions I get from Spring. 

We also really love the indie-electro sounds from the 2010s. The first Phantogram album is one we’ve been bumping. That music definitely put me into the “spring is here, let’s finally have some fun” mentality. 

LT: I always feel a shift in the music I listen to when the weather starts getting warmer. My go to spring / summer album is Belle and Sebastian’s Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Love a good twee record for a sunny day. Alvvays’ Blue Rev is also a huge springtime album for me. Recently I have been listening to a lot of The Sundays, Yo La Tengo, Magdalena Bay and Doechii’s new album, Alligator Bites Never Heal. 

SF: What were you listening to while making “To a Secret”?

KH: It’s a little hard to remember, but almost definitely Rocketship and Yo La Tengo because we are always listening to those bands. We love bands that blend male and female voices in creative ways. I think we were also listening to Beach House. I love how shimmery that music is. 

SF: Is this song standalone or part of a bigger project…?

KH: We are putting out another single at the end of March. After that, we will have to see. We certainly have a lot of music that we are working on and trying to think of the best way to put it out. I think we want to keep it spontaneous, but a longer release is definitely something we are discussing …..

LT: The new single will kind of be the cherry on top of “To a Secret” and “Running Suicides.” We are always working on writing and recording music, and are certainly looking to release a longer form project soon. It’s really awesome to be able to tell a story through an entire collection of songs, and an EP or album release would let us do that.