Charles the Individual On the Making Of “Fireman”
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of "Fireman?"
Initially, I just wrote a song. I wrote and recorded the entire album for “Racing Thoughts” in about a two-and-a-half month period last spring, and the song Fireman was just one of the songs we produced. It’s funny because when we started thinking about making the video, our initial idea was to see if we could somehow get our hands on a firetruck and film a funny video of me rapping on top of it. Once we realized the reality of how difficult it would be to actually get a fire truck, we started brainstorming other ideas. I remember having the first thought like “what if I was an alien and I crashed into earth on the word ‘contact’” and the ideas just sort of snowballed from there. We’re all so stoked with how the video came out, and I’m personally happy that we didn’t end up doing the fire truck idea.
What was your favorite moment in making the music video?
Definitely filming my friends and family. I love rapping and acting and performing, but it’s so cool when other people get involved. The best part was some of the best scenes were their ideas: specifically the dude sitting on the couch with the tin hat (Kenotics Dad) and the farmer out in the yard (my Dad). We were all laughing so hard behind the camera filming these shots, and it was cool that everyone got to bring their own little piece to the video. Kenotic was the police dispatcher at the beginning of the video, and it took so long to get that one shot because he and I kept cracking up. The whole process was just a lot of fun, mixed with the anxiety of trying to get everything done in time of course. Big shoutout to my sister Isabel (the hippy girl at the end, my buddies Nick and Tommy (the two looking at the phone), and Kenotics Mom Lynn (the woman on the phone) for an awesome performance!
Have you noticed any particular interpretations or connections that listeners have made with "Fireman?"
Not really any particular interpretations (yet anyway) that I’ve noticed. I don’t think this video was super abstract or anything - I think it’s pretty straightforward. A lot of people were impressed with the video though, which we’re stoked about because we definitely stepped our game up for this one. I have had a bunch of people say it reminds them of Eminen, which I definitely take as a compliment (I was a HUGE Eminem fan growing up). But as far as interpretations, I haven’t really heard any. I think people are just really enjoying the video.
What is your songwriting process like? How do you usually start crafting a new song?
Well, for me the beat always comes first. I usually like to write in the morning right when the caffeine is kicking in. I’ll throw a beat on and just see what comes out. I usually don’t know what a song is going to be about until I start writing it, which is cool because it’s kind of like a process of discovery as I’m writing. Sometimes I’ll go into it with a certain idea or point that I’m trying to make, but most of the time I just start writing and see when the words take me.
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
Honestly, I just love music. I wasn’t making it for a while - years actually - and I remember I always had this thought in the back of my head like “I wish I didn’t stop making music.” There were times when I thought about getting into it, but would always fall back again, mostly just insecurities honestly. But back at the beginning of 2020, I read this book called The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus and it really changed the way I looked at things. After that I was like “dude - you love music, why aren’t you doing it?” It didn’t happen overnight; at first I started writing songs again but wouldn’t show them to anyone, or I’d show it to a friend or a close relative. Honestly, I just missed the process, writing music is probably my favorite thing to do, next to actually performing. But somewhere down the line, I built up the courage to go and do an open mic. After that, I was sold. Around this time too, Kenotic had reached out and started sending me beats again (we started making music together in high school) and it was almost like returning to our roots or something. Since then, we’ve just been building, and I’m honestly blown away by some of the stuff we’ve been able to come up with. It’s been a crazy journey, and we’re really still just getting started, but I'm stoked to see where this goes. At this point, I’m all in.