Inspired by girls and God, philosophizing on love and loss, and looking every bit the pampered royal spaniel, King Charles injects high drama into his idiosyncratic brand of low-fi folk-pop with a regal panache. ltd gets all metaphysical and romantic on the phone with His Maj’…

Word. How’s things?
Very good, thank you. I feel as though I have been more active than usual recently: doing a little partying, playing a few gigs, climbing a few small trees, nursing a fierce sunburn, basically ignoring as much responsibility as possible while the sun is out, and then hiding in a studio and practicing for my first drumming gig, which is the best!
I’ve been trying to make a bit of music but I’ve drawn a line under the writing of the first album so I’m moving on to the early stages of developing thoughts for the ideas that I want to shape the second album.

We’ve listened to your music, and we like. When’s the album out?
I’m glad you like the songs. There is an album on the way, which was recorded at home using some fairly dodgy old equipment and then I took it elsewhere for the mixing and a secondary stage of production. I spent about a year writing and recording alone. Initially I was unprepared to weather the waves of madness that I felt came as a result of those conditions, but I found that was the only way I could work, and ended up enjoying it. I am still finishing the mixing at the Mi7 studio, which has been a great environment to work in.

The live shows rocks…
Ha! cool! That is good news. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m honing my skills. Most of my early gig memories involve staring at my equipment on stage in disbelief that everything has stopped working. I think gigs work on an exchange of energy: performer to audience, audience back to performer and so forth. Without this interaction I feel very isolated and lost on stage. The show is where I want it to be at the moment, but I’m planning the next stage. As always limitations play a big part of what comes across to the audience, through these things character is revealed.

So, is King Charles just you then?
It started as a solo project and I think it still is, though now I have an amazing band who back me.

And who does the writing?
I still do all the writing myself. Girls and God are my main inspirations. I haven’t ever really found anything more exciting than these two things. Thoughts develop into ideas, ideas develop into melodies and lyrics, these develop eventually into songs and I don’t think the writing process is ever finished until I’ve finished recording and producing it.

You remind us a bit of Prince. Was he an influence?
I can only be flattered - Prince is extraordinary. He was never an early influence though: I was more into folk when I was younger. My musical life is mostly influenced by my non-musical life. Of course there are artists that made me choose music above any other art form to express myself and they all contributed to the foundations of my style but my music is a directed response to what influences me as a person. To country music and folk music, in particular, I have a debt…I always sensed a greater integrity in these genres than many others.

Why King Charles?
I love the idea that a true monarch’s calling is to be a servant.