In conversation with: Charlie Hanlon
I recently had the pleasure of being in conversation with not only one of my favourite musicians and songwriters but also a great close friend of mine, Charlie Hanlon.
Charlie is a musician from Downpatrick, County Down, who, over his years of musical endeavours, has played in venues like The Ulster Hall and festivals such as The Great Escape, Brighton. As well as having a successful solo career, Charlie has session drummed for tours with Don Martin and large local bands such as The Unholy Gospel Band.
What are your main inspirations, whether it be other musicians, artists, people, places, etc.
I find one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to making music is my pals. I’m very lucky to be friends with a lot of other musicians who are all working in different things in the music business. I feel like working and collaborating with others who are so locked in can really inspire me to be at my best
What's your favourite gig you have played so far, do you prefer local gigs or gigs abroad?
It’s a mixed bag, to be honest. I love playing my experience playing abroad had been mainly playing for other artists as a drummer, which was super fun, especially touring Europe they know how to do it right over there and it was definitely a class experience for me in terms of learning how touring works and has really pushed me to try and get some more of my own shows outside of England/Ireland. I do love playing in Belfast also. One of my favourite shows I have done so far would definitely have to be a show me and my band played with Brand New friend in limelight 2 back in 2023 there was just class vibes that evening. Also, shout-out to Bosnia; that was pretty cool, la.
What's the best piece of advice you've been given by someone around you in terms of music?
Best advice that I've been given was ‘Keep her lit, la' and also “you buy cheap, you buy twice' – Eva Rowan
You’re a person who not only has experience playing your own music but also session playing in bands with different instruments, has that changed your opinion on your own music?
I think the biggest thing I’ve taken from working as a session musician in a couple of different settings is how everyone runs their ship a little differently and you learn to adapt to different and moving environments and constantly playing with other musicians, I think, keeps me on my toes and keeps me sharp, which is a good thing. I think how I’ve applied the lessons I take from playing as a session player to my own project is making sure that when I have musicians coming to play with me, it's a nice environment to be in and everyone is smiling and having the craic.
Your discography ranges from song to song, meaning to meaning… what is normally the most important part of your writing process? Has that changed throughout the years?
I think my writing process has definitely changed over the years. To be real, I started writing as a young teenager just so I had songs to play live. So listening back to a couple of older cuts of mine, they are nice memories of a certain time but there is no real depth to them. I think now one of the main things I focus on when it comes to writing is just letting the song do what it's going to do. Over the past two years I’ve had the privilege to co-write with some class artists and I think that working with others has definitely made me more confident in maybe taking more risks when it comes to the creative process. I also set a goal for myself to get better at piano in 2026 (Because I want to be Elton John, I think) after watching the Paul McCartney documentary alone in the cinema; it sort of hit me he was always on the piano. so I have found that now I can play a bit more fluently. I’m writing songs in a style I never have before with the piano and it's like a breath of fresh air for me creatively. shout-out Pianos man.
You’ve played most counties in Ireland, which is your favourite to play and which is your favourite to watch?
Bit of a biased answer here but I genuinely love county down for gigging mainly because of some of the beautiful sights when driving to the gigs. Big ups to that road from Hilltown to warrenpoint its like driving through the set of Braveheart or something. It's beautiful, proper Ireland in my mind. In terms of watching gigs I love venues in Dublin like Whelan's and The Grand social But the best venue in Ireland is the Olympia; I’ve seen all my all-time favourites in that room and even went to my first ever show there. Would love to play there one day; that would be the dream. I could die happy.
If you could cowrite with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?
I think Paul McCartney or Burt Bacharach because they are masters of the craft and id love to just be in a room and watch how they work their magic.
If you could learn one more instrument, what would it be? What song would you put it into of your own?
Maybe the EWI. my brother got one; it’s pretty mad and very much his new thing. I don’t want to steal his EWI thunder or anything but it would be a bit of craic or possibly some bassoon. I think if I played it, it would be all over my recordings.
What can we see from you Charlie, any upcoming gigs or music releases?
Definitely going to have some new music out before the end of the year. I've been working on a lot of stuff that I'm super proud of and can't wait to share also playing Stendhal festival on the 2nd of July which should be a blast, alongside some shows towards the end of the year.